Management Tips:
Self-marketing techniques through soft skills
K. Kuhathasan, CEO, Cenlead
Managers of today are adopting self marketing techniques to have an
edge over others. The survival of the fittest through self marketing
techniques has become the order of the day in the business environment.
Quality of leadership is determined not only by the technical skills,
like professional qualifications but also by the quality of the soft
skills. Soft skills of professionals are emerging as the most important
critical factor in determining and assigning leadership roles and
functions in organisations.
What are soft skills?
Soft skills are skills relating to people issues. These are skills
that make clients and customers feel happy as well as keep them loyal.
Technology, IT penetration opening of BPO companies, Telecom
revolution, customer-driven markets, an information-based economy and
globalisation calls for an increased reliance on, and demand for, soft
skills. Management of today look for a set of skills that are often
developed on cross-functional assignments.
These are termed as soft skills. "Soft" skills include oral
communication, written communication, critical and lateral thinking
skills, and the development of an overall sense of the "big picture".
Soft skills are the essential skills that all employees must develop
in order to achieve success in the workplace. Be it a CEO of company, an
HR executive, manager, counsellor or an ordinary employee, all must
master these skills.
Among others, the following are considered as the key soft skills:-
1. Excellent communication skills.
2. Excellent interpersonal skills.
3. High level of drive and coordination.
4. Networking skills.
5. Ability to initiate and manage change.
6. Proven ability to lead with positive approach.
7. Excellent Presentation and negotiation skills.
8. Teambuilding.
9. Dynamic with a real sense of urgency.
10. Creative and innovative thinking.
11. Emotional intelligence and social intelligence.
12. Inspirational Leadership.
13. Capable of thinking laterally.
14. Creative in style.
15. Ability to create win/win deals.
The ability to communicate in a clear, concise manner is essential
for good interpersonal relations and efficient functioning of any
organisation. It is important for leaders and managers to develop
communication skills so that they get things done form answering the
phone, to writing e-mails to putting together a proposal - how well you
put your point across will affect others perceptions of your abilities.
You have to make sure that each interaction paints an intelligent
picture of yourself.
Lobbying is the process of generating support for a point of view in
advance of a meeting at which a decision is to be taken. People are more
inclined to stick with a view that they take with them into a meeting
than they are to be won over by something they hear in the course of it.
Your confidence will be boosted if you are able to go there knowing that
you can count on the support of a number of those present.
Networking
Networking is an essential soft skill. It has become more important
as organisations and ways of working have changed. It is no longer
enough to know who is directly above and below you, or even on a par
with you.
To be effective you need to be able to draw on contacts from a wide
spectrum, across the entire organisation and beyond it. As organisations
have de-layered, re-engineered, flattened and in many cases
disintegrated into individual business units, getting things done is no
longer just a case of issuing orders. To make things happen you have to
know the right to people.
When you trust somebody, you hold the belief that he or she won't
exploit, cheat or use you in any way. You can rely on trusted people.
You can share information in the knowledge that it will not be misused.
Trust is the cornerstone of interpersonal relationships.
A workplace in which there is a high level of trust is one where
colleagues can feel secure and where genuine teamwork and cooperation
can flourish. On the other hand, mistrust crates uncertainty, conflict
and reduced individual confidence. Trust is a fragile thing. It can take
a long time to build and a moment to destroy, and often it is the small
things that knock holes in our trust.
Persuasiveness
We have to influence someone to do what we want them do do (e.g. a
salesperson trying to persuade a buyer or a negotiator trying to
persuade another negotiator). You may not consider yourself as either a
salesperson or a negotiator but you are a persuader nonetheless.
Think how often you have an idea that you need to 'sell' to your boss
or to colleagues. Think how often, say in a meeting or discussion, you
have a point of view that you want to persuade other people to agree
with or adopt. The plain fact is that in most of your interactions with
other people, you are seeking to excert some influence - to persuade.
In today's corporator world, there's no room for egos. Being a good
team member means putting the good of the team ahead of any personal
ambitions and agendas. It means respecting others opinions, hearing
people out and involving everyone in finding solutions to problems. As
you start out, the easiest way to get recognised is by being a good team
member.
Flexibility
Good working relationships are like bridges; if they dont' allow for
some movement then they collapse.
The person who always has to be right or always has to come out as
winner will not be too successful. You need to know when to overlook
failings and when to accept less than you might have been seeking.
That doesn't mean you always have to compromise your own views or
wind up with solutions that merely represent the least unattractive
options. But you should ensure that other people's needs and points of
view are fully taken into account and that decisions are not dictated by
ego.
