Tech workers need to be skilled in technology, such as software development, networking, and security. But these professionals don’t just work with machines all day. They also work with people, which is why soft skills—otherwise known as people skills—are crucial to success in any technology career.
According to a recent Forbes Advisor article, “Those with strong coding skills, relevant certifications, and professional licenses are often the most sought-after employees. But in recent years, employers have begun paying more attention to soft skills as well.” The following 13 soft skills should be considered essential by both tech professionals and the companies that employ them.
1. Critical Thinking
Critical thinking involves viewing situations and problems with a range of approaches and a willingness to question assumptions rather than drawing conclusions based on accepted strategies. For example, a data analyst might find discrepancies in survey results and need to reconcile them in ways that defy traditional explanations. With critical thinking, the emphasis is on using logic to generate helpful results.
For tech professionals, the ability to solve complex problems is essential, and critical thinking can contribute to success. In a team context, critical thinking promotes innovation, collaboration, and communication among team members, enabling professionals to challenge each other’s ideas, resulting in a greater likelihood of useful solutions and, therefore, greater success.
2. Empathy
Empathy is the ability to understand and relate to others’ emotions. It is useful for tech professionals because, as in any other field, developing trust among coworkers is important for building strong teams. A high level of empathy among team members can bring them closer together, help them understand each other, and make them more open to hearing each other’s ideas, all of which can lead to greater efficiency and better results.
Additionally, empathy can help tech professionals develop superior products and services by enabling them to better understand the needs of end users. Consider a software development team that is creating a to-do app designed specifically for household members to use together. An empathetic approach would help engineers design the interface to be usable by adults and children alike and include features such as reminders, color-coding, and prioritizing to help households function more efficiently.
3. Curiosity
Curiosity is the desire and willingness to learn about, explore, and discover new things. It is an important skill because it drives individuals to ask questions, seek knowledge, and challenge assumptions. It can inspire individuals to experiment, take risks, and explore new approaches, leading to important ideas. In the tech industry, innovation is critical, so curiosity is valuable in driving professionals to stay informed about emerging trends, identify new opportunities, and come up with what-if scenarios that lead to invention.
Additionally, curiosity helps tech teams to function better by promoting continuous learning and growth. When team members are curious, they are more likely to share information, seek feedback, and collaborate, leading to a more dynamic and pioneering team culture.
Given the ever-evolving nature of the tech industry, curiosity can help professionals advance their careers by enabling them to maintain relevancy and a competitive edge. Through curiosity and continuous learning, workers can gain knowledge about new technologies, enhance their skills, and grow their expertise. The following video describes how to strategically include soft skills on a resume.
4. Creativity
Creativity is the ability to come up with original and inventive ideas and to think in ways that diverge from the typical or common. As we have already noted, innovation is key to success in the technology industry. Creativity can help workers invent products, services, and solutions and address any challenges in the way of implementing them.
Beyond the products, services, and solutions a company offers, creativity supports new ways of delivering value to customers, better ways of organizing teams, and more efficient ways of operating day-to-day. Creativity works well when paired with empathy because individuals feel free to share new ideas in a welcoming environment, even if those ideas aren’t used.
For individuals building their careers in the tech industry, creativity can help them stand out from their colleagues with unique concepts, distinctive designs, and uncommon approaches. When seeking new positions, creative individuals may impress with their ability to come up with new ways to describe their ideas and methods.
5. Flexibility
Flexibility is an important skill in tech positions because so much is subject to change, including in the following areas:
- Team structure. Teams may need to change depending on the varying needs of their employers. With more work may come, additional team members, including full-time employees, part-time employees, contractors, augmented team members, or even entire outsourced teams.
- Assignment types. Tech team members may see the types of assignments they are asked to work on change over time. For example, software engineers might be asked to develop an app for their employer after working on a number of enterprise applications. Or they might be requested to perform testing in addition to coding. Such changes may require getting guidance from colleagues or learning new skills.
