Soft skills are personal attributes that influence how well you can work or interact with others. These skills make it easier to form relationships with people, create trust and dependability, and lead teams.

In essence, they are essential for your success in the workplace, your company’s success and your personal life. Most interactions with other people require some level of soft skills. At a company you might be negotiating to win a new contract, presenting your new idea to colleagues, networking for a new job, and so on. We use soft skills everyday at work and developing these soft skills will help you win more business and accelerate your career progression.

On the other hand, a lack of soft skills can limit your potential, or even be the downfall of your business. By developing strong leadership, delegation, 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.

Outside of the office, soft skills such as communication are used to build friendship groups and meet potential partners. You might be negotiating the price of your new house renovation, or mentoring your neighbours children on the weekend. Soft skills are useful both in our professional and personal lives.

Let’s have a look at some specific examples supporting the importance of soft skills.

1. Career progression and promotion
2. The modern workplace is interpersonal
3. Customers and clients demand soft skills
4. The future workplace will rely on soft skills
5. Soft skills are hard to automate
6. Soft skills are in high demand by recruiters