Soft Skills Training - Prof.M.S.Rao

Knowledge or skills that cannot be taught, although of course there is obvious evidence that it can be learned or acquired. It may therefore be regarded as "know-how", i.e. a "knack" for doing something. - (Atherton, 1999).


Soft skills training is far away from conventional methods of training where lot of interactive activities is conducted related to behaviour. The training helps in bringing out behavioral changes among the individuals. During this training, real life environment is created and participants are trained in a simulated environment through several role plays, activities, exercises and participation.


Objectives:

Soft Skills Training helps people develop competencies and capabilities. It develops and strengthens several work related skills making them competent and confident in handling tasks effectively and efficiently.

It brings out behavioral changes among the trainees so that they develop interpersonal, communication, team building skills and leadership skills. It helps them in enhancing productivity and performance at the workplace. In case of students, the training helps them to acquire employability skills so that they can get employment easily.


Training Methodology:

The process of training program involves several role plays, group activities, exercises, management techniques and feedback and Kirkpatrick’s concept of evaluation for takeaways. The process depends on the profile and the requirement of audiences. It is essential to bring the participants out of their comfort zones through effective interaction and participation. The practical interaction helps the participants in energizing and activating themselves.

The training gets people thinking, gives the new abilities and capabilities and enhances their self-awareness and self-worth by discovering and developing. The trainers should develop their own tried and tested tools and techniques drawn from their industry or corporate experience. The training methodology should be based on experiential learning where a facilitating learning environment should be created for better takeaways.

The training methodology must include interactive sessions, role-plays, games, practical exercises, questionnaires and giving feedback. In addition, the training sessions must include psychometric tests that give insights and ideas to the learners on the areas to be developed.

An ideal one week Soft Skills workshop for students should contain below topics:

• What are soft skills and its importance
• Understanding communication
• Body language
• Active listening
• Socializing and interaction
• Hidden data of communication
• Team building skills and stages in formation of teams
• Role plays and activities for team building
• Group discussions
• Interview skills
• Decision making
• Presentation skills with exercises
• Corporate etiquette
• Business ethics
• Mentoring, coaching and counseling
• Takeaways


An ideal Soft Skills workshop for working employees should have the below items:

• Communications Skills
• Assertive Skills
• Behavior Management or Interpersonal Skills
• Emotional Intelligence
• Personality Development
• Managerial Skills
• Time Management
• Stress Management
• Business Etiquettes
• Team Building
• Leadership
• Mentoring
• Managerial/Supervisory Skills
• Conflict Management
• Email/Telephone Etiquette
• Negotiating Skills
• Creative Thinking
• Networking Skills,
• Business Communication
• Entrepreneurial Skills
• Feedback and Takeaways

The above content is only tentative and it depends on the level of management and also the experience of executives. In fact, any training program needs to be tailored and customized as per the needs and profile of audiences.


Role of Soft Skills Trainers:

The trainers should be specialized in assessing training needs, designing, developing, delivering, administering and even evaluating corporate training solutions. It is essential to blend technology with traditional methods, problem solving tools and techniques, communication skills, promotional skills through practical training.

The essential characteristics to become trainers are:

Communication skills, domain knowledge, handling the questions, ability to align the answers of the participants in tune with the standard responses. Besides,
• Confidence
• Facing huge crowd
• Presence of mind
• Tact
• Pleasing personality
• High energy levels
• Industry experience
• Cheerfulness
• Analytical, incisive, logical, and sound observation
• Jack-of-all-trades and master of a particular domain and above all
• Passion to share experience and expertise with others.

The trainers should be able to observe and correctly interpret what is happening before, during and after the training. They should be imaginative and must surely possess the ability to think on the feet and tackle situations. They must have the ability to encourage others to go beyond their current level of performance. To achieve this, the trainers should be willing to share experiences and expertise and invest time for the sake of others and the organization. They must strongly believe that people are capable of higher performance. They should enjoy working with people rather than expecting to take credit for improvements in others.


Conclusion:

Soft Skills training has to be made compulsory in every educational institution from degree level onwards to equip employability skills when they complete their academic curriculum. The industry should also provide this training program from time to time enhance effectiveness of their employees. To sum up, everyone should know that like learning, training is also a life-long process for bringing all round development for individuals and institutions.