- Technology. Technology itself is also changing more rapidly than ever before, and tech professionals must keep abreast of the innovations in their fields. To ensure their knowledge and skills are up to date, they may need to perform research, learn from colleagues, or even take classes.
Being flexible is critical for being able to adapt to changing circumstances in these and other situations.
6. Organization
Organization is the efficient management of time and resources to reach milestones and achieve goals. It involves prioritizing tasks and avoiding matters that don’t contribute to important objectives. In the tech industry, projects are often complex, and deadlines are tight, so good organization helps workers stay focused, approach projects in manageable chunks, and achieve high-quality results.
Within teams, organization helps everyone function more effectively and productively, so team leaders must have superior organizational skills to keep projects on track. Factors that contribute to team leader and member organization include a clear understanding of goals, deadlines, and milestones as well as effective use of tools such as project management applications like Trello and knowledge of organizational approaches like Agile and Scrum.
Well-organized teams manage their work effectively, communicate regularly, meet deadlines, and complete tasks as expected. Strong organization leads to other positive qualities in individuals and teams, including reliability, the ability to meet deadlines and stay within budgets, and trust with colleagues and customers.
7. Innovation
Innovation is the ability to generate new ideas and implement them in the real world. It involves experimentation, risk-taking, and thinking in new ways, leading to breakthrough ideas and solutions. This skill has been instrumental in every invention that has been introduced to the world, from the printing press to the mobile phone.
Demonstrating innovation may mean coming up with completely original ideas or combining existing technologies to create something new. It can be used on a large scale, such as ideating new products, or on a smaller one, such as developing new processes to help work get done more effectively.
Work teams also benefit from innovation because it promotes collaboration. When innovation is encouraged among team members, they are more likely to share and discuss ideas and work together to develop new solutions. These processes result in a more dynamic culture with continuous improvement baked in.
Finally, innovation can help tech professionals stay relevant and competitive in their careers. Thinking innovatively is a skill that is sought out by employers, especially when it leads to benefits for companies, such as the development of exciting new offerings or business lines.
8. Collaboration
Collaboration is the ability to work together with others to achieve common goals. It involves sharing knowledge and expertise, considering diverse perspectives, and building on collective ideas. In the tech industry, collaboration is critical for helping teams achieve high-quality results, build better products, and drive company success.
This skill requires effective communication, openness to others’ thoughts, and the ability to share success. Within teams, effective collaboration leads to new ideas becoming greater than the sum of their parts, ultimately resulting in higher-quality products and processes.
But collaboration isn’t just useful within work teams. It is also helpful for working with both internal and external customers, sharing and building on ideas, especially in the requirements gathering stage. It is also extremely useful for problem-solving, which is essential for often long and complex projects.
9. Problem-solving
Problem-solving is the ability to recognize a roadblock, analyze it to understand why it’s happening, and fix the conditions to remove the roadblock. Problem-solving is important because no project gets accomplished without challenges. It involves keeping emotions (and egos) in check, thinking creatively about possible causes, being open to solutions, and testing hypotheses.
Teams that encourage effective problem-solving function better because issues don’t remain issues for long. These workgroups use challenges to improve their skills and to see where a different approach might be more useful to prevent similar situations in the future.
A skill related to problem-solving is resourcefulness, which is the ability to identify and use a variety of resources when tackling a problem. Problem-solving and resourcefulness can contribute to better relationships with customers and partners. When tech workers solve problems effectively, stakeholders develop trust and loyalty, both of which contribute to the success of the company and the team.
Tech workers looking to advance in their careers should cultivate strong problem-solving skills. While it can be done through guidance from colleagues, books and classes, and other educational opportunities, the best way to become better at problem-solving is to solve problems regularly.
10. Communication
Communication is the ability to express ideas, thoughts, and information to others. Clear communication is critical in every industry, but especially in tech, where complex projects require everyone to fully understand the goals, methods, and processes required to complete them. Clear communication involves articulating ideas accurately, listening actively, being aware of others’ needs and interests, and creating a welcoming environment for sharing ideas.
