A vital part of soft skills training is communications skills. Team meetings often present examples of all that is worst in communication. However, it is also an opportunity to see good practice if you know what to look for. Here are some examples of positive communication and the types of people responsible. By giving names to these varied types of behaviour, you are able to discuss what goes on in shorthand.

The proposer is essential. It is the person who puts their head above the parapet and actually introduces new ideas.

The builder takes the proposer’s ideas and develops them.

The giver supplies relevant, useful information to assist others in building their case.

The seeker may just appear as a doubting Thomas, but they actually assist by using open questions to ensure the case is stated in its strongest form.

Supporters have an important part to play as they do what their name suggests and add weight to the case being presented.

Constructive disagreers provide well reasoned arguments for their objections and help move the discussion on.

The summariser takes the key points from a discussion and is able to correctly and concisely sum up. This prompts any necessary clarification.

How many articles have you read recently about how dire things are? We are told that capitalism is on the verge of collapse. We read daily of politicians who have either abused the expenses system, or possibly even committed fraud. It seems, if you read certain newspapers, that the United Kingdom is on the brink of economic and political collapse. Even Peter Andre and Jordan’s relationship is on the rocks!

It is hardly surprising that people often find it difficult to be positive. However, businesses are realising that one of the most essential elements of soft skills training is motivation. More specifically, it is the ability to motivate others which is vital.

There is nothing worse than de-motivated staff. It only takes one person in a team or organisation to start a negative spiral. You may consider this to be an overstatement. However, if you have ever had even one negative colleague to deal with, you will appreciate how difficult it is to deal with them. Typically, you will feel that you are treading on eggshells whenever you have dealings with them. You find that you make special allowances for them as you don’t want to upset them. This is draining and eventually their negativity will start to infect you.

As has been mentioned in these articles before, one of the easiest ways to increase cash flow is to invoice more frequently. Who says that invoices can only be raised once a month or even once a week?
The larger the order, the more important it is to get the invoice out promptly.

Soft skills training for your accounts staff is vital. They should be checking in with your customers’ accounts departments as frequently as possible. In fact, it is a good idea to build friendly relationships with them so that you can ring them ahead of payments being due to check if payment is going to be made on time. If it is not, do not feel embarrassed about pinning them down to a date and holding them to it.

As well as ensuring there are no problems with external relationships that might impede cash flow, you also need to ensure that internal systems are everything they should be. For example, is everything banked on the day it is received? Is it possible to persuade clients to pay by bank transfer?

It is never too late to check the contracts you have with clients, or indeed, consider the standard contract terms you use.

The most common thing covered in soft skills training is communication.

Communication is, of course, a two way process and whilst people usually have some understanding of how to get their message across they often forget the importance and benefits of listening. The fact is that the better we understand our environment and other people’s view of it, the better we are able to not only adapt to it, but also shape it. There is a virtuous circle which occurs when you demonstrate to another person you are listening. By ensuring the appearance of listening, you are far more likely to actually listen.

Here are some simple things which can assist you in listening.
Concentrate on listening. Don’t be distracted by phone calls or other interruptions. Do not fidget.

Encourage the speaker. Express through your body language and verbal cues that you are listening and want the speaker to listen.

When responding, use the same words that the speaker has. By doing this, you demonstrate to the speaker that you share an understanding of what they are saying.

Don’t be afraid of silence. You don’t have to jump into every gap. Let the speaker collect their thoughts and ensure they have finished before you respond.

“Lunch is for wimps” is the most famous quote from the film ‘Wall Street’. It is uttered by Michael Douglas playing the ruthless tycoon Gordon Gekko. This seemed to give rise to a whole generation of business people talking loudly into their brick sized mobiles and wearing pin striped shirts with white collars. Ah, the eighties! Of course it wasn’t just their fashion and accessories that seem outdated to us now. Surely their attitude of 18 hour days with the occasional food grabbed at their desk is also a thing of the past.

