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THE TOP 60 SOFT SKILLS AT WORK

Amit Kumar did his M Tech from IIT, New Delhi. He has an MBA from IIM,

Ahmedabad. But he still could not get the job of his choice during campus

recruitment.

Reason: Blame it on his soft skills. Or rather the lack of them.

These include communication, listening, negotiation, etiquette, language skills etc.

Hence, he could not compete with his fellow students who got better jobs.

Soft skills play a vital role for professional success; they help one to excel in the

workplace and their importance cannot be denied in this age of information and

knowledge. Good soft skills -- which are in fact scarce -- in the highly competitive

corporate world will help you stand out in a milieu of routine job seekers with

mediocre skills and talent.

The Smyth County Industry Council, a governing body based in the US, conducted a

survey recently. The results of the survey was called the Workforce Profile which

found "an across-the-board unanimous profile of skills and characteristics needed to

make a good employee." The people most likely to be hired for available jobs have

what employers call "soft skills".

Here were some of the findings according to the workforce study:

The most common traits, mentioned by virtually every employer, were:

~ Positive work ethic.

~ Good attitude.

~ Desire to learn and be trained.

Mohan Rao, a technical director with Emmellen Biotech Pharmaceuticals Ltd,

Mumbai defines a 'good attitude: "It is a behavioural skill, which cannot be taught.

However it can be developed through continuous training. It represents the reactive

nature of the individual and is about looking at things with the right perspective. Youmust be ready to solve problems proactively and create win-win situations. And

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you must be able to take ownership ie responsibility for your actions and lead from

the front without calling it quits at the most critical moment."

Most of the business leaders observed that they could find workers who have "hard

skills" ie the capability to operate machinery or fulfill other tasks, but many potential

hires lack the "soft skills" that a company needs.

CEOs and human resource managers said they are ready to hire workers who

demonstrate a high level of "soft skills" and then train them for the specific jobs

available. The ever-changing impact of technology has given hard-skills-only workers

a short shelf life.

According to results of the Workforce Profile, (source: www.workforce.com) the

more valuable employee is one who can grow and learn as the business changes.

Soft skills "are as important, if not more important, than traditional hard skills to an

employer looking to hire -- regardless of industry or job type. This could offer a major

breakthrough as educators and training providers seek to develop and cluster training

courses to fit business and industry needs."

Top 60 soft skills

The Workforce Profile defined about 60 "soft skills", which employers seek. They

are applicable to any field of work, according to the study, and are the "personal traits

and skills that employers state are the most important when selecting employees for

jobs of any type."

1. Math.

2. Safety.

3. Courtesy.

4. Honesty.

5. Grammar.

6. Reliability.

7. Flexibility.

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8. Team skills.

9. Eye contact.

10. Cooperation.

11. Adaptability.

12. Follow rules.

13. Self-directed.

14 Good attitude.

15. Writing skills.

16. Driver's license.

17. Dependability.

18. Advanced math.

19. Self-supervising.

20. Good references.

21. Being drug free.

22. Good attendance.

23. Personal energy.

24. Work experience.

25. Ability to measure.

26. Personal integrity.

27. Good work history.

28. Positive work ethic.

29. Interpersonal skills.

30. Motivational skills.

31. Valuing education.

32. Personal chemistry.

33. Willingness to learn.

34. Common sense.

35. Critical thinking skills.

36. Knowledge of fractions.

37. Reporting to work on time.

38. Use of rulers and calculators.

39. Good personal appearance.

40. Wanting to do a good job.

41. Basic spelling and grammar.

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42. Reading and comprehension.

43. Ability to follow regulations.

44. Willingness to be accountable.

45. Ability to fill out a job application.

46. Ability to make production quotas.

47. Basic manufacturing skills training.

48. Awareness of how business works.

49. Staying on the job until it is finished.

50. Ability to read and follow instructions.

51. Willingness to work second and third shifts.

52. Caring about seeing the company succeed.

53. Understanding what the world is all about.

54. Ability to listen and document what you have heard.

55. Commitment to continued training and learning.

56. Willingness to take instruction and responsibility.

57. Ability to relate to coworkers in a close environment.

58. Not expecting to become a supervisor in the first six months.

59. Willingness to be a good worker and go beyond the traditional eight-hour day.

60. Communication skills with public, fellow employees, supervisors, and customers.

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How many soft skills do you possess?

Part II: How to improve your soft skills

How to improve your soft skills at work

In a previous article we listed60 soft skills, which if practised at the workplace, could

boost your professional life.

Subjects like financial management, marketing management, HR management can be

taught in the classroom and can be studied at home. But not soft skills. Soft skills are

acquired and experienced on the spot and cannot be developed by merely reading

textbooks.

The soft skills you gain will equip you to excel in your professional life and in your

personal life. It is a continuous learning process.

The 60 soft skills mentioned can be classified into corporate skills, employability

skills and life skills. In some parts of the world like in USA and Australia, soft skillsare also known as world skills.

Corporate skills

These are generally CEO level skills, but if you are familiar with them you will be in

a position to guide your boss towards success ie working together for a common goal

as a team. You can become a courageous follower as mentioned by Ira Chaleff in his

award-winning book Courageous Follower: Standing Up To and For Our Leaders.

These skills include:

~ Political sensitivity.

~ Business and commercial awareness.

~ Strategic awareness.

~ Understanding funding streams and mechanisms.

~ Information management.

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~ Organisation and control.

~ Team building.

~ Communication and persuasion.

~ Networking and public relations.

~ Leading change.

Employability skills

These have to be mastered by employable graduates and freshers include

communication, team working, leadership, initiative, problem solving, flexibility and

enthusiasm.

Every skill helps us to learn one more as they overlap each other.

To quote an example, leadership encompasses a number of other skills including

cooperating with others, planning and organising, making decisions and verbal

communication. Verbal communication itself involves various means of

communication, some of which you may find easier than others -- talking over the

phone, making a presentation to a group, explaining something to a person with a

more limited understanding of the topic for example.

By improving one skill, you may also improve a number of others. In the context of

your career planning and development, they are called career management skills

Life skills

These skills are related to the head, heart, hands and health ie highly personal and

behavioural skills which reflects our personality and naturally helps in personality

development.

We manage and think with our head. Resilience, keeping records, making wise use of

resources, planning/organising and goal setting are 'head' related managerial

functions. Service learning, Critical thinking, problem solving, decision making and

learning to learn were related to our thinking processes, which we manage with our

head.

Functions of the heart are relating to people and caring. How do we relate to people?

We relate to people by accepting differences, conflict resolutions, social skills,

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cooperation and communication. The second function we do through our heart is

caring. We care through nurturing relationships, sharing, empathy and concern for

others.

We give and work through our hands. Community service, volunteering, leadership,

responsible citizenship and contributions to group effort -- are our way giving back

to society. We work through our marketable skills, teamwork and self-motivation to

get the things done.

Living and being comes under the functions of health. Healthy lifestyle choices, stress

management, disease prevention and personal safety are our prime concerns for better

living. Self-esteem, self-responsibility, character, managing feelings and self-

discipline must be practiced without fail for our well-being. In a nutshell, the essence

of life skills is share well, care well and fare well.

