10 Soft Skills Every IT Professional Should Develop in 2019

Learning is a continuous process. The more you learn the more you get the knowledge. When someone thinks of Information Technology professional, they think of computer savvy people who can understand computer network and have various skills. But it is not true. Every IT professional, in order to succeed in their career must acquire some non-tech skills. 

It’s the skills (technical and soft skills) that make professionals different from others. A professional will always be judged by the way they interact with people.

Here are some skills that professional should develop to reach the top this year.               

Networking – Today networking has become an essential aspect of every field. So it’s who you know and who knows you that matters. You must develop relationship and connection within your network. Before starting off business deals, it’s very important to connect with the customer. Networking has many benefits. Helping out a professional connection means that they’ll owe you one. What many proofs fail to understand is that visibility does not end once you get the job. It is networking that helps you become more visible that is why easy language should be used. If possible, One can use the language in which client is more comfortable. Once the client feels connected automatically the trust build up.

Communication – This skill is important for every profession. In today’s world, one of the most important communication skills is email. Email is faster and easy way to get connected with the client. Every professional need to be able to write an email in the appropriate format and short subject line.  Other common things which must be considered while tackling your client are listed below:

• Speak with confidence and clarity.  
• Listen more than you speak.
• Try to develop rapport

This will develop a positive relationship between you and client and that will help you to grow.

Public speaking – It’s very effective way to communicate to a large number of people at the same time. Make your presentation a conversation with your audience to make them attentive and awake.

Effective ways to communicate with the public –             

• Engage with your audience -Look for reactions to your views and wait for them to question you.
• Be more expressive, Go slower and speak every word clearly           
• Bring some enthusiasm to your talk as nobody is interested to listen if you are not energetic.
• Be yourself-Gestures should come naturally. The more you act like yourself, the more confidence you will see and the more audience will able to relate.

Time management – As a professional, one must understand the value of time. No matter how you slice it, there are 24 hours only in a day. It’s very important to manage time as doing so can aid you to accomplish more tasks with less effort, and that’s the need of the hour. Being a professional you must complete your task by a given deadline. This will help you to make a good impression on your seniors. The key to good time management is not to work more but to work more efficiently without getting exhausted.

Methods to manage your time –

• Make a task list and priorities
• Estimate time accurately
• Create a schedule accordingly

Team work – Team work allows different people across the world working together and achieves a common goal. Working as a team reduces the workload as it equally divides the work among the members so no one is overburdened, deadlines are met and hence, Work can be done faster.

Problem solving – Effective problem-solving skills enable you to analyze the problem, identify the severity of the problem and address the impact of an alternative solution. One can practice brainstorming activities to prepare himself for workplace situations.

Ways to identify and solve problems are –

• Identify the problem –

There are many training programs designed to help employees to develop the problem-solving skills. It trained them to work efficiently. Once you identify the root of the problem, you can easily get to know why it happened and later you can figure out how to prevent it in future.

• Propose solution –

After listing all the relevant details about the problem the next step is to write down the possible solutions and evaluate the most appropriate method to overcome the same.

Positive Attitude – Positive attitude plays the equally important role as other skills do. If you really desire your customer to feel comfortable working with you then a positive attitude is an essential. the list of steps that can assist you in maintaining a positive attitude is as follows:

• Look for the positive side
• Focus on what has gone well
• keep your goals in mind
• Be proactive, not reactive

Accountability – It’s the process that ensures employees answerable to their superior for their actions. Every person is equally accountable in any business. You must have the courage to accept your mistakes and try not to repeat it in future. Every person should be given a chance to express themselves. It’s very obvious that when people feel like their voice is heard, their investment in work increases far more than when they are being told what to do and how to do it.

Decision making – It is an ongoing process in any business. In professional field, it’s very important to take the correct yet professional decisions. The decision should be made on presented facts rather than personal grievance. One must take the fair decision that has to be strictly unbiased. Apart from this, it is necessary to invite the employee’s suggestion, consider the pros and cons and then finalize the same.

Patience – Customer service is not an easy job. You have to be available for them when problem occurs. Some customers can be very irritating whereas other demands extra attention. Your job is to handle every customer calmly with patience, for instance, listen to their problem first, offer solutions, and satisfies their entire needs. One should be very convincing and attentive while dealing with a customer. Your job only ends when the customer is satisfied.