Essential social skills

8 Important Social Skills For Kids And How To Teach Them

Teaching social skills for kids is one of the most complex, confusing, but rewarding aspects of raising young children.

It’s no secret that preschoolers and kindergarteners are naturally egocentric. Even when playing or interacting with others, many children have difficulty sharing, empathizing, collaborating, and cooperating.

HOMER is here to help you learn eight of the most important social skills for kids, as well as how to incorporate them into your family life.

8 Important Social Skills For Kids

1) Sharing

Sharing is a part of daily life. That doesn’t mean it’s easy!

Sharing is a difficult concept for young children to get behind. Toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners have a particularly difficult time, as they are more focused on their needs and desires than the needs and desires of others.

This is normal. The feeling that something “belongs” to them is typically much stronger than their desire to please others.

Even though it’s hard to share, doing so is critical to a child’s social skill development, as it helps them keep and advance friendships. It’s also a great way to bond and show appreciation.

2) Listening

Active listening is an important skill that even some adults struggle with. Properly deciphering and absorbing information requires significant focus.

We all know this can be challenging for young kids, but active listening can strengthen their receptive language skills (the ability to comprehend spoken language).

Receptive language skills help your child:

Handle social interactions
Answer questions
Understand stories
Comprehend what they’re reading
Understand gestures

While developing their social skills, your child will come to see how important it is to actively listen when others are speaking.

Paying attention to what someone is saying and responding directly to their statements or questions is a big part of healthy communication.

3) Following Directions

The cousin of good listening skills would be executing the instructions your child heard — a.k.a., following directions!

Following directions becomes particularly important once your child enters into their school years.

It’s one thing to follow directions at home with their parents where they’re innately comfortable; it’s another task entirely to follow directions from adult authority figures they may not know well.

Your child will learn how listening and following directions overlap with one another. If they listen well, it becomes easier for them to follow directions accurately. And when they follow directions accurately, they’ll often be rewarded for their hard work!

Keep in mind, however, that multi-step directions are challenging for young children. To help them develop the ability to follow directions, give them one direction at a time.

4) Collaborating And Cooperating

Similar to sharing, your child will learn how to move beyond sharing objects to sharing ideas, stories, and work.

With good collaboration and cooperation skills, children will learn that working in a group gives them a chance to express their ideas and listen to the ideas of others. It allows them to see that it can be fun to work on a shared project!

This may sound simple, but for young children, cooperation can often require real effort. It will take time for them to learn to respect others’ opinions even when they’re different.

By working together toward a common goal, kids can advance their sharing skills to include both intellectual and physical (think: cleaning the dinner table with a sibling) feats.

5) Patience

How many times have you heard the cliche, “Patience is a virtue”? Well, we are here to say it one more time!

It’s normal for young children to be impatient. However, patience really is one of the most rewarding social skills for kids.

Patience is critical for many things, including maintaining friendships and relationships and achieving big goals that can only be completed over an extended period of time.

This is where the concept of delayed gratification comes into play. When you help your child understand that good things often take time (not everything in life is microwaveable!), you nurture them into a patient person.

Learning patience takes practice and, you guessed it, patience! Trust that it will come with time (as everything does).

6) Empathy

When we say “empathy,” we’re referring to the traditional definition — the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.

Your child will learn how to appreciate the similarities and differences between their lives and those of people they meet. They will also learn how to empathize with these people, no matter how different they are.

For young children, this can mean small gestures.

For example, if their friend or sibling cries because your child is playing with a specific toy, your child may pause and say, “I know you want to play, too. Don’t be sad. We can take turns!”

But this sense of empathy will likely not appear overnight! Empathy develops over time and across a variety of scenarios.

The easiest way to promote your child’s development of empathy is by showing it in action. When you extend grace to your child often, they will learn how to extend it back.

7) Respecting Boundaries

Some people require different emotional and physical boundaries than your child.

This can be a particularly difficult concept to learn, especially for very young children who receive most of their socialization from within the household.

Likely, if your child is extroverted, they may assume everyone is OK with hugs, questions, or lots of chit-chat. In some cases, they may be right! In others, they may accidentally cross boundaries in their efforts to be friendly.

Teaching your child how to ask permission and identify boundaries helps them establish a sense of respect between themselves and others. The same goes for helping them establish boundaries for themselves.

Let your child know that it’s OK to say no to hugs, kisses, or other displays of affection from someone — no matter who it may be — if they feel uncomfortable. Model this idea by asking questions yourself (“Would you like a hug?”).