Things to do everyday

Follow these ten golden rules and enjoy every moment of living.

~ Greet your family members first thing in the morning. If you are not used to this,

they will be surprised with your sudden and nice gesture.

~ Greet your peers, subordinates and boss once you enter the office. Smile at even

the 'security' personnel standing at the gate, who takes care of your safety.

~ Greet your friends along the way and do not ignore them.

~ Continously reciprocate to breed communication. If you do not reciprocate at least

with a 'thanks' when you get information or a source on your online network or your

offline network, you will not be remembered for a long time. If you are not

remembered, you are out of your network.

~ Be a proactive listener and empathise with others to command respect.

~ While talking to others, your voice, tone and tenor must be audible and soothing. It

should not be aggressive or in a shouting mode.

~ Dress well to suit your profession and to create positive vibes in your workplace. If

you are a sales representative, do not go out with printed shirts and jeans, which may

turn down your customer.

~ Political and religious comments must be avoided at all costs in the workplace,

when you are in a group.

~ Your communication should not provoke others.

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~ Do not speak ill of others if you can help it.

*******************

6 'soft' skills you need for success

Reputed Software Company in India is all geared up for a client visit.

The clients have indicated that, after inspecting the progress of the project they have

outsourced, they would like to meet the team members working on it.

Why? To select one team member for a stint onsite -- something almost every

software engineer aspires for.

Ravi has been one of the most active members in the project and has done a

wonderful job. He is technically brilliant, but has some concerns:

Will he able to communicate his performance to the client in an impressive

manner so that he is chosen?

Why do his team mates not prefer to come to him for solutions and go to less

capable people instead?

His project manager doesn't seem to be very warm towards him either,

although he does drop in those occasional mails appreciating his work

Here is a typical scenario in an IT company; or for that matter, any organisation where

interpersonal communication is involved. Or, like in Ravi's case, where an employee

suffers from a lack of interpersonal skills.

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Are technical/ job-related skills enough?

Technical and job-related skills are a must, but they are NOT sufficient when it comes

to progressing up the ladder.

With the traditional paternalistic style of leadership becoming pass, professional

managers expect their teams to be proactive and communicate openly.

"Soft skills are very important in business. It is essential to be technically sound, but

one should also have the ability to convey the idea to the masses in the simplest

possible manner," says Mayurkumar Gadewar, an ERP consultant with

Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

With the boom in outsourcing taking root across industries, many professionals and

subject matter experts directly deal with their clients on a regular basis.

Their approachability and people skills are what ultimately sustain the contract their

employers have bagged.

"Planning is necessary but execution is also equally important. And it takes soft skills

to execute any idea because it involves dealing with people directly," says Gadewar.

6 soft skills for every hard-nosed professional

Behavioural training experts say there are several soft skills are required in these

circumstances. Some of them include:

i. Interpersonal skills

ii. Team spirit

iii. Social grace

iv. Business etiquette

v. Negotiation skills

vi. Behavioural traits such as attitude, motivation and time management

Do you have these? If your answer is yes, good for you.

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But if your answer is no, then you know it is time to approach either a training

organisation or a training consultant.

Will formal training enhance your soft skills?

There is a lot of argument in the industry as to whether it is possible to enhance soft

skills in a few hours of training, especially when one considers the fact that a person

has lived with those traits all his life. To this, the answer is harsh but real -- a

professional who wants to do well in his/ her career does not really have a choice.

In the initial years of your career, your technical abilities are important to get good

assignments. However, when it comes to growing in an organisation, it is

your personality that matters, more so in large organisations where several people

with similar technical expertise will compete for a promotion.

Training on soft skills becomes all the more relevant in a country like India where the

education system does not delve into personality development.

"Soft skills training is essential because we do not have it in our academic curricula.

Therefore, corporate houses have to take up the task of grooming employees who are

the link between the company and the external world, so that they are able to present

themselves better, " says Sumeet Mehta, an equity research analyst with Fortis

Securities Ltd.

Be your own trainer!

While organisations are definitely investing in augmenting their staff's people skills,

here are some inputs for professionals and students who would like to initiate theprocess themselves:

i. Be a part of team activities

It could beeither as a part of your church choir, or an NGO, or your local youth

circle.

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Observe your own behaviour in the group and how you relate to others.

ii. Ask family members or close friends to write down your best and worst traits.

Ideally, have at least four to five people do this for you.

Evaluate the common traits all of them have mentioned. Thus, you can be aware of

your strengths and work improving your weaknesses.

iii. How well do you manage your time?

Think.

Can you do more in life? Or is your day too crammed with activities? Effective time

management is very essential in the corporate world.

iv. Introspect on how you react to feedback.

In organisations, people skills mostly come into the picture when there is feedback

given -- be it for an idea, an executed project or a presentation.

You are judged by the way you respond to feedback.

Do you get defensive?

Do you insist you were right?

Do you meekly accept criticism?

Remember, people tend to be judged and stereotyped according to their

responses. You will, too.

v. How good are you at critiquing?

While responding to feedback is one side of the coin, giving feedback is the other

side.

Are you aggressive? Pessimistic? Do you believe in constructive criticism? Or preferto be the yes-man?

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vi. Live consciously

Any organisation is manned by people, therefore soft skills are all about how you deal

with people and present yourself.

Though it may be easier said than done, soft skills can be enhanced simply by being

aware of oneself and living consciously.

Rukmini Iyer is a corporate trainer and instructional designer. She writes

regularly on business etiquette, communication, language enhancement and

grooming.

*****************************************

Soft Skills for Information Architecture

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Share your comments on this topic with other web professionals

In: Columns > IAnything Goes

By Jeff Lash

Published on September 24, 2003

While much of ones success or failure depends on the skills specific to information

architecturelike diagramming, documenting, organizingan even greater indicator

is soft skills: dealing with conflict, negotiating, and communicating. These soft skills

are important in any profession or job role, but are of high importance in information

architecture, which requires applying them in sometimes unconventional ways.

For people looking to transition from their present role to take on information

architecture duties, or for those who currently have these duties and would like to

continue to grow and improve, an excellent approach to the softer side of IA is to

build on a solid foundation of IA principles, techniques, and skills. Applying the soft

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skills correctly will help you organizationally and politically while you are actually

applying the skills specific to information architecture.

Know how to win arguments, but know when to give in

As an information architect, you will occasionally need to put your foot down. A large

part of the IA role is convincing others that your recommendations are sound and

should be followed, or persuading others that IA is important and you should be

allowed to perform your duties. Information architects need to convince and persuade

on a daily basis, and knowing how to do this is a key success factor.

It is just as important, however, to know when to give in. Too often, valuable energy

is wasted trying to implement a recommended design or add additional IA tasks. Not

only does this cause frustration and waste time, but it can undermine what needs to be

a solid, honest relationship with clients, developers and teammates. There will be

times when, like it or not, you will not get your way. To paraphrase from the old

axiom:

Grant me the strength to improve the features that I can

Accept the features that I cannot

And give me the wisdom to know the difference

If ever there was a guiding mantra for information architecture, this is it.

