20 Essential Soft Skills for Business and Workplace Success!

20 Essential Soft Skills for Business Success
Connect better, with more prospects, clients, and employers. Assess yourself on these top 20 important soft skills for business and career success. Explore this list of soft skills you need for your resume and workplace, with practical examples & pro tips. #softskills #jobsearch #businesssuccess #resume
How strong are your Soft Skills? Do you communicate well, work with others effectively and self regulate where needed? Assess yourself on these essential soft skills for business success.

Connect better, with more prospects, clients and employers. Assess yourself on these top 20 essential soft skills for business success. Explore this list of soft skills in the workplace, with practical examples & pro tips.

Soft Skills are the Make – or often the Break – of  Careers!

What are soft skills in business?

Soft skills are the personal behaviors that enable us to interact effectively with others. In a business setting, it means being able to communicate, interact and work effectively with clients, vendors, teammates, even mentors, and advisors. Soft skills are important for business success because they help you to be more persuasive, deliver better results, listen better and share with confidence.

85% of career success is driven by soft skills, and only 15% is attributed to technical skills, says a Harvard Study.

Great soft skills can help you in making deeper connections with more prospects and clients!

Even in the corporate milieu, large companies and mid-sized businesses alike focus on, and define soft skills as job prerequisites today. LinkedIn has been consistently adding fields (and sub-categories) on skills like communication and negotiation in Member profiles

Lots of entrepreneurs work consistently on adding new and valuable skills like technology, social media to their repertoire.

But…

The individual focus on developing soft skills remains marginal – plenty of entrepreneurs and professionals do not actively work on improving theirs.

Here are some examples of how soft skills matter even when you possess strong work or hard skills.

Diana Salzberg did a certification as a Social Media Strategist but her poorly written proposals and inconsistent email followups kept new business away. A simple effort to improve her written communication skills could have been the game-changer.

Lasheena Graham’s VA gig was doing well but she missed the people facing side of the work, so she started handling sales full-time to feed both her interests.

Kristen Kovack’s high demand cupcake business couldn’t expand because she wasn’t able to retain the right people on her team. While she paid well, her high-handed manner and poor delegation kept the employee churn high.

Do you have these essential Soft Skills for Business Success?

There are 3 important types of Soft Skills – how strong are yours?

Do you communicate well, work with others effectively and self regulate where needed?

Assess yourself on these 3 top categories – Communication, Personal & Interactive Skills, broken down into 20 key examples of soft skills below.

Explore this list of soft skills that are key in business and the workplace. See how you fare on the questions and if the answers are mostly a no, you’ll know which areas to focus on.

Learn how to show your soft skills in resumes and interviews!

Communication skills – the words that count!

Active listening

We all need to listen to learn. And learn to listen. Responding comes later. Are you a mindful listener? How focused is your attention during conversations? Do you observe cues like tone and body language? How much are you able to absorb or recall later?

Your ears will never get you into trouble.

 Pro Tip: Can you recall important information shared with you, or do you have to recheck or be reminded  

Brevity

Can you keep it brief? Succinct? Do you use shorter, simple sentences to convey your message or verbose rhetoric? Do you use pauses meaningfully? Or even pause?

 Pro Tip: Speak for no more than a minute at a stretch when talking with others. In work situations, practice key statements beforehand. 

If digital is the way forward, then Empower Yourself!

10 skills in communication for online workEmpower yourself - 10 skills in communication for online work

Clarity

Do you possess the ability to articulate  – your mission, premise or even an offer? Do you think through your words first? Choose the right ones? Think about the different facets of an argument?  Ramble or roll?

My goal today is clear – convince you that Soft Skills come in many forms and each one counts!

 Pro Tip: Take 10 seconds before you answer an important(s). Evaluate plans, ideas and goals by writing them down.  

Write your Goals SMARTly and stay on track

Don’t miss this Ultimate Handbook!Make your Goals SMART with this Ultimate Goal Setting Handbook

Written Communication

Everyone is writing emails today. Preparing presentations. Pitching, responding, or just asking. Can you balance content and form? Use breaks and white spaces, smartly? What about visuals & links?

Do your words make a purposeful impact?

Web & Social Media

Most experts and web articles will tell you the latest tips to managing your FB page or getting more out of Instagram. But is your content – words and visuals alike – truly crisp & inviting? In other words, click worthy!

Use tools like Grammarly to limit errors and write better. Here are more ways and tools to proofread your written content.

 Pro Tip: Create email and presentation templates that you can adapt for different situations. Bookmark links to online content that inspires you or copy and save your links on a Google Doc. 