A lack of clear communication can lead to missed deadlines, diminished productivity, and a lower quality of work. On the other hand, effective communication promotes transparency, trust, and enhanced efficiency. Clear communication is important to tech professionals for executing technical projects as well as getting along with other team members, serving customers, achieving successful partnerships, and reporting progress to leaders and managers.
The ability to communicate clearly is highly valued by employers. So, for professionals pursuing careers in technology, enhancing this skill can lead to faster promotions and a better chance of being hired for new positions.
11. Openness to Constructive Criticism
Openness to constructive criticism is the ability to receive well-intentioned feedback from others and use it to enhance performance and achieve better results. This skill is important because it enables individuals to improve constantly. Those who are very open to constructive criticism may even seek out feedback or ask questions when it is given to gain a deeper understanding of how they can perfect their performance.
Being open to constructive criticism is more important in technology than in other industries because new methods and tools are constantly being introduced, and team members learn faster with guidance from others. Those who work directly with customers must be particularly open to constructive criticism as it can ensure that products and services are developed according to their specifications. When leaders encourage team members to offer such support, performance is enhanced for entire teams and companies.
A skill related to openness to constructive criticism is the ability to offer it. Empathy and good communication skills are essential to achieving the right balance between supporting team members and letting them know there is room for improvement in their work.
12. Active Learning
Active learning is the willingness and ability to gain new knowledge and capabilities. It is important in the technology industry because it ensures that professionals remain up-to-date with an ever-evolving landscape of tools and methods. It involves curiosity, being aware of emerging trends and customer needs, and the ability to apply new knowledge to current projects and goals.
Those who are actively looking for learning opportunities may find them within their company with training and mentorships in educational courses or online. Additionally, many in the tech industry are adept at self-learning, which involves researching a topic and experimenting with new methods.
Individuals who are adept at active learning are likely to remain flexible amid shifting conditions, ensuring their success within a variety of situations. These workers are likely to thrive in their careers because they are willing to learn the skills necessary to take on new projects and positions.
Active learning helps tech teams function better by promoting a culture of continuous improvement. When team members are learning and developing new skills, they are likely to share that knowledge with colleagues, offer guidance, and look for ways to apply new learnings within their projects.
13. Leadership
Leadership is the ability to support others in achieving objectives. Tech industry projects are often deadline-driven and involve very specific goals. While team members may be highly skilled, strong leadership is needed to ensure they are all working in concert to ensure the most successful outcomes.
Good leaders know how to organize project work to be most efficient, delegate appropriately, inspire and motivate others, and make decisions that promote the best interests of the team and the organization. They communicate effectively and encourage others to do the same while providing necessary guidance and support.
Strong leadership also promotes a culture of accountability because, under effective leaders, team members are more likely to take ownership of their contributions, be willing to accept constructive criticism, and work toward common objectives, leading to greater productivity and higher work quality.
While the notion of leadership evokes someone who is in charge, this skill is not reserved for managers and executives. Anyone can demonstrate leadership by teaching new skills to others, being open to new ideas, coming up with innovative solutions, or stepping in to offer guidance or support when the designated team leader is unavailable.
Strong leadership also leads to strong relationships with customers, partners, and other stakeholders, as well as greater success for teams and businesses. Companies value those who are willing to take on leadership roles, so this skill is useful for individuals pursuing technical professions.
Soft Skills are Hard
For some tech professionals, soft skills may be some of the hardest to learn because they involve interacting with people who—unlike many aspects of technical work—are inherently unpredictable. However, these skills are critical for ensuring the success of that technical work. Tech professionals shouldn’t push themselves to become highly adept at every skill on this list immediately. A more reasonable approach is to take steps one at a time. The nice part about these skills is that they often overlap, so growth in one means progress toward all.