Learn to make do with what you have

In case you hadnt already noticed, life is not fair, and neither is information

architecture. It would be great if several months were available for usability testing, orif the Purchasing department would approve that new version of the software that all

your IA friends say you really need to have, or if the project team would let you do

some wireframes before they jump straight from project plan to development.

Unfortunately, it seems like IAs have to deal with things like this more often than

other roles (though others surely would disagree). Success as an IA involves creativity

and resourcefulness. Not only is it knowing when to give in, as explained above, but

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its learning to make the best of the situation and work within the constraints that you

are given.

On a practical level, that means not getting too attached to a specific process, or

format, or piece of software. Your next client or employer may function totally

differently and utilize different methods or products to get the work done. It might be

easier or quicker initially if you could work the way youre used to, but good

information architects adapt and learn new approaches. And who knowsit might

actually be a little bit better than the way you were doing it before!

Keep everyone happy

Information architects often act as the middlemen, interfacing with everyone from

middle or upper management to marketing to development to IT. Each group requires

something from IA, and IA requires something from each group. The key to a

successful working relationship is to keep everyone happy, which means:

Not treating other groups as adversaries. When the relationship with another

group or individual turns from being friendly and complementary to

confrontational, it does neither side any good. Everyone should be working

towards a similar high-level goal, and the individual responsibilities shouldnt

overshadow that. Understand their role and respect their focus in that area, just

as you would like them to do in return.

Not confusing client-centered for user-centered. Keeping people happy

doesnt mean following direct orders, nor does it mean going out of the way to

please them if it displeases you. Again, focus on their individual or group

goals and objectives, and help them work towards that. Sometimes a littletough love may be needed but, ultimately, respect will be earned by helping

them while at the same time acting responsibly and knowing your boundaries.

Realizing that there are other things outside of IA that affect someones

happiness. Information architects are sometimes analysts, therapists,

designers, or negotiators who can get involved in areas where they may or

may not necessarily belong. By using these skills creatively, a better working

relationship can be established. For example, a developer may be unusually

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combative when presented with a new proposed feature that was identified

during user research. This resistance may not have anything to do with the

backend work needed to implement it, but because the business owner denied

the developers request for additional software that would make it easier to

develop said feature. Presenting the developers case to the business owner

and understanding his/her reasons for denying the request could help,

especially since information architects are often uniquely suited to understand

both the technology and business context involved. It could help clear the air

and get everyone focused on a proper solution that would allow the feature to

be implemented.

Keeping everyone happy not only makes it easier to focus on the specific information

architecture tasks, but it obviously builds the foundation for a better long-term

working relationship, continually reminds everyone of the importance of information

architecture, helps ensure job security or client work, and reduces stress.

Document, document, document

Information architecture is what it is because of its deliverables. Site maps, content

inventories, wireframes, scenarios, conceptual modelsa large part of what we do is

defined by how we document ideas and information.

In addition to creating documents that are presented to clients or team members,

documenting everything else that goes on in an information architects work life can

be beneficial as well. Having a record of why certain decisions were made, how issues

were resolved, when certain events happened, and who was involved can be

invaluable when prior actions are questioned later on in the process. Similar issuesmay come up again, on the same or different projects, and being able to reference

prior similarities is always useful. Research may be able to be reused in other

situations or referenced for future work, and having it documented, rather than relying

on memories of a discussion, saves considerable time and energy.

Documenting can be as simple as following up a phone conversation with a written

summary of your understanding of the discussion and decisions that were reached, or

as formal as a full document that is passed on and signed off at various stages.

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However it is implemented, having a written record of actions, decisions,

recommendations, and the reasons behind them can make the life of an information

architect much easier and allow for better, more effective uses of time.

Embrace the librarian within you

Since the current practice of information architecture was largely influenced by

library science, this should come as no surprise. Embracing the librarian within you,

however, is not so much about using librarian skills in job duties as it is about

developing a system for storing and retrieving useful information.

There are countless online resources for information architecture and related

disciplines. Thousands of articles, research papers, interviews, case studies and

similar materials exist, and information architects need to access this information on a

regular basis. Developing a system for finding the good resourceslike, ahem, this

columnand being able to find them when they are needed at a later date is

extremely helpful. It may be possible to rely on memory or search engines, but those

tools may be unreliable at a later date.

Some information architects rely on huge categorizations of bookmarks, others on

wikis or blogs, and others on downloaded copies of useful resources. Again, the

method is irrelevant, but the need to embrace the librarian within you, and develop a

strategy to find and use relevant information, has never been more apparent as the

amount of information available grows at an exponential rate.

Let other people do the work for you

As the information architecture community expands and more individuals get

involved with the discipline in some capacity, it becomes clear that this growing

number of colleagues can be of great value. A design question or political hurdle that

comes up may have been faced by another information architect in another company,

and information about their experience is certainly valuable to obtain. Opinions on a

new technology or method can be solicited from those who have first-hand

knowledge, saving considerable time and energy needed if the research were to be

started again from scratch. Though you may have embraced the librarian within you,

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certain articles, research summaries, or case studies may have fallen through the

cracks, and other information architects may help where searching has failed.

There is also the additional benefit of being able to add often-needed clout to a

recommendation by referencing successes (or failures) from other companies or

projects. The combination of publicly available information and personal anecdotes

and experiences may be useful in the decision-making process.

The softer side of IA

This admittedly incomplete look at the soft skills helpful to information architects can

hopefully shed light on those other things that people entering the field or looking

to advance need to know. While much attention is paid to skills specific to

information architecture, and deservedly so, these soft skills can make the difference

between a competent professional and a truly effective and successful practitioner.

Importance of Soft Skills

Broadly speaking, we can view software testers as having two kinds of skills: one set used to

perform basic duties at work, and another set of skills used to approach work. The former can becategorized as technical skills and the latter as soft skills. To elaborate more on soft skills, these are the

ones that define one's approach towards work, life, problems, etc. Soft skills are people skills. The best

part about mastering them is that the application of these skills is not limited to one's profession, but

their scope reaches all aspects of life. Technical skills may teach one how to meet the expectations of

the job, but soft skills teach one to succeed, and to exceed expectations. It is surprising that we spend

our time educating almost exclusively in technical skills.

Having said so much in favor of soft skills, my intention is never to undermine

the importance of technical skills. It's nearly impossible for a tester to survive in the

profession without sound technical skills. What I intend to challenge here is a popular

myth: Technical skills, and only technical skills make a tester a complete professional. I firmly believe

that both technical and soft skills compliment each other and the balance between these two is what

makes a tester a complete professional. Now, let's have a look at the various soft skills that make up a

successful software tester.

Discipline and Perseverance

One obvious aspect of testing is that it can be extremely repetitive and may require a

lot of manual effort. Consider the following situations:

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A tester is struck with a bug that is not reproducible at all the instances. In

order to reproduce the bug he goes through the whole series of steps again and

again.

As part of a daily routine, a tester has been asked to collect data about test

cases executed, bugs logged, etc.

After discovering a defect, a tester is supposed to write steps to recreate the

defect.

There can be numerous examples that prove the reiterative nature of the job. A very

predictable reaction to this repetition is to simply get tired of the job. But soft skills

include the psychological tools to persevere, and to find ways to make effort more

productive and interesting. This attitude difference helps a tester maintain focus and

higher levels of quality work. It brings the ability to carry out task at hand in spite of

difficulty.