When they make their boundaries clear and ask for others to do the same, it will make both parties feel much more at-home.

8) Positivity

Working on positivity can make it exponentially easier for your child to tackle many of the other social skills for kids we’ve mentioned, especially patience, boundaries, listening, and sharing.

With a positive attitude, your child will find it easier to make and keep friends, succeed in school, and achieve their goals.

The easiest way to demonstrate positivity is by modeling it. The more positive you are about your child’s social skill development (including their inevitable slip-ups), the more reassured and positive they will become themselves.

This doesn’t mean you have to be positive all the time. In fact, a healthy amount of honest criticism can be beneficial in helping your child learn to express their feelings.

To do this, start with your own emotions. Let them know how you’re feeling and how you’re managing it in real time if you can. Kids need to know it’s OK to be sad, angry, or mad sometimes and how to handle it.

How To Teach Social Skills To Kids

Now that you know what social skills for kids to include, how do you go about teaching them at home? Let’s take a look!

Normalize Mistakes

Your child should know that you do not expect perfection. There is no way to execute all of these social skills every time, everywhere, without mistakes.

That is OK! In fact, it’s encouraged. Mistakes are normal; they’re how we learn what went right or wrong.

Make sure you normalize this for your child. If they know all humans learn lessons this way, it’ll be easier for them to push through the sting of a mistake and try again.

Encourage Sharing (Without Violating Boundaries!)

Although sharing is great and should be encouraged, there may be some things that are special to your child that they don’t want to share. This can be especially true of stuffed animals, blankets, or special toys.

This is OK, too! It’s great for your child to set boundaries that you and other children respect. To encourage sharing, try not to force it.

Encouraging without forcing also demonstrates to kids how boundaries can be created, acknowledged, and respected between people.

This will motivate them to share with those around them by taking comfort in the fact that what is special to them has been kept sacred and separate. It will also encourage them to be direct about their and others’ boundaries when it comes to play, school, or emotional issues.

Check Their Listening

During social interactions within your own family or outside of it, pay attention to your child’s listening skills. You can observe them to see if they are listening carefully.

Do they seem engaged? Are the asking questions?

And remember it is just as important to listen to your child. This shows them that what they are saying is important and encourages them to listen to you in return.

Think About How You Give Directions

In teaching social skills for kids, the parent or authority figure is responsible for ensuring the directions they give are something a young child can execute successfully.

When giving instructions, be clear, firm, and gentle. As we mentioned earlier, children have a very difficult time executing tasks with many directions at once. Start with one direction at a time that your child can focus on.

When giving instructions, have your child repeat what you want them to do. Only give an additional instruction when the first has been completed. Repeat until the task is complete.

Your child can give you directions, too! That way they have a sense of what it takes to delegate, manage, and execute a task from start to finish.

Give Empathy To Get Empathy

Show your child that you think about other people’s emotions, too! This is less of a teaching moment and more of an authentic display of empathy.

If you see that your child is expressing an emotion, validate it for them. “Oh, I see that you’re excited. I love that you’re so eager and happy to do this!”

You can acknowledge negative emotions, too. For example, you might say, “I know that must make you angry. Do you know how I can tell? What can we do together to make you feel less unhappy?”

This not only helps them feel seen and heard in the moment, but it also gives them a direct example of how to tackle empathy with others in similar situations.

Social Skills For Kids Are Essential

The more your child experiences the benefits of social skills, the more intuitive these skills will become for them. However, all children learn at different rates. With practice (and patience!), we know they’ll get there.

The Learn with Sesame Street app is an effective tool that helps kids learn and develop their social and emotional skills. With the help of their Sesame Street friends, kids learn how to express their emotions, empathize with others, and create healthy relationships. Explore the Learn with Sesame Street app today!

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Most Important Social Skills – Explained With Examples

Humans are social beings and if there’s one thing universal about us, it is the fact that we interact daily with the people around us. And this interaction takes place for multiple reasons. We usually communicate with the people around us to share our thoughts, emotions, ideas, feelings, needs and many things along these lines.

Source: oneinchpunch/Adobe Stock

We can unanimously agree that one of the most important skills to master is communication or social skills. People are constantly evaluated based on how well they can communicate. To a major extent, it determines the personal and collective well-being of a person. As we spend a substantial portion of our lives communicating, it is integral to get a good grip on this essential skill as it levers one forward to get ahead in life and succeed.

