Have you ever played the telephone game? It’s when a group of people stand beside one another and the first person whispers a sentence to the next, then that person repeats the whisper to the next person, and so on. When the last person says the sentence out loud, it is usually very different from the original.
The game shows how slight nuances in interpretation can lead to massive miscommunication.
The ability to connect and communicate well with others has always been important. But today, soft skills like these aren’t just nice to have—they’re a priority for anyone who wants to succeed in today’s complex business world. As new demographic and technological trends are changing who we work with and how we get work done.
5 generations working together
For the first time in history, our workforce is made up of five generations with ages ranging from 18 to over 65. Varying tech skills aside, the biggest challenge for companies is having workers communicate clearly within multigenerational teams and understanding what motivates each other.
More diverse workforce
Navigating a multigenerational workforce is just one aspect. People also work in the most-diverse teams in history. Millennial and Gen Z workers are more ethnically, culturally, and gender diverse than previous generations of the workforce. Even if you’re not seeing it within your company, you are still likely to experience it, as 70% of companies currently utilize freelancers and plan to increase usage. Your ideal talent can be located anywhere, since freelancing platforms make it just as easy to work with someone from Ukraine as from Utah.
In addition to the changing dynamics of who’s doing the work, we’re also changing how we get it done as more people want to work remotely.
Virtual is the new face-to-face
You don’t need to keep up with rising freelance and remote work trends to notice how more employees are working with people they’ve never met before or who are located in different time zones. It’s so common, 70% of executives predict people will soon spend more time communicating on collaboration platforms than face-to-face.
Adopting agile teams
People aren’t the only ones who want to work differently. Companies are adopting new work models too. To keep up with the changing needs of business and manage the talent shortage, companies are adopting an agile team model in which teams are assembled by the skills needed for a project, rather than by role. In this model, teams shape-shift as employees work across functions and bring in freelance and other flexible talent as needed.
This means employees don’t just need to be skilled at their jobs; they must also be flexible and adapt to changing team dynamics.
Why soft skills matter
Google launched Project Oxygen to study what makes a successful manager at the company. Of its top 10 capabilities, not a single tech skill was listed. What makes a successful manager are soft skills such as creating an inclusive environment and being a good communicator.
These skills aren’t important just for leaders. Anyone with soft skills can directly impact a company’s bottom line by raising productivity, increasing retention, reducing workplace stress, and more. In one study, a company realized a 258% return from investing in soft-skills training of its garment workers.
We all come from unique backgrounds and life experiences that cause us to interpret the world with a unique lens. Technology may help us share documents and see each other across the globe in real-time, but it can’t cultivate creativity, inspire passion, or encourage someone to share ideas. Soft skills can bridge gaps to shrink distances, celebrate differences, and harness the power of many to create work—your best work—together.