Reading Skills

It may seem odd to classify reading as a skill. But its importance becomes

more obvious when we have to deal with large chunks of information every day. As

testers, we routinely encounter large quantities of data to read and comprehend. At the

requirements review stage, when testers have to review hundreds of pages of

requirements, the application of reading as a skill makes a big difference.

Consider this fact about reading: An average person reads at the speed of about 200250

words per minute. With the structured and scientific approach to reading, the reading speed can be

more than 500 words per minute, and with improved retention and concentration. Correlating this with

software testing, a requirements specification that would otherwise take a tester eight hours to read and

comprehend, would take around four hours with improved reading.

Negative Thinking

Negative thinking can be the useful ally of a tester if it is applied at the right

time. For a new product, a tester is working to create a QA plan or a master test plan.

While mentioning the risks involved in the project, a tester has to consider all the

things that can go wrong during the lifecycle of project. Training the mind to think

negatively in such situations helps testers develop an efficient contingency plan.

Let's also consider the test-design phase. An important part of test coverage and design are

the tests that represent the way the application under test could fail. Every tester would agree that

testing is incomplete without such tests. Again, negative thinking helps testers derive the negative user

scenarios. Thus, negative testing is a skill. A word of caution here; this type of thinking is only for

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specific situations. A tester has to be smart enough to identify such situations and wear an appropriate

thinking hat to deal with the situation.

Communication and Interpersonal Skills

Communication and interpersonal skills form the necessary ingredients for

success in any profession. Communication is something that we always do in our

personal lives as well as professional life. Communication is a very basic human skill

and one cannot go very far without it. Though most of us agree that these skills are

important, very few of us give these skills a high enough priority. For a tester, both

verbal and written communication are crucial. Consider the situations below:

A tester communicates a defect in a program to the developer. This

communication includes written as well as verbal communication. This

moment of communication instantly decides the rapport, which a tester enjoys

with developers.

The Testing department is often considered as the information source for

management. This information pertains to product health at any given time in

products lifecycle. Very often during the lifecycle of product, a tester is asked

to present the product and testing status either via verbal presentation or

written data, e.g. by emails to management.

Many instances can be thought of in the day-to-day work of testers, where a tester can

make a difference to the situations with effective communications and interpersonal

skills.

Time Management and Effort Prioritization

When we talk about time management, its not the time that we actually

manage. We manage ourselves, our tasks, so that we make the most of our time.

Testers have to juggle a lot of tasks Consider the instances below:

A tester is involved in Exploratory testing. In such a case, a tester may be

testing, creating test cases, documenting results, and creating test metrics all in

a day. Such situations call for managing time efficiently.

A Tester may be involved in more than one project or modules at the same

time. The priority of work may vary. Such a situation is common and one

needs to give special attention to effort prioritization even before venturing

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into multiple projects. Collect all the information that helps one prioritize the

efforts.

Time management and effort prioritization define the importance given to

each task and hence the sequence in which they should be performed. These skills

help a tester manage work better and eliminate time involved in the tasks that are low

priority, thus enhancing productivity.

Attitude

A positive attitude is not accidental. It is something that is developed by

training one's self. Attitudes are a matter of choice. Every situation we face offers us

the chance to choose either to react positively or negatively. Perform a regular attitude

checkup. It affects your job everyday. Attitude is a soft skill, and it is a central cause

in a tester's ability to develop other effective soft skills.

The Soft Skills of Global Managers

Despite nearly two decades of corporate globalization efforts, many

organizations still struggle to find managers who are comfortable and effective in the

increasingly global economy. Most suffer both from a lack of cultural awareness

when dealing with employees and partners overseas and from a lack of experience

managing increasingly complex processes over long distances.

Though a few insightful corporate giants such as General Electric, Cisco

Systems, and Intel have made strides in developing successful global managers, many

human resources leaders and senior executives continue to be frustrated with the

available skills and resources.

But why is it so difficult to develop effective global managers? The answers

are as complex as the world's geographies. Each company has its own specific needs

and challenges, and every country presents a unique and rapidly changing landscape

in which work must be accomplished.

But even so, there are steps companies and managers can take to better prepare

for the challenges of managing globally. Our focus here is threefold: (1) to develop a

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clearer understanding of the challenges of managing people across borders; (2) to

instill in new global managers an awareness of and an appreciation for the vast

differences among the cultures in which they do business; and (3) to give global

managers the tools and support they need to succeed.

The yawning cultural chasm

With the emergence of China and India as the newest and most daunting playing

fields, experienced executives and thought leaders agree that softer cultural issues

have become the source of notable management problems.

"Managing in a global environment means you manage people who are separated not

only by time and distance but also by cultural, social, and language differences," saysS. Devarajan, managing director of Cisco Systems Global Development Center in

Bangalore, India. Cisco India has more than 1,500 employees and close to 3,500

partner employees.

"The main challenge here is to integrate and coordinate these individuals in ways that

will ensure success. You need to build a relationship and have frequent interaction

and communication among your team members," he says. "And you also need to be

sensitive to and respect the cultural differences. People from different cultures tend to

misunderstand each other's behaviors or stereotype people from other countries. It is

essential to recognize the discrepancies between cultures in order to work together

effectively."

This, of course, is no simple task.

Letting go of the headquarters mindset

Embracing differences among cultures and taking advantage of them to build value

begins by addressing what Mary Teagarden, a professor of global strategy at

Thunderbird, the Garvin School of International Management, in Phoenix, calls "a

headquarters mindset," which she says pervades many global organizations.

Simply put: Too many companies assume that they can do things abroad in the same

manner as they do them domestically, says Teagarden. "When I see companies that

are underperforming in the global environment, I hear them saying, 'We have people

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who are just like me at home, and we expect everybody else to be just like me.' And

people don't work that way."

Teagarden, who has spent much of her twenty-six-year career analyzing the

challenges for managers in a global economy, says she believes that these constraints

can be overcome if leaders focus more closely on the empathic qualities of

prospective global managers.

"What is essential in a global environment is the ability to work with individuals,

groups, organizations, and systems that are unlike our own," she says. "We must also

understand what differentiates people and what unites them. Understanding that

tensionhow are we alike and how are we differentis a critically important starting

point."

At the very least, organizations need to ensure that managers have had the

opportunity to build a basic understanding of the new cultures in which they will be

immersedwith a particular focus on appreciating how behaviors differentiate.

Beyond this, Teagarden has identified a number of key characteristics that

successful global managers possess. Among them are three that resonate loudly: (1) a

belief that differences matter; (2) openness to new and different ideas; and (3)

cognitive complexity, or the ability to focus on both the "hard" and "soft" metrics in

an organizationthe hard quantitative side along with the softer, people side.

These three success factors provide a useful framework for prospective global

managers to use as they assess their skills and their preparedness for their new

assignment.

Differences matter

When footwear industry veteran Pat Devaney, a senior vice president of production,

Among the rarest of traits is the ability to balance the need for consistent corporate

practices with the need for regional uniqueness.