Use these free online business tools to communicate like a pro!

Essential free business tools for freelance and online work

Verbal Communication

Do you articulate well? Can you break down complex ideas into easy-to-understand sentences?

Presentation Pro

Are you one? Is your eloquence effective? Can you memorize your content and share information (seemingly) effortlessly? Manage pitch and fluency while speaking? Keep a pleasant expression and limit the hand gestures? 

All it takes is practice. Lack of preparation shows and who’s to blame?

 Pro Tip: Share ideas in shorter sentences without ‘heavy duty’ words. Record yourself speaking on video every few months to evaluate your delivery, expressions and gestures. Hang on to the older videos so you can see where you have improved.  

Learn the top soft skills that clients and employers value!

Also Read: Empower yourself – 10 skills in communication for online work

Personal skills – You’re as good as your skills

It all starts with us. The more skilled we are managing ourselves, the better control we will have on our work outcomes.

Managing Stress

If it’s not the wi-fi or an email snafu, traffic delays will mess things up. Something will always go wrong or off-rhythm. How do you respond? Do you lose your cool or deflect with humor? Think calmly and on your feet?

 Pro Tip: Plan for extra time and do your homework if you get flustered quickly. Deep breaths always work. Have a good belly laugh (even though it may be hard) – goodbye, anxiety! 

Time Management

Everyone wants things done yesterday. Can you meet deadlines? Be productive within assigned time limits? Can you realistically estimate time to completion for jobs? Do you multi-task or work in time banks?

Also Read: Motherhood and It’s Skill Amassing Side Effects

 Pro Tip: Keep a time check on how much time things take by writing it down. Over time you will be a whiz at estimating timelines.  

Use this free Planning TimeSheet to get everything done! (Instant download)

Confidence

Can you express your ideas with ease? Do you appear sure or keep second guessing your self? Are you always questioning your abilities?  How do you handle new situations – breeze through or shy away with reluctance? Or when needed, can you fake it (the confidence, that is). Do you focus on your strengths instead of harboring on your flaws?

 Pro Tip: Try the recording tip above. Get feedback from others on whether you appear tentative or confident. or worse, aggressive. 

Also Read: How to be more confident – 15 top tips to conquer work and life

Perception

Are you a pro at reading a room?  Does the customer team look unhappy about your proposal? Is your sales pitch causing people to zone out and yet you remain oblivious? If you can indeed sense the vibe, are you able to course-correct a tough situation?

The most important thing – hearing what isn’t being said.

 Pro Tip: Vary your presentation and pitch depending on the audience – group size, age, gender, time limit. In meetings, stop every so often to see how your audience is responding.   

Do you work online, as a freelancer or virtual assistant? Learn about the top soft skills that get you hired and re-hired!

Interactive skills – Do Unto Others

You can’t control how others behave. But you can decide how you react, and this is one of the most essential soft skills we need.

Selling

How convincing are you, really – can you win people over to your point of view? Show clarity and salesmanship without hustling? Are you persuasive? Do you inspire trust and confidence in the eyes of your customers? Can you close deals or at least leave the door open for the next conversation?

Knowledge is power but enthusiasm pulls the switch.

 Pro Tip: Research your customer carefully beforehand. Address their pain points and offer solutions rather than products.  

These 10 powerful pointers can help you sell effectively!

Networking

Are you comfortable connecting with strangers and acquaintances? Interact with ease, be personable, even share quick pitches in a group or one-on-one setting? Do you know the networking best practices and no-no’s?

Also Read: Back to Work? Your Mommy Years Count!

 Pro Tip: Start with smaller groups if you are new to this. Listen more than speak. Network online in Facebook and LinkedIn Groups.  

Are you interacting with clients online?

Try these 14 Pro Tips to engage clients in online meetings 

Virtual, not boring: 12 ways to engage clients in online meetings
Negotiation

Arriving at a compromise goes beyond contracts or pricing. It also involves deadlines, to-do’s, even finalizing info and content. Are you win-win focused? Can you plan and anticipate a conversation? Lose a negotiation with grace?

 Pro Tip: Do your homework. Know what is your ‘will close deal’ price and what is your ‘walk away point’ beforehand.  

Teamwork

Do you see yourself as a team player? Can you take orders? Collaborate when needed, work solo when not? Pick up the occasional slack without whining?

Finding good players is easy. Getting them to play together is another story.

 Pro Tip: Applaud wins if you are not the leader. Mention failings one-on-one. Disagree with a smile or a joke.  