What Are Social Skills?

Social skills are skills which facilitate and ensure smooth interaction between people to share needs, ideas, thoughts, feelings, emotions etc. It is also referred to as interpersonal skills. These skills help in making communication effective.

As the famous saying goes “practice makes a man perfect”, Social skills aren’t something that is born innately. It is developed over years through consistent practice and learning.

Children during the early years of their life don’t possess social skills as competent as that of a full-grown adult. They use simple hand gestures and illegible sounds to communicate with the elders around them.

What Are The Most Important Social Skills?

1. Active Listening:

Communication cannot take place successfully without listening actively to what the speaker says. Listening isn’t just a standalone skill; rather it comprises hearing, processing and understanding. The information is heard first and then it is processed after which the meaning is understood.

However, there are instances when the information we receive isn’t processed effectively and this may lead to misinterpretation of the message. Therefore, even better than listening is active listening where the message is processed considering the sender’s contextual nuances.

For example, when Rebecca put down Sam’s invitation to go to a movie, instead of taking offence he understood that she wasn’t in the mood for a movie and chose to give her the space she wanted.

2. Empathy:

One may wonder how empathy is a social skill. In reality, empathetic conversations can save a lot of interpersonal issues. In simple terms, empathy is putting oneself in another person’s shoes and trying to view the world from their angle.

It is one of the most important social skills as that helps make conversation about the other person rather than just focusing on one’s own wants and demands.

For example, when a stranger shared their past mistakes to Anna, instead of being judgmental about it, she chose to empathize with that person and see them for who they are.

3. Sound Non-Verbal Cues:

Our subtle non-verbal cues have a bigger role during conversations compared to verbal information. Things like eye contact, body movement, facial expressions, hand gestures, clothes, smell, vocal intonations, volume etc. can further enhance the information shared verbally.

For example, when Susan went to meet her boss regarding the promotion which was promised to her, her boss looked at the watch and hesitated for a moment. Susan picked up the cue instantly and told the boss that it could be done later.

Some of the best examples of non-verbal communication come from babies. Humans master the skill of sending non-verbal information at a very early stage. This skill is an innate trait in babies as they beautifully learn to use their resources to successfully send messages.

They communicate through sounds (such as laughing, squealing, crying etc.), facial expressions (like smiling, eye contact, grimacing) and hand and leg movements like pointing towards something they want someone to see or moving their legs vigorously when they are happy.

4. Self-Awareness:

Self-awareness helps understand oneself and their behaviors. This is an essential skill as that provides insight into one’s thoughts and the way one interact with others. This allows us to be more mindful of the way we address others and also be mindful of how others feel about the things we say to them.

When Amy realized that her facial expressions were giving out wrong messages to people. So she worked on improving them.

5. Conflict Resolution:

Conflicts are a part of daily life. When there are two people, conflict is most likely to take place. One of the important social skills is to be able to resolve conflicts effectively. Conflict resolution means to acknowledge the existing problem and attempt to solve it using logic and rationality rather than emotion.

Building New Relationships And Establishing Rapport

On planning to stretch one’s network of people, it would require having to show up for social gatherings and interact with like-minded and diverse people. The first meeting would create a long-lasting impression about someone and would also later become the drive to take the relationship forward. In the course of building new relationships, establishing great rapport can give a good kickstart.

When establishing rapport with someone, take a mental note of their non-verbal gestures and mirror them. This would make them feel relatable.
Find a common ground and discuss things which both of you can resonate with.
Mind your body language as well. Maintain eye contact, have pleasant facial expressions, have a relaxed but straight body posture and make sure that your body is facing them and not elsewhere.
Ask open-ended questions about them and give them an open and non-judgmental ear.
Another magical trick is to always remember their names and make sure to address them by their names quite often.

How Are Social Skills Acquired?

Acquisition Of Social Skills From Childhood:

Vygotsky’s theory of social development is an excellent way to understand how humans acquire social skills from childhood. He conceptualizes the role of three important aspects in the process of cognitive and social development.

1. The Role Of Social Interaction:

SDT predominantly talks about the essence of social interaction is acquiring any sort of cognitive development. Vygotsky claims that environmental and cultural factors play a key role in any type of skill acquisition.

For example, the environmental conditions of the place in which a child grows up will have a direct or indirect impact on learning.

