Why is it Important to Develop Soft Skills


Soft skills are an essential part of procuring and retaining clients. Highly developed presentation skills, networking abilities, and etiquette awareness can help you win new clients and gain more work from existing clients. Honing your abilities to resolve conflicts, solve problems, and provide excellent customer service can lead to stronger relationships with colleagues, vendors, and other professional contacts. Ultimately, strong soft skills can help you gain confidence - an invaluable trait in the business world.

On the other hand, a lack of soft skills can limit your potential, or even be the downfall of your consultancy. By developing strong leadership, teamwork, and communication abilities, you can run projects more smoothly, deliver results that please everyone, and even positively influence your personal life by improving how you interact with others.

Do Your Soft Skills Need Work?

Soft skills aren’t generally “all or none.” Many people are adequate or even exemplary with some skills yet struggle with others. For instance, a consultant may have excellent communication and teamwork abilities but struggle with time management and crack under pressure. It’s not uncommon to either underestimate the importance of soft skills, or overestimate your own proficiency. Here are a few common scenarios that may be improved with stronger soft skills:

  • ·         You have a low client retention rate compared to others in your field.
  • ·         You are frequently late for meetings or struggle to meet deadlines.
  • ·         You fail to grow your professional network, or avoid networking opportunities altogether.
  • ·         You manage to land meetings with prospective clients, but rarely proceed to the next stage or close deals.


How Do You Develop Your Soft Skills?

A great first step in personal development is to recognize and acknowledge the areas in which you need to improve. This can take place through personal reflection and introspection, an evaluation of your consultancy’s performance deficiencies, or through feedback from trusted colleagues or friends. You may find that daily journaling or taking regarding your professional interactions and their outcomes is helpful self-evaluation.

After you’ve gained an awareness of your strengths and weaknesses, create a plan of action for improvement that aligns with and supports your business plan. Because soft skills encompass a relatively large category, there are a number of ways to develop or enhance these skills. Consider working with a mentor who can provide feedback and model appropriate skills. If your focus is improving communication, courses in subjects like public speaking or joining a group such as Toastmasters can be helpful.

Finally, although it may seem deceptively simple, don’t underestimate the effect of positivity and optimism. After all, the majority of soft skills are bolstered by confidence and enthusiasm, and undermined by anxiety, insecurity, and negativity. Changing your mindset so you are able to see the positive in situations can have a significant impact on how you interact with others.

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