Feedback Friendly

Turning constructive criticism (link) into action is an art. Can you process suggestions into consensus-based outcomes? Go back to the drawing board with a ‘let’s do it better this time’ outlook?

 Pro Tip: Always go with a ‘let’s make this better’ approach. If you disagree with the feedback, counter with logic rather than emotion. 

Leadership

Not everyone’s a CEO. But taking a plan to completion often needs someone to spearhead it. What kind of leadership soft skills do you bring? Knowledge-based or value-oriented? Functional strength or people-centric?

A manager says – go. A leader says – let’s go!

People Skills

Very simply, can you get along with people? Being a channel between different stakeholders needs attention to detail, tact and a sense of humor. Can you put out the work-related fires with customers, vendors, employees? Motivate and inspire others to do their best? Be an enforcer with grace and style? Retain employees and inspire loyalty?

Conflict Resolution

How effective are you interactions? Do your words and actions count? Do you get nods of agreement when you speak? Or even an ‘agree to disagree?’ When someone feels differently, do you take it personally? Can you remain objective while resolving their concerns?

10% of conflicts are due to a difference of opinion. 90% due to wrong tone of voice.

Mentoring

Today, everyone knows something. Mentorship is often a game of equals. Can you share insights at a peer level? Talk with and not down? Offer help without being asked? Are you gracious when thanked? And especially when you’re not?

Mentors matter! Find one. Be one!

Learning Mindset

We all have it – the question is, how deep and how strong is yours? When was the last time you learned a new skill, tip or hack? And which soft skill are you working on mastering right now? Do you see it as a drudge or embrace it with pleasure?

Conclusion

It doesn’t end here.

There are numerous more essential soft skills for business success, that can help a professional immensely. Organization skills, empathy, and a keen memory count big time too.

So what did you discover about yourself?

And importantly, how do you plan to leverage your strengths and overcome the improvement areas?

How do you show that you have strong soft skills?

Expert tips from pros to help you ace soft skills on resumes & interviews.

To succeed in business, we need to remember that Soft Skills are learnable and they evolve as we do.

When in doubt, think of the irrepressible Jack Sparrow.

The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem.

What say?

Pooja Krishna is an Entrepreneur, Business Mentor and Mom. She has worked both in large corporates and managed startups over the last 20+ years. 

She’s  a co-founder at Maroon Oak, and is founded Win Thinks, where she writes, speaks and teaches about Digital Media, Brand Building and Future Ready Businesses. A day trader for over a decade, Pooja launched Trading Paces to educate amateur and pro stock traders. As a classroom mentor, Pooja loves teaching students across the U.S. about job skills and entrepreneurship. Read about her on Huffington Post and Forbes.

A trivia buff and yoga & hula hoop enthusiast, she’s discovering the pleasure of drawing Zentangle patterns for ‘creative mindfulness.’

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43 Comments
  1. Avani Khandelwal 4 years ago

    A well-articulated post! Soft skills are indeed what recruiters are putting stress on when hiring people. It is important that we develop those skills in the current pandemic crisis.
    Also, one must be actively searching for job as companies are hiring.

  2. Lucy 7 years ago

    Fantastic post! I loved the part ‘ ears never get you in trouble’, so true! We all need to listen more.

  3. Christie Moeller 7 years ago

    I think soft skills are a HUGE asset in the workforce. They are like 80% of my job. Understanding personalities and being able to communicate with them is key.

    xoxo Christie

  4. Evelyn Reese 7 years ago

    Wonderful post, I am working on active listening especially on topics that I am passionate about. This post really put things into perspective. I have booked this link.

  5. Awesome post.

    • 7 years ago

      Thank you!

  6. Laura 7 years ago

    Great communication and listening skills are so very important as are the rest of these soft skills. I’ve always been a good problem solver and I’ve experienced many times in business people wait for the problem to be solved for them rather than try and come up with solutions themselves.

    • 7 years ago

      Great point, Laura! Problem solving skill is a convergence of so many contributing soft skills.

  7. brandi anne 7 years ago

    Great post! I learned the 85/15 in selling when I worked for the Luxottica Corp. I was an optician for their company Sears Optical. We used that concept when working with our customers.

    • 7 years ago

      Agree, Brandi. The best communicators make the message about others.

  8. Bianca Karina 7 years ago

    Communication is so so so important. It’s amazing how little people skills are valued in technical fields – as if their knowledge is an excuse on how to work with people. Glad to see there’s a word for these.

    • 7 years ago

      True, Bianca. They’re called soft skills because they are the most resilient – each one will outlast every technical skill we possess.

