Soft Skills in Action

Scenario #1: It is 8 a.m., and Hakeem arrives to work on time. He smiles and says “good morning” to everyone he passes in the hall. He always has positive things to say about his co-workers and quickly offers to help out when someone needs assistance. Hakeem demonstrates the following soft skills: Positive attitude, Punctuality, Initiative.

Scenario #2: Great job on the project! Harri smiles as her boss compliments the team for all the hard work they put into the project. She used her leadership and listening skills to manage her team with success. Harri demonstrated the following soft skills: Communication, Teamwork, Leadership.

Scenario #3: “Let’s just skip the safety feature on the bike. No one will ever know, and it will save us thousands of dollars.” Roberta cannot believe her ears as she listens to her team talk about releasing a new product she has been working on for months. She knows people can get hurt without the safety feature and respectfully shares her concerns with the team. Roberta demonstrated the following soft skills: Integrity, Strong Work Ethic, Self-Respect.

Scenario #4: “This chart is all wrong. It should be colorful and bigger! You need to redo it and have it to me by 5 p.m. today.” “I understand what I need to do, and I will get started right now,” responds Larid to his boss. Larid demonstrated the following soft skills: Ability to take constructive criticism, Dependability, Responsibility.

To effectively collaborate, you may need to discuss a project with the team. During the meeting you should set the following goals:

• the goal of the project
• the role each person will play on the team
• guidelines for dealing with conflict and product deadlines

When you develop a new team, it is important to understand the different stages that take place during collaboration.

Psychologist Bruce Tuckman created 5 stages of collaboration.

Stage 1: Forming

The word forming is used because the team is being “formed.” This is the stage where team members are excited to learn how they will collaborate together on the project. However, little progress is made on the project due to people getting to know each other and learning their roles.

Skills used in this stage: listening, positive attitude, multi-culture awareness.

Stage 2: Storming

"Storming" is used in this stage because the team works like a thunderstorm. Team members are often mad and stressed during this time of collaboration because they are learning to work together.

Skills used in this stage: conflict resolution, taking constructive criticism, stress management, problem-solving.

Stage 3: Norming

The quietest stage in collaboration is called norming and comes from “norms,” which means the team is establishing the “normal” expectations for group conduct. During this time team members are starting to work together and making progress on the project.

Skills used in this stage: positive attitude, goal setting, organization

Stage 4: Performing

The “performing” stage means the team is collaborating or “performing” well together due to the trust and expectations established for the project.

Skills used in this stage: leadership, trustworthiness

Stage 5: Adjourning

The last stage is the “adjourning” stage, which means over. The project is now finished and the team members will go on to work on different projects.

Skills used in this stage: flexibility, willingness to learn new things