Unfortunately, there are still businesses that celebrate the long-hours culture. If you’ve ever left your jacket over the back of your chair when you go home (so colleagues think you’re still there) or returned to the office after a night out you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.

If you are not able to work effectively enough to get what you need to get done within normal working hours, there may well be something wrong with your time management or your employer’s attitude. The irony is that the pressure is often applied by people upon themselves. This macho attitude to working habits is extremely damaging to your personal development.

Soft skills training recognises that the process of appraisals is a subject in its own right. There are many issues to consider when looking at appraisals and it is important that everyone in an organisation has the same expectations and understanding of the appraisal system. This is often made more difficult by the tendency, particularly in large organisations, to keep tinkering with the process.

Typically, the top people in an organisation will be trained with the expectation that they will trickle the information down through the organisation. However many managers are not fully engaged with the business of appraisals and do not pay it the attention it needs.

One of the trends in recent years has been the idea of 360 degree feedback. This means that as well as the normal top down appraisals staff report on their managers and colleagues. It can also be useful to obtain feedback from people outside the organisation who have dealings with a particular member of staff. This is not always practical and, in any case, should be done circumspectly.

In order to get the most honest feedback, it is often a good idea to allow the feedback to be treated as if it is anonymous. Of course, in small teams, it will often be possible to work out who has said what.

The personal development of staff has been seen as an important thing for employers for some time. It helps staff feel valued and motivates them. Even if a company cannot see ethical reasons for treating this seriously, there are also sound economic reasons.

It is perhaps, therefore, all the more surprising that employers pay scant attention to the physical and mental well-being of their employees. After all, if something can be done to cut down absenteeism, this has to be a good thing.

The whole question of well-being is something that has to be addressed at the most basic level. A happy work place will mean people are less stressed. The type of care which is most appropriate will depend upon what the duties of the staff are.

For example, if people are sat at desks for long periods, some form of massage can be most beneficial. It can either be rolled out to all staff, or used as an incentive. People who do not qualify for the free massage would have the opportunity to pay for it themselves. By negotiating for whole days at a business premises, the cost per session can be radically reduced. However you look at it, it is a small price to pay for happy staff.

There are certain things which just seem like part of the flux of everyday management. However they can be an indication of staff that are not fully motivated and should be dealt with fully and promptly. Hopefully a thorough grounding in soft skills training will mean that you are sensitive to moods and so on, but it is easy to lose track of these things in amongst all the other information you have to process.

If staff are absent for whatever stated reason, it may well be that they simply can’t face work. Keep a careful track of absences.

If individuals appear to be constantly raising objections to apparently petty details of the way work is carried out, it may well be the symptom of a far greater dissatisfaction. Likewise, trying to blame others for shortcomings is usually a sign that all is not well.

People’s energy levels can be a very reliable indicator of how happy somebody is with their work. Likewise, reading their body language is vital in understanding their mood. Are people looking open and positive or do they seem sluggish? Small things such as less pride than previously in a person’s dress or personal appearance can be very telling. Likewise, poor punctuality often tells of a deeper malaise.

Whether your organisation is a government body, a commercial business or a charity, it will almost certainly have a mission statement or, if you prefer, a stated objective. This objective forms the basis for the objectives given to individuals as part of their regular assessments.

The best mission statements, in common with the best objectives, will have a time frame applied to them. Just as communist Russia famously had its five year plans objectives for organisations will change over time. They also need the component of a time frame to ensure that at least part of the company’s mission will have been achieved.
People who have time limits attached to their objectives understand not only what they are expected to achieve, but also when they need to do it by. If deadlines are not paid sufficient regard, the whole point of objectives is undermined.

As with all objectives the buy in of all staff is required. This can be done by ensuring that they are fully involved with their own personal development and engaged with the whole process of setting objectives. One of the most motivating things for all individuals is feeling that they genuinely have some say over the way things are done, and that their managers listen to them.