6 'soft' skills you need for success

Are technical/ job-related skills enough?Technical and job-related skills are a must, but they are NOT sufficient when it comes to progressing up the ladder. With the traditional paternalistic style of leadership becoming passé, professional managers expect their teams to be proactive and communicate openly. "Soft skills are very important in business.

It is essential to be technically sound, but one should also have the ability to convey the idea to the masses in the simplest possible manner.With the boom in outsourcing taking root across industries, many professionals and subject matter experts directly deal with their clients on a regular basis. Their approachability and people skills are what ultimately sustain the contract their employers have bagged. Planning is necessary but execution is also equally important. And it takes soft skills to execute any idea because it involves dealing with people directly.

6 soft skills for every hard-nosed professional:
Behavioural training experts say there are several soft skills are required in these circumstances. Some of them include:
i. Interpersonal skills
ii. Team spirit
iii. Social grace
iv. Business etiquette
v. Negotiation skills
vi. Behavioural traits such as attitude, motivation and time management

Do you have these? If your answer is yes, good for you.But if your answer is no, then you know it is time to approach either a training organisation or a training consultant. Will formal training enhance your soft skills?There is a lot of argument in the industry as to whether it is possible to enhance soft skills in a few hours of training, especially when one considers the fact that a person has lived with those traits all his life. To this, the answer is harsh but real -- a professional who wants to do well in his/ her career does not really have a choice. In the initial years of your career, your technical abilities are important to get good assignments. However, when it comes to growing in an organisation, it is your personality that matters, more so in large organisations where several people with similar technical expertise will compete for a promotion. Training on soft skills becomes all the more relevant in a country like India where the education system does not delve into personality development. Soft skills training is essential because we do not have it in our academic curricula. Therefore, corporate houses have to take up the task of grooming employees who are the link between the company and the external world, so that they are able to present themselves better.

Be your own trainer!
While organisations are definitely investing in augmenting their staff's people skills, here are some inputs for professionals and students who would like to initiate the process themselves:

i. Be a part of team activities.It could be either as a part of your church choir, or an NGO, or your local youth circle.Observe your own behaviour in the group and how you relate to others.

ii. Ask family members or close friends to write down your best and worst traits.Ideally, have at least four to five people do this for you. Evaluate the common traits all of them have mentioned. Thus, you can be aware of your strengths and work improving your weaknesses.

iii. How well do you manage your time?Think. Can you do more in life? Or is your day too crammed with activities? Effective time management is very essential in the corporate world.

iv. Introspect on how you react to feedback. In organisations, people skills mostly come into the picture when there is feedback given -- be it for an idea, an executed project or a presentation.You are judged by the way you respond to feedback. Do you get defensive? Do you insist you were right?Do you meekly accept criticism? Remember, people tend to be judged and stereotyped according to their responses. You will, too.

v. How good are you at critiquing? While responding to feedback is one side of the coin, giving feedback is the other side. Are you aggressive? Pessimistic? Do you believe in constructive criticism? Or prefer to be the yes-man?

vi. Live consciously
Any organisation is manned by people, therefore soft skills are all about how you deal with people and present yourself. Though it may be easier said than done, soft skills can be enhanced simply by being aware of oneself and living consciously.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10 mantras to boost your professional worth

If you think the outsourcing revolution means you are destined to pick up phones forever, think again. The future of outsourcing is already here, and it's not Business Process Outsourcing(BPO), but Knowledge Process Outsourcing(KPO). In the spotlight: KPOs.............BPOs and call centres have unlocked new fields of opportunity for the young. But the newer, faster growing job wave comes from Knowledge Process Outsourcing. KPO is outsourcing work, but the requirements are more specific. The job profiles are less repetitive/ mechanical and demand specific technical knowledge that must be combined with elements such as imagination, creativity, strategy and global corporate etiquette. These jobs are mentally stimulating and tend to pay than typical BPO work. KPOs encompass sectors such as medicine, IT, law, biotechnology, education, analytics, design and animation, research and development and intelligence services.