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sourcing, and development for Deckers Outdoor, Inc., arrived at Deckers' China

offices in Guongdong Province for a recent meeting, he stopped in the lunchroom to

converse with a group of female workers.

"These women come from all over China, and each one orders a specific type of food

depending on what region they are from," Devaney says. "As part of the dialogue,

they were talking about the different flavors of mountain rat. 'Is grain fed better than

fruit fed? Does it taste like cat? Are duck feet as chewy as chicken feet if cooked

correctly?'"

Though the conversation was not work related, it illuminated a simple but

profound truth about managing in a global environment for Devaney, who has workedclosely with operations in Asia for Deckers Outdoor and other companies for nearly

thirty years. There are great cultural differences between the people who make up

global companies. Understanding how people think, work, eat, and interact in a

foreign workplace is crucial to building a successful operation. Most managers, new

to these exotic environments, are ill prepared for these nuances.

As the Chinese market economy has developed, Devaney has taken countless

American managers on their first visit to China, and he has seen the importance of

teaching them the subtle but crucial cultural characteristics of a new geography.

"You have to realize the complexity that is involved in managing people in different

countries," he says. "What is important to them? How do they take information you

give them and interpret it back to those who work for them?"

Teagarden suggests that executives with Devaney's mentoring skills are in

short supply, particularly in small and midsized organizations.

Openness to new ideas

As emerging markets such as China continue to expand, executives must also

tap into the management expertise in these geographies and be willing to move

international managers experienced in one country to other countries. Too many

companies view globalization as a one-way street, which is a shortsighted view,

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according to Teagarden. The integration of international managers plays a big factor

in developing global expertise.

"Moving U.S.-based personnel overseas is one thing, but what about bringing some of

the Chinese or Indian managers back here or to Europe or South America and

plugging them into the mix?" Teagarden asks. While some large companies have had

success with this cross-fertilization, she says, very few small and midsized companies

do it at all.

But consider what this can achieve. Mary Kay Cosmetics, for example, set up

operations in China and discovered that it was not allowed to sell door to door as it

did in the rest of the world. The Chinese government decided it had had enoughAmway salespeople invading the country and called a halt to such selling. So Mary

Kay's Chinese managers came up with a new distribution system in China, and a

savvy marketing manager there led the development and introduction of a new

midrange product that sold well in Chinese department stores.

Mary Kay brought this Chinese marketing manager to its Dallas headquarters

to replicate what she did in China and help managers see how it could be replicated

elsewhere in the firm's global operations. "That is how you use the human supply

chain very effectively," Teagarden says.

This kind of cross-fertilization helps domestic managers think about how to be

more flexible in their thinking and to appreciate how incorporating different

perspectives is good management and good business.

Cognitive complexity: Getting the hard and soft in concert

Among the rarest of traits is the ability to balance the need for consistent

corporate practices with the need for regional uniquenessboth in terms of respecting

cultural differences across geographies and seizing the unique advantages of each

market.

Charles Giancarlo, Cisco Systems' senior vice president of development, feels

his firm has learned some important lessons in this regard. In the early stages of

Cisco's global expansion, he says, Cisco's senior management allowed managers from

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different departments to establish their own connections in other countries, including

India. The idea was to save money up front by avoiding Cisco's corporate bureaucracy

and taking best advantage of the local opportunities.

But it also served to create a distinct shortage of consistency, or a lack of a

single corporate culture for employees in other countries to embrace, Giancarlo says.

"It's important for local employees to get the benefits of clear reporting structures and

of uniformity in processes and procedures that a company like Cisco offers. You also

want them to feel a sense of pride and a commitment to the larger organization.

Otherwise, the cost savings you thought you had could be short lived. It's also very

hard to consolidate later."

But teaching new global managers how to balance corporate philosophy with

the unique circumstances of the local market is not easy; it requires an awareness of

cultures in the midst of dynamic change. It also demands a healthy dose of

independent thinking among some very unfamiliar surroundings. Inexperienced

managers may end up clinging to the practices they know and, thus, fall prey to the

"headquarters mentality" Teagarden warns of. Or they may succumb to a form of

cultural intimidation in which they allow for whatever the local team is used to. In

doing so, they open their organization to the problems Cisco once faced.

One way companies can help is to allow new global managers to immerse

themselves in their assignments slowly. Teagarden suggests that companies

commence a new manager's global assignment by having him work on a virtual team

that is, managing an overseas process or project while still being stationed in one's

home country. By allowing people to learn to work together digitally, companies

provide an opportunity for managers to hone the skills they will need to draw on when

they are on the ground in a foreign countrybut to do so while still in familiar

territory. Diving in headfirst has not shown itself to be a particularly effective

approach.

In a similar vein, Cisco India's Devarajan says that his company is addressing

the marriage of cultural diversity with consistent management practices by employing

"cultural ambassadors" who help coach the engineers and software developers about

both company and country cultural issues before they are sent on assignment.

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"It is a cultural mind shift," Devaney says. "Even the very small things when

you arrive, like where the leader sits at a lunch meeting or where to sit in the car. We

would assume riding shotgun next to the driver in front is where the big boss sits, but,

in fact, the seat of power is in the back behind the passenger seat. As the economy

grows, the relations will worsen because so many people arrive here completely

unprepared for what they are up against. Teaching people to understand what is going

on around them makes an impact as you build relationships."

Soft skills you can use

SUNIL waited with bated breath in the lobby for the results of the interview.

Was the company reasonably impressed with the skills he had to offer? What woulddifferentiate him from the many others who made similar claims? Would he be able to

clinch the deal?

Sunil didn't have to wait too long. It was a simple decision for the company, as

Sunil made the perfect candidate meeting all their requirements.

The seemingly inscrutable veneer of success does have its foundation in

arduous beginnings. In the quest for professional excellence, technical know-how or

functional knowledge is no longer the only thing that matters. The importance of soft

skills cannot be overemphasised in an age where so much premium is put on

interactivity and communication. It thus goes without saying that if you don't have the

necessary soft skills to go with your other qualifications; you might not be able to

make it up the corporate ladder easily.

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Reality bites when nothing else does

The quest for acquiring soft skills should begin early. First and foremost,

polishing up your act would require you to realise your lack of the skill. You might

assume that you don't need to improve.

Before you commend or absolve yourself of any faults it is better to ask for an

honest appraisal from someone who knows you well enough. Even an honest

introspection would help.

Making it up as you go

Effective communication skills are something every professional needs to

possess. Verbal communication skill includes a one- to- one interaction,

presentation/public speaking ability, and good telephonic skills. Written

communication would include report writing, business writing and email etiquette.

Listening skills are another vital aspect of the art of communication that is

often ignored, if not relegated to the background. In your enthusiasm to state your

point of view, it is possible that you could be missing out on an important perspective

or concern. Learn to give an ear to others, before you suggest your views.

All these facets of communication are vital in every business scenario. If you

are not comfortable with certain skills, there is always scope for improvement. You

can take up formal training through workshops or an informal one through mentoring.

Both ways, you need to pinpoint areas that need to be honed and develop the drive to

follow through till you attain perfection.

In synch for outrageous success

The ability to work in a team can add tremendous value to your employability

quotient. Interpersonal skills play an important role in this regard. Your ability to

understand situations, fill in the missing pieces, connect and coordinate, and enlist the

support of others are important parameters.