  9. Megan @ Ginger Mom 7 years ago

    Wow! You talked about a lot that, although it seems pretty obvious, I wouldn’t have guessed. This was a very helpful post and I have bookmarked it for future reference. Thanks so much!

    • 7 years ago

      Thanks, Megan. One of the biggest issues is how many people assume that soft skills don’t need work while intact, they are the big success drivers.

  10. Jithin 7 years ago

    Thanks for such an amazing lessons. I find it very useful for my career. Thanks for sharing.

    • 7 years ago

      Glad you found them useful, Jithin.

  11. These are wonderful tips.

    • 7 years ago

      Thank you!

  12. Tiara 7 years ago

    These are some fabulous tips to success. I live on being mentored in my business to become better and help me build.

    • 7 years ago

      Glad you fund them useful, Tiara.

  13. Obi 7 years ago

    This is a great read. Will share with my coworkers. I need to brush up on my soft skills too!

    • 7 years ago

      Thank you! Soft skills are learnable (to a degree) and smart people are always working on theirs!

  14. Olla Swanson 7 years ago

    Thank you for your tips! I think it’s important to always hone in your skills to be successful. I have to work on a few of these. lol

    • 7 years ago

      Don’t we all, Olla 🙂 Most leaders talk about communication and empathy before they even mention tech skills.

  15. Nati 7 years ago

    This is an amazing and very helpful list! find to have a few of soft skills myself I should be putting those forward in my interviews for a job 🙂

  16. Tina 7 years ago

    I love this post! I will definitely be sharing! As a business owner I agree that I would much rather hire someone more adept at soft skills than technical skills. Technical skills can be taught but you are right soft skills make or break the candidate!

  17. Davi 7 years ago

    What a great topic! I’ve learned by working in the corporate world that soft skills can sometimes be even more important than your technical abilities. I’ve always enjoyed reading books on the topics you’ve mentioned to try and refine my soft skills.

  18. Candy Rachelle 7 years ago

    Listening and written communication are my two strongest skills. I absolutely love this post. About to print it out so that I can take the time to read it in-depth!

    http://www.keepingupwithcandy.com

  19. Amy @ Chew Out Loud 7 years ago

    We often talk about how kids these days don’t get much practice with soft skills anymore; this is a great reminder of how important human connection is 🙂

  20. Ashley J. 7 years ago

    Great resource for professionals in any field!

  21. Alicia Taylor 7 years ago

    I wish more people would focus on conflict resolution. It’s damaging not only in personal relationships but also in the professional sphere. I am happy to see you included it.

  22. Courtney Andrews 7 years ago

    I love the part about “your ears will never get you into trouble” 🙂 I try to remember that listening is just as important as talking when it comes to having effective communication.

  23. David 7 years ago

    Active listening is probably the toughest soft skill for me to achieve on a daily basis. My wife says it is because I am a man lol. I think it is my lack of interest in repetitive everyday conversations. These are important I know when meeting new people but it is nauseating to me for some reason.

  24. Shevoneese 7 years ago

    I totally agree with you about these soft skills. These are very crucial in the world of work especially communicating well.

  25. Nicole 7 years ago

    These are the kinds of things everyone needs more of or to recognize in life better. The soft skills are the ones lacking by a lot of people. Proper communication is a must and I agree with all of them!

  26. Michelle Leslie 7 years ago

    Thanks so much for this Pooja. These skills are all super important and as a woman I found that many of us didn’t have role models to teach us these skills growing up. Maroon Oak sounds like a wonderful resource to learn and share.

  27. Kathryn Dickson 7 years ago

    Great post! I believe one needs to have personality skills as well as the tech skills to survive the workplace too.

  28. Kathryn Dickson 7 years ago

    Great topic! I like to look for a colleague with personable skills as well as the skills to do the job. Makes for a way more enjoyable workplace.

  29. Lynn Woods 7 years ago

    This is a great list. IMO, many times the soft skills are more important!

    • 7 years ago

      Completely agree, Lynn.

  30. 7 years ago

    Great post Pooja! So much food for thought!

  31. Ana De- Jesus 7 years ago

    I agree that soft skills are very important, especially good communication. I found Grammarly very helpful when I was at university! x

  32. Larissa 7 years ago

    Yes, I agree with all of these! I believe communication is the basis for every successful relationship, whether it be professional or personal. I know I need to work on my communication skills, as well as other skills. Personally, I don’t believe these skills are only pertinent in a business setting, but also very useful in life in general.

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