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Let' stop calling them 'soft skills'. We need to get more serious than this about growing from project managers into leaders. The expression 'soft skills' drives me nuts, especially when I hear things like: 'the problems we have are more on the softer side'. What's soft about it anyway? It's the hard bit after all. The term has become pejorative and I propose we banish it. I think it is a reflection of our lack of good thinking on the people aspects of projects that we fall back on this (soft!) phraseology.
Another important reason we should banish the term 'soft skills' is that the traditional classroom format of 'soft skills training' just doesn't work. This is because traditional classroom techniques of PowerPoint , unreal role play, and heavy training manuals are inadequate for the challenges of developing new behavioural and emotional capability. Research shows that most new learning evaporates in less than 3 months back on the job, often more like 3 days. Whilst traditional training formats are fine for learning Microsoft project (if you really want to), behavioural learning can only come from real experience and supported by accelerated experience in the learning room. Accelerated experience requires some teaching yes; but much more it needs a chance for relevant practice, feeling the new behaviour in action, and getting instant feedback in a challenging and safe environment.
The learning manager needs to own and lead the learning progress, so the process ought to be heavily personalised, and our organisations need to support and re-enforce it - close to the action, over the long term. Not just in the classroom, but also in the coaching room, and the coffee break area.
So let's leave the soft-skills manuals propping open the office door and go and get some accelerated experience instead.
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Comments
Fair question Lindsay. I guess we need a language, and I find myself choosing words almost every day for this. I usually default to 'people skills' if I'm talking about communication, and then I transfer to the term 'leadership qualities' when I'm talking about the more personal attributes of leadership.
I'm also keen to hear ideas on this....
Andy - call the other skills 'technical PM skills' e.g. planning, estimating, risk management, scope management et al; then what's left are the hard skills of e.g. leadership, teammwork, negotiation. You're right, these are the much harder skills/qualities necessary for successful projects. Best regards, David
I like the term people skills ...and i always highlight the fact that we may have design capability ...we may have manufacturing capability we may even have the equipment and technology but without the right people who have the right skills we go nowhere.. so PEOPLE SKILLS…that’s how I refer to ‘soft skills’ . Also highlighting KNOWLEGDE and SKILLS makes people realise of the importance of the right people within project team.
An interesting thread developing here. Do we need to differentiate 'hard vs. soft' skills - are they not all project management skills? Is this 'false' divide developing a 'them and us' culture.
Why do we differentiate the various skills? Are they not all part of the same skill package for project management?
Developing effective behavioural competences (as the APM call) them is a very interesting challenge. I have seen some dramatic transformation in the attitudes of individuals as a result of some quite intrusive coaching and intervention. We used to run a very intensive in-house programme when I was an internal trainer, with lots of personal feedback. For some people it literately chanced their lives. It think because it was the first time anyone had held up a mirror to their own behaviour, very far from soft. However since acting as external consultant very few people seem interested in this behavioural competence. I thinks it's because it is hard to measure the impact. A PRINCE2 course is easy to measure, you either pass or you fail. The question is it effective. I think developing behavioural competence is going to be the next critical step in growing UK PLC project management capability however it has to be as part of an overall development strategy. We have just written this up in a Project Academy white paper. I think it is very relevant to what the APM is trying to do with RPP. Andy I would be interested in your views.
Great post... I have also written about "soft skills" being the hardest to master. I can attest to the impact of human behavior on project outcomes... it's the #1 success factor, as far as I'm concerned.
As I speak on this topic, I talk about "Emotional Intelligence" and "Behavioral Intelligence", which are stronger terms. While there are many assessments to measure various aspects of EI, the best (in my opinion) is the good ol' 360-degree feedback tool. That reveals how well one is adapting and interacting, and leading in a specific environment.
Thanks for the great dialogue here!
Totally agree with Andy about the term "soft skills" but for the sake of general conversations, how else can these management techniques be grouped together in a common language so everyone knows that you're talking about?