You may have the know-how and the prowess to run the technical side of your practice–but do you or your team know how to communicate with one another, and, when your staff butt heads, do you know how to resolve that conflict? 

Plenty of business leaders tend to think that all you need in managing and leading a practice are technical skills like crunching numbers or data analysis. While these are crucial to your success, you also need to balance them with softer skills like development, collaboration and creativity. 

You can have all the brilliant minds in the world in your office, but without the charisma to lead them and rally them together towards a common goal (your goal), you just have a bunch of squabbling geniuses. What you need for everyone in your company, yourself included, are soft skills that work together with your technical ones.

As technologies develop and soft skills become equally valuable, training and development are necessary elements in a proactive firm–both for yourself and your employees. Further education and upskilling should include soft skills to create a team that’s holistically ready for the future of work. 

Why training and development of soft skills are vital in a professional practice

Professional practices or firms will benefit from developing and placing an emphasis on soft skills. According to a study by Wonderlics in 2016, 93% of employers deemed soft skills to be important and essential when making hiring decisions. 

Soft skills impact how you work with others and how you nurture those relationships. You could encounter someone totally brilliant at their job, but if they refuse to communicate, collaborate or do their part when resolving conflict, they’ll only be a headache to deal with. 

No person is an island–especially someone who wants their practice to flourish–and soft skills are what ensure organisational success. A divided workplace won’t be able to reach its goals or its full potential because nobody’s working together. One that embraces training, teamwork and leadership, on the other hand, will maximise their chances of reaching goals because everyone is productively moving towards them. 

Leadership responsibilities such as delegating, team building and problem-solving all become easier with nurtured soft skills like communication, coaching and mentoring. It’s easier to form positive bonds with others, boosting morale and invigorating yourself and your employees. 

Soft skill development is also incredibly important to Gen Z, who are the future of the workplace. Training these skills is more important to this generation than any other because it fulfills their needs of being supported, upwards career trajectories and a collaborative environment. 

Emphasising the importance of soft skills for your company future-proofs it as you’ll have happier and more well-rounded employees, ways to resolve conflict and a staff that will continue to grow and outlast your competitors. 

The 5 soft skills every leader or manager needs 

As a leader, you need to be an example to your employees. If you yourself don’t embrace soft skill development for yourself, they probably won’t either. Here are five soft skills you’ll need to stay human in your practice and to maximise effectiveness and the possibility of success.

1. Conflict resolution

While having to play the middle man isn’t always ideal, it’s important to keep the peace. Pacifying employees or managers who have dissenting opinions with one another is a necessary part of keeping everyone on the same page. Facilitating conflict resolution with clients allows you to calmly resolve their concerns while showing that you care about them.

Resolving conflict doesn’t just get rid of tension, but it brings people back together in a more positive way. If you opt to sweep things under the rug instead of encouraging your staff to hash it out, you only worsen the situation because nothing is actually settled and those negative feelings may continue to fester. 

Conflict resolution also minimises staff turnover. Workplace agitation leads to people turning in their resignation letters because they don’t want to be in a stressful environment. When you keep things peaceful, your staff will stay happy and inspired. 

Instead of working apart, you all work as a team, tackling things together. There’s power in numbers, especially numbers that are productive and want to achieve the same outcome. 

2. Negotiation

When people picture “negotiation,” they often think of people discussing transactions. However, negotiation is more than that–it’s about ensuring something is fair, reaches a good compromise and benefits everyone involved. It goes beyond just purchasing, but with how you deal with others.

Negotiation builds confidence, which makes you a more sure leader. Having that self-assurance will make you more magnetic and easier to follow. 

Negotiation also helps you finetune your active listening skills. Because you need to consider the other person’s offer or compromise, you need to do more than just wait for your turn to speak or respond. You need to be able to take in what they’re saying, consider it carefully, and then make your counter-offer. 

Being a good negotiator also sharpens your strategising skills because of how you formulate plans and rearrange them to benefit you and the other person. 

3. Persuasion

Persuasion isn’t forcing someone to do something, despite the connotations attached to the word. It’s more about reorienting someone’s perspective to see how something is actually beneficial. 

Persuading your employees that a task or an assignment is not just good for the practice, but also for them can help boost their productivity and supercharge organisational change. 

Persuasion is also an important skill to develop when dealing with customers and doing sales meetings. You want to persuade your clients that your professional service is one that will help them. By helping them see and understand that you’re best positioned to benefit them, you’ll be doing your clients and yourself a favour. 

4. Influence

As a leader, you have a certain degree of influence because people look up to you and respect what you say. Using that pull is not a bad thing at all, as long as it’s done sincerely and with a genuine investment in not just your own success, but your staff and client’s success, too. 

This is different from coercion. When you influence someone, you affect their opinions and outlook but don’t force them to do anything. Because your position or statements have moved them, they’ll act independently of your own intent. 

5. Coaching and mentoring

The most direct way to develop your staff is through coaching and mentoring. A good mentor can teach and nurture certain skills and guide your staff to make the right decisions and find their footing. 

Coaching and mentoring also make it easier for you to monitor both company and employee performance, growth and success. They’re also the most straightforward way to maximise strengths and minimise weaknesses. With these two skills, you can set direction and get immediate feedback and results without shortchanging anyone.

Guidance and perspective are also invaluable parts of being coached. 

Putting in the effort to coach and mentor your staff also shows you are invested in their growth and have a lot of empathy for your employees. 

When it comes to your practice, you want to sharpen and nurture soft skills–both your own and your staff’s. This isn’t just to help your company become more well-rounded, but also to bring everyone together and energise the company. With everyone firing on all cylinders and directed towards the same goal, you can supercharge your business growth and success exponentially.

If you want to learn more about how soft skills make a difference and how they can be used to bring your team together, give us a call.