2. The More Knowledgeable Other (MKO):

MKO is a person who has a higher level of knowledge compared to the learner and this person plays a key role in helping a person acquire a skill. They facilitate scaffolding and guide the process of learning.

3. The Zone Of Proximal Development:

This aspect states that skill might be hard for a child to acquire on their own but is possible with the guidance of an MKO. In the case of social skills, a child doesn’t learn to talk on its own but only with the help of the parents do they master the skill.

One classic example to demonstrate Vygotsky’s theory of social development is when teaching a child how to ride a bicycle. When a child sits on a bicycle for the first time and tries to pedal forward, she/he falls getting injured. In such a situation, the role of a more knowledgeable person is essential as they enter the zone of proximal development and guide the child in acquiring the skill of riding a bicycle.

As mentioned above, social skills evolve with time and practice and this is marked by some of the developmental milestones of a person. Social skills can also be taught, practiced and learnt from own & other’s experiences and past mistakes. So what are some of the behavioral markers that indicate the acquisition of social skills?

Speed: This is one of the most important indicators to determine whether learning has taken place or not. Speed increases with fluency and fluency comes when one’s bandwidth of knowledge has been stretched.
Accuracy: Another important indicator of skill acquisition is accuracy; which means better precision and lesser errors.
Flexibility: Flexibility refers to making situational adaptations and being less rigid and more open to change. Acquiring social skills would mean being able to converse even during unprecedented instances.
Multiple Task Performance: This refers to being able to juggle many tasks at once. In such a situation speed and accuracy might be a tough thing to hold on to as doing more than one task at a time can lead to divided attention.

How To Initiate Conversations During Novel Circumstances?

Social skill, as mentioned above is a primary skill to be built as they enhance the quality of the relationships and lead a harmonious life with the people around us. It helps us fulfil our demands and wants because a good communicator is a good persuader. So how it is that one can game up in the area of interpersonal skills?

Invitation: Daniel Wendler, in his book “Improve your social skills” talks about two crucial hacks to make sure that there’s a smooth flow in the conversation; they are invitation and inspiration. An invitation is nothing but asking open-ended questions to the people we converse with.
For the most part, people love to talk about themselves and therefore kicking the ball to their court makes them feel heard and they naturally start enjoying the conversation. This would consequently make them pay heed to what we have to say and be considerate of our ideas and demands.
Inspiration: Another integral hack is an inspiration which is to simply share things from our side which would consciously or unconsciously inspire them to open up and spill some tea about themselves. Disclosure always encourages people to talk about themselves.
Particularly during therapy, therapists usually disclose some information about themselves to the clients to cultivate a feeling of belongingness and also to make them feel comfortable enough to share things about themselves.
Acknowledgement: As mentioned above, people loved to be heard. One great way to make people feel heard is by verbally and non-verbally acknowledging their narrative. Acknowledgement can be done verbally by saying phrases such as “I understand”, “I hear you”, “Hmmm”, “Right” and other things like asking questions in between, making subtle comments etc.
Non-verbal acknowledgement can come in the form of head nods, eye contact, turning the body towards the speaker, relaxed hand posture, pleasant smile etc.
Giving Compliments: Compliments are the easiest way to get on the good side of someone. People are always looking for a good boost of self-esteem and this makes them more attentive and compliable.
Be Confident: People naturally gravitate towards those who are confident. When a person is confident, they are heard more and their ideas and opinions are always considered. So believing in oneself and boldly expressing one’s views could be the smartest hack to master the art of social skills.

The Essence Of Social Skills In A Work Setting

It ensures a fun work environment because social skills help in making great interpersonal relationships.
It makes one a good team player.
Social skills also make one become an important stakeholder in major decisions taken within the organization.
It also helps in expanding one’s network and connections.
People with good social skills are at a higher chance to be selected during interviews and also for promotions as employers are always on the lookout for people who can communicate efficiently.
As organizational structures are becoming flattered, the leadership role is on the rise. Hence, effective social skills help in delivering instructions effectively and delegating tasks with precision.
A person with good social skills seems more open and approachable and hence they’re always chosen for important tasks.
It predicts better job performance as a major part of any job designation expects communication.
It facilitates effective conflict resolution.
It paves way for overall improved quality of work life.

Social skills of preschoolers - the development of social skills in children

The development of social skills is a necessary point of education. A child with a high degree of socialization will quickly get used to kindergarten, school, any new team; in the future will easily find a job. Social skills have a positive effect on interpersonal relationships - friendship, the ability to cooperate.