Counselling is a help provided by managers to the subordinates in
analysing their performance and on-the-job behaviour so as to improve
their performance. Its a trusting and supportive superior subordinate
relationship. In other words, counselling enables an individual to take
responsibilities by helping him/her to overcome his/her worries and
hopes and resolve difficulties.
Thus, it helps eliminate emotional disequilibrium created among
people, removes all barriers and stumbling blocks to effective
performance and relieves the subordinate or emotional tension.
Understanding difference
In our private lives we are able to seek out friends and partners
whose personalities, interests and views correspond with our own, but at
work there is a greater likelihood of finding ourselves bound together
with people of a different outlook.
However, the fact that people look at life from wholly different
perspectives must be accommodated. If handled properly it can be team
strength. So celebrate diversity, play to people's strengths and never
assume you know what others are thinking.
Expectations of others should abide by the same conditions as those
you set for yourself. They should be realistic and achievable,
recognising that mistakes happen from time to time. People will tend to
perform to your expectations. Value them and expect a positive
contribution and you will generally be rewarded.
Empathy is important because it enables us to understand how other
people are; what makes them tick, how their worlds work, what matters to
them. It is also through empathy, and empathy alone, that you will
really find a way to deal with your difficult people.
Influencing effectively is the one core skill that every leader and
manager needs. In a business environment, there is no other skill that
so clearly defines the competent from the merely average or poor
performer.
For instance, you can be a good strategist, but what use is that if
you can't persuade people to accept your strategic ideas? You may be
capable of being a good financial controller, but the skill will remain
notional if you can't persuade people to follow your guidelines.
Influencing is also a core life skills. If you have it, you will be
able to manage most of the challenges that your business and personal
life presents.
The first step in handling criticism in a confident manner is to face
criticism boldy. Certainly, some criticism will be unjustified or
vindictive, but you can only judge its validity by listening
dispassionately and removing anger and emotion from our response.
If you can do this, you will be in a better position to respond
assertively to negative criticism and to draw the useful lessons from
constructive criticism.
Manners in general, spring from our consideration for others. Even in
a business context, manners are another name for kindness, tact and
self-respect. In some people, this consideration for others is innate
but in man of us it has to be built.
Some people believe that it is unnecessary for a superior to be
polite to his subordinate and that a curt, aggressive manner can be
useful in business. But this is far from the truth.
Good manners oil the wheels of our daily contacts with other human
beings, thereby reducing friction.
Negotiating
Formal negotiating usually involves a trade union or other
representative body. While it may be perfectly amicable, it may still
involve hard bargaining. It might encompass wide-ranging issues such as
annual pay agreements, working practices or introducing new technology.
Commercial bargaining is about making business deals. For example,
negotiating a new contract with a supplier, completing an important
sale, agreeing a takeover etc.
Negotiating skills
1. Quick mind
2. Strong reserve of patience
3. Ability to conceal without lying
4. Capacity to inspire trust
5. Assertiveness.
Managers make decisions because they are constantly either responding
to change or initiating it. A decision is only necessary if -
* There are two or more possible outcomes.
* Some value or importance is attached to the outcomes.
* The actual outcomes differ in some way.
Decision-making is fundamentally about choice.
In the wider context of the organisation's future, your managerial
decision-making is a way for you to excel, to stand out from those with
whom you are competing. When you understand your organisations'
strategic vision, you can place all decisions in a powerful perspective.
Everyday we encounter problematic situations which cause some degree
of difficulty in achieving the outcome we want. Resolving these
situations is commonly called problem-solving. It involves skills which
play a fundamental role in our work, social and private lives.
People who are good at solving problems adapt more quickly in times
of rapid change, they make better use of their knowledge and skills and
are generally the high achievers. Problem-solving ability is therefore a
major factor in determining personal success.
Listening
* Listening solves mutual problems:
* Listening leads to cooperation:
* Listening helps your decision-making: by listening to the
experience and ideas of others, you improve your own judgement.
* Listening builds your own confidence:
* Listening prevents conflict: talking before listening leads to the
foot-in-mount experience we never forget. You have two ears and one
mouth.
Proposing
Think carefully about how you word a proposal and practise it on
yourself or a colleague to gauge the effect before you actually say it.
Again, the quality of your proposal can make the difference between it
being accepted and being thrown back in your face.
Here are some points to remember:
1. Frame the proposal in the positive: in terms of what do you want
rather than what you don't want.
2. Package the proposal so that is has a number of component parts
which can be adjusted or negotiated if necessary.
3. Phrase your proposal in such a way that it sounds as if you are
floating an excellent proposal and inviting the other side to join in.
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