A recent example is the fact that entire airplane navigation systems are being designed offshore in India. This is just the beginning. Research shows the KPO industry is expected to reach US$ 17 billion by 2010. The question that immediately comes to mind is: how much of the pie will India really get?The global scenario: Currently, our competition includes various nations in Eastern Europe, China and other Asian countries. According to a recent report by McKinsey & Co, only 25 percent of our engineers are 'suitable' to work in a multinational corporation. Compare this with the fact that 50 percent of the engineers in Poland and Hungary are 'suitable' for the same jobs. Our figures are even more depressing in other categories: for example, 'suitable' finance/ accounting and life science graduates are a mere 15 percentAre you 'suitable'? What makes a graduate 'suitable' to work in a world-class company? Where are we falling short?

Believe it or not, it has nothing to do with our technical skills or work ethics. The problem is language proficiency and corporate etiquette -- the soft skills required to be an 'anywhere' worker in the new global economy. Sadly, our education system fails to equip us as far as this is concerned. So, if you want to be a player in the new global economy, you must take your future -- and your training -- in your own hands; opportunities are available only to those willing to groom themselves to join the truly global workforce. How to embrace global opportunities:

Boost your worth in the global job market by paying attention to these 10 areas.

i. Ability to market yourself
This starts with how concise, well-formatted, well-versed and tailored your CVs and cover letters are. Beyond this, the ability to interview well, cold-call recruiters and follow-up are essential.

ii. Presentation
Knowing how to put together a basic Power Point presentation with relevant and structured content is vital. Additionally, any business executive should be able to deliver content quickly and powerfully while speaking to a group of his peers and superiors.

iii. English language
Speaking without grammatical mistakes is imperative. Improving language skills is difficult and time-consuming, but can be accomplished through books, classes and self-help. Read as much as you can.

iv. Interpersonal skills
Listening (not just hearing), combined with the ability to build interesting conversations, is crucial in the business world. Client interaction and networking depend heavily on how much other people enjoy speaking with you. Intonation (how much feeling and rhythm you put into your voice) and pronunciation (how well articulated your sounds are) factor heavily herev.

v.Phone etiquette
Yes, as basic as this sounds, the way you answer your phone tells a caller just how professional you really are.When at work, calls should be picked up by introducing yourself. When you call someone and reach their voice mail, leave an organised message detailing why you called, your name and your telephone number. Refrain from calling clients from a mobile phone when in a noisy place.

vi. Diction
Whether the conversation is taking place on the phone, or face-to-face, it is important you use professional language. Read business newspapers and industry-specific material so you become savvy with the jargon used in your field.

vii. E-mail etiquette
There is no reason why professional standards should be abandoned just because a message is electronic.Pay attention to grammar, spell-check your work, don't skip salutations, introduce attachments and use professional language when sending out work e-mails (even to people you know well).

viii. Dress codes
To be a credible businessperson, you have to look like one. Men should wear collared shirts with an undershirt. Button your shirt all the way, wear simple belts, stick to dark-coloured slacks and dark-coloured shoes. Women who wear Western clothes should opt for skirts that fall below the knee, collared shirts/ blouses and close-toed shoesix.

ix.Handshakes
Don't hesitate to shake hands. Initiating a handshake is an indication of your confidence level. Remember to keep your handshake firm.If you are a woman and want to be taken seriously, don't hesitate to shake hands with the same confidence and authority as your male peers.

x. Business card etiquette
Always take your business cards with you when going for a meeting or conference. When presenting your card to someone, keep the print facing the recipient, so he/she will not have to turn it around to read it. When you receive a card, take a second to look at it as the card is representative of the person. Don't pass your card around like it is a flier. Refrain from forcing someone to take your card, especially a senior executive. It is far better to wait for him/ her to ask for it.Countries like the United States and some of the European nations that already outsource heavily are shifting towards countries where the labour force is of a 'higher quality' (such as Poland, Hungary the Czech Republic and Russia) as opposed to countries with a labour force of a 'higher quantity' (such as India and China). We don't have time to wait for our educational system to improve or for more corporations to work with universities and create exposure for students through internship programmes. Those who want to do well professionally must take their careers in their own hands. The global economy is hiring, and the choice is yours as to which side of the statistic you want to be part of.
So, are you 'suitable' or are you 'unsuitable'?