Let's figure out what social skills are.

What are social skills and why develop them? nine0007

Social skills - a group of skills, abilities that are formed during the interaction of a person with society and affect the quality of communication with people.

Man is a social being: all our talents and aspirations are realized thanks to other members of the group. Others evaluate our actions, approve or condemn our behavior. It is difficult to reach the pinnacle of self-actualization alone.

That is why social skills are important. They should be developed from early childhood and honed throughout life. nine0003

Social skills are a reflection of the child's emotional intelligence, to which educators and teachers assign an important role in the process of personality development. Without this group of skills, a smart child will not be able to apply the acquired knowledge in practice: it is not enough to create something outstanding, you need to be able to correctly convey thoughts to the public.

Sometimes people mistakenly believe that social skills relate exclusively to the topic of communication, communication. In fact, skills include many multidirectional aspects: an adequate perception of one's own individuality, the ability to empathize, work in a team, etc.

Why do we need social skills?

Regulate the area of interpersonal relationships: the child easily makes new friends, finds like-minded people.
Minimize psychological stress: children with developed social skills quickly adapt, do not feel sad due to changes in external circumstances.
They form an adequate self-esteem from childhood, which positively affects life achievements and development in adulthood.
Social skills cannot be separated from building a successful career: the best specialists must not only understand the profession, but also have high emotional intelligence. nine0024

Development of social skills in a child

Social skills need to be developed from preschool age, but older children and even teenagers may well learn to interact with the world.

It is recommended to pay attention to areas of life that bring discomfort to the child, significantly complicate everyday life.

Friends, interesting interlocutors: the kid does not know how to join the team, he prefers to sit in the corner while the others play.
Verbal difficulties. The child does not understand the rules of conversation, is poorly versed in the formulas of etiquette (when you need to say hello, say goodbye, offer help). nine0024
Problems with the non-verbal side of communication. Such a baby does not recognize the shades of emotions, it is difficult to understand how others relate to him. Cannot "read" faces and gestures.
Does not know the measure in expressing a point of view: too passive or, conversely, aggressive.
The child bullies classmates (participates in bullying) or is a victim.

In case of severe moral trauma, one should consult a psychologist: for example, school bullying is a complex problem that children are not able to cope with on their own. The involvement of parents and teachers is required. nine0003

In other cases, family members may well be able to help the child develop social skills.

What are the general recommendations?

1. Be patient

Don't push your child to get the job done. Let them take the initiative: for example, do not rush to help during school gatherings, let the baby work on the problem on his own. The same goes for lessons and other activities.

2. Support undertakings

Children's dreams seem trifling to adults, but the initiative turns into a habit over the years and helps to discover new projects, meet people, and experiment. nine0003

3. Criticize the right way

When making negative comments, remember the golden rule of criticism: analyze the work, highlighting both positive and negative sides in a polite manner. Commenting on the specific actions of the child, and not his personality or appearance - this will lead to problems with self-esteem.

4. The right to choose

It is important for children to feel that their voice is taken into account and influences the course of events. Invite your child to personally choose clothes, books, cartoons. Ask about ideas, plans: “We are going to have a rest together at the weekend. What are your suggestions? nine0003

5. Personal space

Make sure that the baby has a place where he can be alone and take a break from talking. Personal things should not be touched: rearrange without prior discussion, read correspondence with friends, check pockets, etc.

Children, noticing the respectful attitude of adults, quickly begin to pay in the same coin; the atmosphere in the family becomes warm and trusting.

What social skills should be developed in a child? nine0007

Let's dwell on the main qualities and skills, the development of which is worth paying attention to.

1. The ability to ask, accept and provide help

Without the ability to ask for help, the child will deprive himself of valuable advice; the lack of the ability to accept help will lead to losses, and the inability to provide help will make the baby self-centered.

Let the child help those in need: for example, a lagging classmate.
Explain to your child that getting help from friends and teachers is not a shame. nine0024
Show by personal example that mutual help enriches experience: tell how you exchange advice with colleagues, friends.

2. The ability to conduct a conversation and get the right information

Being a good conversationalist is difficult, but the skill is honed over time and brings a lot of benefits.

Prompt your child for dialogue development options: for example, you can start a conversation with a relevant question, a request for help.
Do not leave the child in the role of a silent listener: when discussing pressing issues at home, ask the opinion of the baby. nine0024
Support children's public speaking: presentations at school, performances, funny stories surrounded by loved ones will add confidence.

