Page 21 - Effective Communication Soft Skills Strategies For Success by Nitin Bhatnagar, Mamta Bhatnagar

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Soft Skills: Growing Importance | 9

extent. With still more practice, the child can move about, but only with
significant concentration. If it is distracted from its intent, it will quickly
stagger and fall. In time, the skill becomes second nature and can be performed
without conscious intent. The child has now become unconsciously competent.
New skills are added in progression. The child will begin to run only to meet
with a new series of challenges. Over the course of skill acquisition, the child
will learn to run while catching and throwing, followed by more and more
complex skills. At the highest level, very skilled athletes perform seemingly
impossible tasks with relative ease. Just as the instance of learning to walk,
further examples can be taken into consideration like training the thinking
system to resolve conflict, to overcome non-assertiveness, to improve commu-
nication requires time, patience, and many repetitions. One school of thought
vehemently argues that soft skills are innate and cannot be learned. The other
school of thought holds the view that soft skills can be learned. Addressing the
controversy whether soft skills are innate or not is a baffling issue and beyond
the scope of this chapter. However, it is important to remember that acquiring
soft skills needs tremendous effort on the part of the learner.

SOFT SKILLS EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Those who impart education and training should take action and expand
programmes to include the training of soft skills. Another important con-
sideration is that the training of hard skills is easier to define, and the returns
of technical training are perhaps more immediately apparent—as a result
it is much easier to ascertain whether someone has mastered a topic in
Mathematics than ascertaining whether he has learnt appropriate listening
skills. The training of soft skills is generally more nebulous and requires a
considerable investment of time to acquire efficiency. The training begins with
topics such as listening skills; assertiveness skills, conflict management skills,
communication and other interpersonal skills should likewise be included in
the course curriculum. Hence, teaching, training, evaluation, and a consider-
able follow up of soft skills have to be integrated in the learning system. This
process helps the students to develop psychological well-being.
The case for improving soft skills is compelling, although it is worthwhile
to remember that they are not a replacement for hard or technical skills.
They are, in many instances, complementary, and serve to unlock the poten-
tial for highly effective performance in people qualified with the requisite
hard skills. What is certain, though, is that soft skills will be taking on an
increasingly important role in organizations across all sectors of the economy.
It would seem that, given the nature of training required to develop effective
soft skills, it may be necessary to start such training from the earliest years of
schooling, and continue to expand them throughout all levels of education.

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