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Cultivating an attitude that is empathetic is therefore essential. Make a

conscious attempt to steer clear of pitfalls like concentrating only on personal

advancement, or having a narcissist approach. Learn to resolve conflicts rationally

rather than getting involved in emotional outbursts or `showdowns'.

Leading by example

Leadership skills in a professional are an added asset to a company.

A management degree alone does not ensure you a place among the managers.

For instance, when Anita joined her company as a trainee, the manager felt that she

had the drive to take the initiative. When all others went about doing their normal

jobs, she ensured that everything else was running smoothly and was able to handle

emergencies adroitly. The management also spotted in her the ability to make sound

decisions. Good organisation skills accounted for her promotion to head the small

group of peers whom she worked with.

Learning to serve

When learning takes the centre stage, it brings with it a whole lot of add-ons

with it. Problem solving abilities are tested and sharpened. Conversely, one should

realise that a know-it-all, un- teachable attitude wreaks disaster. Having an insatiable

desire to learn is something that keeps a professional alert and open to improvement.

While putting into practice what you have learnt, make it a point to have your

customer, or user audiences' point of view in mind- this helps you to stay focussed

and moving on the right track.

Getting into the groove

Whatever be your core competency, managing change is another skill that you

need to master. Being adaptable is essential at a time when corporate scenarios are

constantly changing and evolving. Being able to adapt and adjust quickly thus works

to your advantage.

Stemming the tide

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Managing stress and not buckling under pressure will help an employee be

resilient. Managing time and resources effectively also accounts for a lot of

professional success.

The ability to multitask helps in cases when you have to coordinate a number

of activities of your peers or subordinates, as well as take on additional

responsibilities as and when the need arises.

The new breed of wannabe professionals may have all the qualifications to

vouch for them.

However, with stiff competition in the job market, those who are hard

working, honest and competent with soft skills to match are the ones who will find a

place and keep their jobs, at a time when the shaky economy is trying to steady itself.

THE SOFT SKILLS OF BUSINESS ENGLISH

By Dr Goeran Nieragden, Cologne

Abstract

This article deals with the importance of the recent notion of soft skills for work-

related language coaching, especially its role in Business English. It is argued that soft

skills form not only a crucial and increasingly important topic in careers and career

negotiations, but are also part and parcel of adult language tuition which tries to take

seriously learners' (and teacher's) personalities. Both a number of general principles

and concrete examples of making Soft Skills 'work' in the class-room are discussed.

What are soft skills?Not normally found on a CV, soft, or social skills are those personal values and

interpersonal skills that determine a person's ability to fit into a particular structure,

such as a project team, a rock group, or a company. The skills include personality

traits like emotional maturity, eagerness to learn, and willingness to share and

embrace new ideas.

As regards the future of work, soft skills are fast becoming the deal breaker in many

of today's hiring decisions. Executives, after all, are rarely measured according to how

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well they can re-iterate the technical specifications of their products and services, but

rather on their ability to motivate an organization, to assess the performance of their

staff, to make clear and well-balanced decisions, and, first and foremost, their ability

to develop and communicate ideas and visions. A list of the most crucial skills would

look something like the following:

Interaction

attitude awareness

conflict handling

co-operation

diversity tolerance

(n)etiquette

interlocutor orientation

teamwork willingness

Communication

delegating skills

listening skills

presentation skills

Self-Management

compensation strategies

decision making

learning willingness

self-assessment

self-discipline

self-marketing

stress resistance

Organization

problem solving

systems thinking

troubleshooting

Figure 1: Soft skills in four categories (1)

Though the total of 20 skills is grouped under four headings they are, of

course, all closely interrelated: 'Learning willingness', e.g., is difficult to manifest if

your 'time management' does not work. And it is also true that soft skills are not

exactly 'easy'; if they were, it would be easy to teach everybody to be a Managing

Director. In what follows, I will try to show that soft skills are gaining in importance

in two contexts which are relevant to English in Adult Education, in native, but even

more in non-native contexts: DOING BUSINESS and DOING BUSINESS ENGLISH

both feature soft or social skills as objects, effects, and prerequisities.

The skills are of growing importance in a world where business is marked by

'hot' buzzwords such as globalization; decentralisation; and lean management. Of

course it is a truism that in real life soft and hard skills (such as subject competence,

resource handling, and market knowledge) go hand in hand. Hence, the selection

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instrument of an 'Assessment Centre' is gaining in significance especially for high

potential recruitment. Through its exercises in strategy development and strategy

implementation, many companies and employment agencies argue, this two- to three-

day intensive group performance session brings to light candidates' abilities in

'conflict handling', 'co-operation' and 'stress management'. Admittedly, a traditional

job interview or an old-fashioned IQ-test hardly warrant these results.

Thus, though it is certainly helpful to know what technical terms such as

benchmarking, 'B2B' vs. 'B2C', business process re-engineering, customization,

downsizing, outsourcing, and empowerment stand for, a mere word-list knowledge

ignores the complex interpersonal problems these terms carry. If we want to teach

learners of Business English how to deal with these problems interpersonally, soft

skills handling is indispensable.

The Teachability of Soft Skills

Though the skills would be difficult if not impossible to teach

'straightforwardly' in any course, teaching can create contextualized tasks, and thus

provide skills-related learning experience. Collateral learning seems to be the key

word here, that is, the notion of a learner learning more than merely the subject that he

or she is studying at a given time. If 'attitude awareness' and 'problem solving' are

what count in the future, then, ideally, teaching should have a share in attitude

formation and comparison.

A soft skills framework should permit Business English to emphasize the

interpersonal forces of language-use in a work-oriented context, and teachers should

keep a sharp eye on the function of any language item which they want to highlight.

In other words, they must teach the pragmatic force along with the words, evidenced,

by textual (= structure-giving), propositional (= intention-determining) and

interpersonal (= status-fixing) functions. Any mismatch of linguistic form and

speaker's intention leads to confusion, annoyance and misunderstanding, that is,

causes havoc: 'I'm not prepared to show my homework', e.g., can signal

unwillingness, inability, criticism of unclear homework assignment, simple forgetting,

and other things.

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Social Theorist Erving Goffman (1955) made that very clear with his theory of

'FACE' and its twofold workings: In human interaction, Goffman argues, people strive

for a positive social value, i.e. the approval of others (= a positive face, PF), while at

the same time they also want to avoid other people's impediment (= a negative face,

NF). Criticism, negative comments and disapproval of an interlocutor's personality or

performance usually endanger his/her PF; requests, offers and compliments may

threaten his/her NF: An invitation to golf causes offence (for the inviting party) if

refused, debt (for the invited party) if accepted. Thus, what we normally tend to think

of as plain and straightforward communicative exchange, in fact is a very thin layer of

ice on which successful skating can be dangerous. If we take some very ordinary

English sentences like the ones in Figure 2, it is apparent that they are not harmless

and ordinary at all if we consider what might be implied for the involved people's

'FACES': (2)

SITUATION UTTERANCE

1.Pointing at a colleague's desk: That mouse-pad does look funny!