3. Empathy

Empathy is the ability to recognize the emotions of others, put yourself in the place of another person, empathize.

This ability will make the child humane, prudent. How can it be developed?

Start by recognizing the child's feelings - it is useless to listen to people if the person does not feel personal experiences. Ask your baby: “How do you feel after a quarrel with friends?”, “Do you want to relax today?” nine0024
After conflicts with classmates, ask your child how the children with whom the quarrel may feel now.
While watching cartoons, reading books, pay your child's attention to the emotional state of the characters.

4. Ability to work in a team

Many children can easily cope with tasks alone, but this is not a reason to refuse to work in a team. It gives the opportunity to exchange ideas and experience, delegate tasks, achieve goals faster and more efficiently. nine0003

If the child does not communicate with members of the team, try to introduce him to another social group: for example, the lack of communication with classmates can be compensated by a circle of interests, where the child will feel calmer.
Make the family a friendly team in which the child has his own "duties": for example, do housework, remind parents of upcoming events. Any activity related to the well-being of other family members will do.

5. Respect for personal boundaries

The absence of an obsessive desire to interfere in other people's lives is a valuable skill that helps to win people's sympathy.

Respect the child's personal boundaries: do not enter the nursery unannounced, do not rummage through personal belongings and correspondence, if the matter does not concern the life and safety of the baby.
If the child violates other people's boundaries (takes toys without permission, asks uncomfortable questions), talk about it in private.

6. Ability to overcome conflict situations

It is difficult to imagine our life without conflicts. The task of the child is to learn how to culturally enter into a discussion, defend his point of view, and not be led by the provocations of his interlocutors.

Discuss problems that arise calmly, without raising your voice. Do not put pressure on the child with parental authority unnecessarily: the child is a separate person who has the right to an opinion.
Do not judge people for views that differ from those of your family but do not affect your well-being. Show your child that the world is very different. nine0024
You can demonstrate to children the basics of a civilized dispute, explain what arguments are, etc. It is advisable to teach this child in kindergarten.

7.

Stable and adequate self-esteem is a quality that not all adults possess.

It is formed under the influence of many factors: relationships between parents, the role of the child in the family circle, the characteristics of the environment that surrounded the child in early childhood.

It is important that the child does not grow up to be either a narcissistic narcissist with fragile self-esteem, or an overly shy person. How can you help your child find balance?

Praise your child for personal progress: to receive a compliment from parents, it is not necessary to win prizes in school competitions. The zeal of the baby, the interest shown and the stamina also deserve praise.
Explain, remind the children that initially they are worthy of respect and love, like all people around. nine0024

Social skills will help in many areas of life: in studies, hobbies, friendships, building a reputation in a team. The main thing is to encourage and support children at all stages.

Emotional intelligence for children

We introduce children to the types of emotions, how to manage them and how to show themselves in teamwork, through situational games

learn more

12 social skills that improve the work of IT project managers / Habr

Hello , Habr! I present to your attention the translation of the article: “12 Soft Skills That Make IT Project Managers Unstoppable” by Pavel_Ku. nine0003

Increasing competition in the labor market means that jobs based on technical skills are no longer enough. In reality, such skills include creating work breakdown structures, project budget management, earned value estimation, and critical path diagrams. All of these skills require technical training and the application of professional knowledge and tools to succeed. What are the social skills of a leader and how do they help to unleash the capabilities of project managers? nine0003

Social skills (also known as “people skills”) are also important, and their development is becoming increasingly popular in jobs in all industries. These skills provide a real advantage to managers who have learned to use them well.

Definition technical and social skills

Technical skills allow you to acquire a certain competence in the industry of your choice. In fact, this technical background is a key ingredient for every project. This typically includes programming skills, project management competencies, or systems design experience. Technical qualifications, certifications and experience are the most common basis for hiring. nine0185 The best thing about social skills is that they help us make the best use of our technical base in a given situation.

Social skills provide and enhance technical skills. This leads to innovation and creativity in today's fast paced environment.

They are often considered secondary to technical when applying for a job. However, the obsession with technical skills over social skills may be driven by the need to focus on immediate progress. nine0003

Here is a list of the social skills required for successful project management.

Manual

Just as every crew has its own pilot, just as the strongest army has its own commander, any performance-oriented team must have its own leader. Being a leader is not only about creating a good atmosphere and motivating everyone, but also about solving everyday problems.

