In meeting with representatives from organizations, alumni, recruiters, and other business school administrators, a topic that is often at the forefront is the importance of ”soft skills” for students entering into new careers. Soft skills in the business curriculum may be broadly defined as those skill sets that support successful interpersonal communication, either in the form of face-to-face communication or electronic mediated communication. No one denies the importance of soft skills, but how, where, and when they are developed is always open for energetic debate.
While communication is at the heart of soft-skills, other ideas contribute to developing soft skills such as self-knowledge, critical thinking, empathy, an awareness of social issues, and of course how one’s special content knowledge in an area of expertise serves to integrate many ostensibly disparate ideas.
Soft skills might also be identified as the ability to work with other people to accomplish tasks, to meet constructively in teams, to connect with people both emotionally and intellectually, and to manage one’s career to maximize both aptitude and potential. Soft skills may also incorporate the ability to persuade and have the ability to hold opposing viewpoints in one’s mind which can be the basis for developing tolerance for differences of opinions and avoiding premature judgements.
The challenge to develop soft skills in students is immensely important. At a recent two day retreat, College of Business faculty, staff, and administrators discussed this soft skill challenge. There were many excellent ideas that emerged that will take shape during the coming academic year. There is no panacea for facilitating the development of such skills. However, there are plans to build on our current successes and shape a strategy for continuous improvement. Some common themes emerged.
What are these themes to improve soft skills? Writing is important regardless of the discipline. The ability to provide narrative to content expertise (hard skills) is essential. Interaction with practitioners to critique and provide models for behavior is critical. A global perspective acquired through direct experience is important in providing the necessary framework for thinking about modern commerce. Finally, the development of soft skills should not be solely course specific such as offering a business writing course or a business communication course and then concluding that the topic has been successfully covered; rather, soft skill development should be viewed as an essential part of all courses.