2.On the way to the company car park: Do you have your mobile phone with you?

3.On returning to your desk: I thought I put a cup of tea here.

4.During a business meeting: Is anybody else here cold?

5.Knocking on a colleague's office door: Are you busy right now?

6.Asking a colleague in the canteen: Isn't that Mr Lawson over there?

7.Sitting in a lecture theatre: Sorry, there's a lot of noise at this end.

Figure 2: Sentences as threats to interlocutors' 'face'

These sentences turn into downright traps if understood as a demand for

action, an allegation of stealing tea, a request for assistance and so on and so forth.

Rather than teaching students only how to construct and employ phrases like these,we should try to heighten their awareness of the inherent power relationship, trust and

intimacy levels of the interlocutors; in short, the sentences' challenges to the category

of 'FACE'. Language coaching, in turn, should adapt to the constantly changing 'face'

of English, and keep in mind the cognition-based concept of 'KAL' (Knowledge

About Language) which Ronald Carter has been promoting since the early 90s. The

flexible character of this concept is meant to go beyond older ones, such as

grammaticality, formal correctness and linguistic awareness. Carter wants language

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learning and teaching to (re-) start from scratch, i.e. to acknowledge insight into the

'new view':

"A view which recognises Englishes as well as English and which stresses

variable rules accords with a multilingual, culturally diverse view of society. [...] A

critical language pedagogy does not so much aim simply to produce competence in

use of a standard language, vitally important though that is, as to enable learners to

reflect on the kind of English they use and how far it allows them to express their own

personal voice as language users." (Carter. 1997: 9, 226)

This notion is closely related to the new standard of "ISSE (International

Standard Spoken English)" which David Crystal (2000: 57) forecasts to emerge as theresult of the increasing global use of and diversified influence on the language. He

cannot be far from the truth, as it so happens that English is an immensely (and

increasingly?) flexible language, crammed with idiom and slang, unusually hospitable

to new words. It is not only the language of business and international politics, but

also that of travel, sports and science, computer software and the music industry.

Moreover, in times of boundless globalization, the idea of 'FACE' is gaining particular

importance in business contexts that involve cross-cultural aspects: In a business

world where a German marketing officer is sent to Japan by her employer, a Finnish

telecommunication corporate, in order to negotiate joint ventures for the emerging

markets of Eastern Europe, it is certainly good to know about the main differences

between British and American English, but what this person is very likely to

encounter (and to use) herself, corresponds to neither variety.3 Given these

conditions, English tuition should ideally proceed from linguistic competence =>

linguistic awareness => cultural awareness => cultural competence.

Implications for Learning

Phraseology, lexis and collocation are of primary importance in this approach

of which grammatical accuracy is no longer the be-all and end-all. Our syllabus will

have to pursue complex aims besides those of planting words and structures in

students' heads. This will of course remain the precondition of all attempts at soft and

social skills. But whichever way the 'basics' of structural grammar are brought to a

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learner, the techniques of drill patterning, total immersion or suggestopedia even, will

not do when 'handling English aptly' rather than 'using English correctly' is at stake.

Ideally, learners in the new position do not experience themselves as

voiceless, and subject to external authority, not only as passive receivers, but rather as

active discoverers, communicators and - most significant - creators of knowledge. The

objectives of this idea of teaching become visible as improving learners' active and

passive knowledge of styles, registers and functions of language items (4); furthering

their knowledge of the working mechanisms of business; involving them as far as

possible in tasks of teacher-guided learning; and encouraging them to set up,

implement and realize their individual learning strategies. These objectives, in turn,

ask for a learning process that is fundamentally social, interactive, and self-directed -

if we want to encourage our learners to take home 'more than Business English' from

'a lesson in Business English', manifest in topics like Negotiating with Foreign

Business Partners, Defying the Angry Customer or Serving International Markets, we

must select, prepare and set tasks that involve reflective assessment and active

training of one or more of the soft skills. Some general guidelines to make the upper-

intermediate to advanced English class more learner-centred will be suggested now.

When venturing on a new topic, teachers might start with a brainstorming

session and elicit what students already know. Thus they will give the students a

chance to start from their true personal vantage points; any accompanying material

will then be taken not as a spoon- and force-fed medicine, not as the final word, but as

one of many possible options. Space and room-allocation permitting, one could also

ask students to write upon notice boards, flipcharts or whiteboards those aspects of a

topic which they would most like to learn about. Tasks that are suitable for pairs or

groups should tend to be open rather than closed, i.e. they should permit a variety of

possible answers or solutions, or in any case, they should provide room for choice. In

this way, they transport respect for any student's individual attitude, and ask them to

balance rather than venture their arguments. Two short examples might help to outline

possible ways of realizing insights from soft skills training in the class-room.

The first example is from the realm of 'Financial English' and could run like

this: For the topic of 'Takeovers and Buy-Outs' we might begin with a list of relevant

technical terms, strategies, model cases, pros and cons, etc. But students will only

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experience the position-dependent forms of emotional involvement (e.g., enthusiasm,

greed, pride, low vs. high self-esteem, sense of failure, satisfaction of 'winning'), if we

can get them to approximate the atmosphere in which talks about the takeover process

are likely to be conducted. So any group of four advanced students could be assigned

the roles of the CEO of a failed start-up-company under threat (also its founder and

main shareholder); the potential buyer (i.e. the representative of the 'bigger fish' trying

to 'swallow' the 'smaller' one); the 'white knight' (senior business expert or other

company backing the threatened company's case); and, especially in the case of

'leveraged buy-outs', i.e. buy-outs financed by third parties, the bank expert or

financial organizer who backs the buyer's interest. We could then ask students to

prepare and simulate preliminary or final negotiations, arguing their individual cases,

taking into account the other, 'hostile' viewpoints all the time.

The second example stems from the very crucial, and frequently requested

topic of 'The Job Market'/'The Application Process'. Very often, teachers confront

students with real job ads and ask them to sketch an application, a cover letter, or a

CV. Though this is certainly good training, it seems a rather lonely task in class, apart

from the exchange of technical terms. These, I think, should be pre-taught for a lesson

which uses job ads as a trigger for more group-oriented exercises. Referring to the

well-known study The Human Side of Enterprise (1960) of American sociologist

Douglas McGregor, we might outline his theory of two distinct types of work

motivation and work performance: In what McGregor calls THEORY X, people are

considered 'lazy' by nature, disliking work, and in permanent need of supervision and

control through a threats-and-rewards system. THEORY Y, by contrast, treats people

as inherently self-motivated, committed to their workplace, willing to take

responsibility and to make personal achievements, in short it assumes a psychologicaldisposition to work within a framework of structures. Obviously, THEORY X

provides a high degree of certainty and plannability, and is therefore easier to put into

practice on the workshop floor, or in mass and largely automated production than

THEORY Y. This, however, is good for managing staff promotions, salary

negotiations, and for effective management. In class, we could then make further

subclassifications by conceiving e.g. two representatives of each of McGregor's

theories (Y1: 'The entrepreneur'; Y2: 'The leader'; X1: 'The team worker'; X2: 'The

backroom worker'). Then, an authentic job ad could be scrutinized as to which of

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these types - the profiles of which should be established in class or in teams - best fit

the job description. (5)

Similarly, we could use the model which social psychologist Frederick

Hertzberg puts forward in his study Work and the Nature of Man, i.e. the crucial

difference between SATISFIERS and MOTIVATORS as determining factors of

people's job performance: SATISFIERS, as guards of AVERAGE POTENTIAL,

concern the working conditions and environement, the wages, the benefits, and the

degree of job security; whereas MOTIVATORS, as stimulators of HIGH

POTENTIAL, comprise challenging and creative tasks, recognition by peers and

seniors, personal responsibility, possibilities for promotion, and the subjective feeling

of forming part of corporate culture. It is easy to see that some basic questions such as

'Which type do you think you are?', 'Which type is your boss/your spouse/your best

friend?', 'Which type would you (not) hire?' etc., can lead to intense discussions or

team listings and, especially, will put all of the soft skills to the test in unforeseen

ways.