Successful leadership is essential for project managers. This means that they must be able to lead and manage teams, set a vision, motivate and serve employees, train and inspire all team members. nine0003

Effective project managers lead from a strategic and operational perspective, they communicate the vision, evaluate performance, and make sure that all team members are provided with the powerful tools, money, and other necessary resources to succeed.

Leading people means serving them by taking responsibility for how to make the team's life better and projects more successful. The key skill in project management is leadership, not just management. You must provide a vision and project plan to empower your team. nine0003

Building confidence

There is no leadership without trust. A true leader is one who has earned the trust of the team and can trust them without hesitation.

By being transparent about decisions and involving people in the decision-making process, a project manager can quickly achieve success. He should be interested in the growth of team members and help people achieve their specific goals.

Communication

The ability to communicate well, understand and be understood is also extremely important for people involved in project management. nine0003

Effective communication is the key to any relationship. This skill of a project manager has an impact not only on the team, but also on clients and all stakeholders.

Poor communication jeopardizes the successful outcome of the project, while clear communication is mainly about understanding and maintaining a dialogue, rather than one-way communication. Therefore, it is very important for project managers to choose a quality online collaboration tool and select individual “keys” for each employee.

Active listening

This is not an innate skill, but a technique that can and should be developed day by day. Listening is directly related to communication. In fact, it is not difficult to provide constant feedback to the speaker by reformulating what he has understood.

Good listening allows project managers to learn more about their clients and team members and be more involved. Mastering this skill creates mutual trust between all parties involved. nine0003

In order to improve active listening, you must focus on truly understanding what is being said and relaying the information in your own words.

Team spirit

Projects can involve different people, including clients, suppliers, sponsors, consultants, the quality assurance team, and so on. The team that works on the project interacts with most of these people, so it is important for them to feel safe and trust each other. nine0003

For any manager it is important not only to be a team leader, but also to be a full member of this group. That is why they should be able to organize team exercises and problem-solving activities in order to develop a project environment that will help people connect with each other.

Project managers need to know how and when to involve people in decision making, keep the team up to date on the client's business, resolve potential conflicts, and enhance team spirit. nine0003

Motivation

Any employee will stay motivated if he knows that his work makes sense. Project managers must take care of the various personal and professional needs and goals of their team members and be able to meet them in this direction.

It's not just about financial compensation, but also about a sense of accomplishment by doing difficult work, hierarchical growth, or gaining recognition for hard work.

Influence

The ability to get people to change their minds is another valuable skill for project managers.
Influence is power, and achieving greater impact in the workplace can be critical to the success of a project.

It can help you work more effectively and make you more respected, and make your voice heard and recognized. However, it takes some time and effort to gain this influence.

There is a fine line between influence and manipulation, so try to understand them and use your relationships with team members effectively to ensure that you work together to make the right decisions and achieve all project goals. nine0003

Decision making

Decisions can be strategic or emergency, routine or operational.

Each project manager has their own set of criteria to help them make a decision. In their decision-making process, they should pay attention to how it will affect others and consult with their colleagues when necessary.

There are several basic decision-making methods:

Authoritative (command) when the decision of the project manager is final. nine0024
Consultations involving team members and stakeholders.
Consensus - a decision is made that the majority of the team members like.
Random decisions are often made using the coin toss method.

Negotiation

Negotiation skills are also essential for project managers, who must always ensure that they listen to both sides and make decisions in a fair manner. They can negotiate with almost anyone, every day. nine0003

Finding a compromise is an essential element of a good negotiation process. You may often encounter competing interests, and it is your job to place these different interests on the same page in order to achieve the goals of the project.

Conflict resolution

Only an ideal world implies the absence of conflicts and contentious situations. In fact, conflicts are part of any system in which people participate.
Conflict resolution can be one of the core social skills that any project manager needs to master. nine0003

They may encounter various causes of conflict within the project team, from competition, gaps in communication, unclear requirements, to personnel policy, and so on.
Well-resolved conflicts can bring people together and make them more focused and productive.

Risk management

Any project can go beyond the plan, project managers are not magicians. Sometimes it is very difficult to anticipate and prevent risks before they become a problem. However, you should try your best to stay on top of your projects by controlling risks and proactively mitigating them as much as possible. nine0185 Risk management is truly your professional experience. The sooner you identify risks, the better your chances of avoiding them.

Coaching

A good leader is a good mentor.