Transversal skills, this is what soft skills are and the characteristics
1Communication
2 Empathy
3 Creativity
4Flexibility
5Critical thinking
6Interpersonal skills
7Responsibility
8Manage stress
9Leadership
10Teamwork
11Work ethic
THE IMPORTANCE OF TRANSVERSAL SKILLS IN COMPANIES
Employers need their employees more than ever if they want to remain relevant and competitive.
Likewise, employees expect – even demand – more from the organizations they work for.
TRANSVERSAL SKILLS, HERE’S WHAT THE SOFT SKILLS ARE AND FEATURES
More than real skills, soft skills are personal attitudes that allow you to integrate, work well, bring value and achieve results in the workplace. Below is a list of 11 ‘universally shared’ transversal skills.
COMMUNICATION
Communication is important in any kind of work to interface with colleagues, collaborators, customers, contacts, users, and includes the ability to be able to express oneself correctly and effectively verbally and in writing, to know how to present oneself or to present one’s work or project, the ability to listen, to negotiate, to manage body language, to persuade.
EMPATHY
The ability to deeply understand the feelings of others, to know how to put oneself in their shoes is probably the most profound form of communication (and for this reason it could be included in the previous point), but it is now assuming such importance that it deserves a consideration in itself.
Today, a quality is being demonstrated that allows for the improvement of various aspects of working life, as it influences teamwork, leadership, design thinking, the ability to resolve conflict situations, work ethics.
But also the ability of a company to create new products.
A huge proponent of empathy as a pillar of business and innovation is Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. ‘The value that I have really learned to deeply appreciate and talk about a lot is empathy.
CREATIVITY
Jaime Casap, Google’s chief education evangelist, said ‘Creativity is one of those things that is hard to pin down, but you recognize it when you see it.’
That’s right: creativity is normally associated with ‘talent’ and ‘ artistic expression, to design, to planning, to some forms of communication, but it is actually a skill that can be developed and applied to the most countless contexts, from the invention of a new product to problem solving
FLEXIBILITY
Adaptability, willingness to change, to accept new things, to learn new things.
CRITICAL THINKING
It is the ability to observe things beyond the facade, see and analyze problems in a critical, non-linear way, without preconceptions or foreclosures, and possibly find creative, effective, innovative solutions.
It is already clear that other transversal skills or some soft skills such as lateral thinking, problem solving, creativity, flexibility, adaptability, curiosity, aptitude for research and experimentation, learning are part of critical thinking. continuous.
INTERPERSONAL SKILLS
Being positive, friendly, empathetic, sociable, optimistic, enthusiastic, trusting and having self-control, improves relationships with the people around us and productivity in the workplace.
A relaxed, serene, collaborative working climate (even in times of stress) generally leads to higher standards of quality, innovation, efficiency.
RESPONSIBILITY
Responsibility at work coincides a lot with reliability and being able to complete the tasks that have been entrusted, with a sense of timing and priorities, putting all one’s resources and skills into play, with discipline and common sense.
MANAGING STRESS
The world today is very complex and fast, as is work, generating a continuous sense of uncertainty and challenge. Working in a company, or running a company as an entrepreneur, often puts people to the test in terms of expectations, results and work-life balance. Knowing how to manage moments of strong pressure is essential.
LEADERSHIP
Leadership is not just the ambition to become the ‘company captain’. It is made up of charisma, but above all of qualities that can be cultivated from the very first work experience: the sense of responsibility mentioned earlier, the ability to make decisions and take risks; knowing how to see the overall picture and orienting strategies with a vision; knowing how to delegate to others and choose, motivate, gratify their collaborators.
TEAMWORK
Teamwork is predominant in various business contexts, and even if your career choice should veer towards entrepreneurship, it is good to know that ‘being the boss’ will always require a sense of responsibility and the ability to work with others.
WORK ETHICS
Commit and give your best, be available, loyal, have initiative, motivation, respect deadlines, accept criticism, be collaborative.
These are the traditional principles of work ethics, always current, that we can today integrate with respect for others (translated into a spirit of inclusiveness, rejection of harassing and discriminatory attitudes) and a culture of positive impact and social innovation.