A lesson model with the benefit of reducing TTT (Teacher Talking Time) and

increasing STT (Student Talking Time) is shown in Figure 3. As we see, a lot has

happened in teaching methodology since the days when PPP (Present, Practice,

Produce) was the answer to all questions (6):

Traditional:

TEACHER'S ACTIONS EFFECTS ON LEARNERS

1. Presentation of a pattern Look, listen, memorise

2. Elicitation of a pattern Repeat with whole class3. Controlled practice (slight pattern

variations)

Repeat and vary in pairs

4. Free practice (more expanded

variations)

Repeat with more variation in groups

5. Written reinforcement Repeat in writing

Revised:

LEARNERS' ACTIONS EFFECTS ON TEACHER

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1. Look, discuss and guess the point Display pattern, stimulate discussion

2. Receive confirmation or correction Give solution on board or to groups

3. Repeat, vary, discuss Guide practice, encourage discussion

4. Invent questions/exercises for other

groups

Monitor groupwork

5. Exchange questions; discuss and write

answers

Encourage exchange, monitor writing

6. Discuss as a class with teacher Guide discussion, summarize findings

Figure 3: Teacher-centred vs. student-centred lesson plan

New Media and Soft Skills

As regards the 'overkill' of media and new media development directed at the

teaching professions, any teaching material's qualities in featuring any number of the

soft skills is what should guide our selection, preparation and employment. It is

certainly true that a well-produced CD-ROM can work miracles for the beginner's

faltering steps towards listening comprehension, and can make word learning less

tedious. Also, e-mail-controlled homework - or even teamwork-tasks - solve a number

of logistic and organisational problems. But most of the training forms that focus on

'attitude awareness' and 'conflict handling' are probably not really 'cyberworthy', notleast because their teachers would not embody these skills themselves if they were

only 'cybereducators'.

And though NEWSWEEK recently painted a glorious picture of the future of

online-learning, "[b]y the end of 2000, 75% of all U.S. universities will offer online

course work to a logged-on student body of about 5.8 million, in most cases as

supportive to personal teaching" (McGinn 2000: 60), I do not fear for the future of

print-based and classroom-located teaching, if understood as a common enterprise of

both the teaching and learning personalities involved.

Moreover, if communication theorists are only halfway right in claiming that

up to 70% of any information is communicated not via language, but by other

systems, such as personal appearance and body language, we are still a long way from

the moment when personal teaching can be fully discarded. Machines can do the

drilling and controlling of drilled patterns, but they do not reach beyond that stage.Many of the greatest benefits of training, after all, are unintentional. When you come

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out of a training program, you often perform better. But is it the training that's critical

or the interaction during the training?

Now it might be replied that with the growing significance of 'e-commerce',

the use of internet and e-mail will become standard features of business that we

cannot afford to ignore when teaching people who will go on to do, or are already

using 'e-commerce' in their jobs. Even learners in internet-related fields, however, I

would like to hold, are in need of communicative, self-managing and problem-solving

skills: If, say, 20 years ago students learned the conventions of business writing

through letters and telexes, this may now have changed to faxes and e-mails, yet the

obstacles to 'winning' your addressee for your ideas, or the dangers of 'striking a false

note' have remained very much the same. So, instead of saying: 'Here's a new piece of

technology - let's see if we can think of some way of using it', in soft skills teaching

we should steer a more relaxed course and begin with: 'Here is an educational need -

let's see which technology we can best apply to it'.

Implications for Teaching

A soft skills-centred agenda in Business English has to emphasize the

personal, the subjective and the constructivist; it must challenge the expected, the

usual, the traditional and the positivist. An authoritarian and teacher-dominated style

of teaching will certainly not come to terms with the objective of conveying this

armada of extra-linguistic skills through language teaching. Only a co-operative and

learner-centred style, it appears, will do justice to the newly-defined roles of both

teacher (who becomes more of a facilitator, and less of an instructor) and student

(who is upgraded to a discussion partner and ideas generator, and by no means an

empty vessel to be filled from outside): "Language is an immensely democratizing

institution. To have learned a language is to have rights in it" (Crystal 2000: 56).

This should not be taken to mean that teachers let go of their right and duty to

monitor and organize the goings-on in the classroom. Rather, their 'interventions'

especially in tasks of an open, multidimensional nature should be a careful, situation-

adopted combination of facilitative and authoritative contributions. They must hold

the balance between releasing tension, encouraging self-exploration, and providing

both challenges and strategies. You need competence and experience to do this job,

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but you need commitment, enthusiasm, patience and role-consciousness to do it well.

In short, you need the soft skills; not only, but quite urgently if you would like to

teach them to others. To re-iterate the old saying that 'Teachers are the ones who

understand, know, and can', is certainly not enough here. You need a healthy ego to

teach, but you also need to be strong enough to check it at the door. Teaching

'interpersonal skills' is not about making yourself more powerful. It is about making

your students more powerful. And you will only earn their trust and respect when you

know who you are, convey a strong sense of mission - and when you 'walk your talk'

(7).

What counts in soft-skills-framing, obviously, are the qualities of intellectual

and interaction stimulation: Teachers should get students to use reasoning and

evidence; they should encourage them to think about old problems in new ways, and

to re-think ideas that they had not questioned before. Ideally, teachers trigger off

conversations even among groups of students who do not normally interact with each

other, e.g. in a class on Business Correspondence where future engineers and

architects sit next to economists and IT specialists. Thus, teachers should see those

patterns which allow innovations and improvements for both the teaching and the

learning process.

Conclusion

For the teacher the framework of soft skills confirms the ideas that 'good

English teachers will always remain diligent English learners' and also that 'students

learn best from what their teachers enjoy teaching'. The two qualities inherent to all of

the abovementioned requirements of teachers, i.e. their essential soft skills, are the

notion of holistic, situational problem solving, and the willingness to continuously

revise one's own sense of meaning.

It is not a closed shop we want to provide access to; it is not a finalised book

we have to work through and press home on the learners. Rather, we should try to do

our best in achieving two results simultaneously that are vital in view of the ever-

changing 'face' of English: to enhance our students' linguistic competence; and to pave

ways towards (inter)cultural competence, i.e. prepare them for the extra-linguistic

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demands that 'handling language aptly' via soft skills will undoubtedly put on them in

their careers.