Soft Skills & Communication Barriers

S1 - Soft Skill & Presentation Skills 1

Prof. Ahmed JADIR

SKILL Definition & Acquisition

Soft skills come naturally to some people, or they can be learnt and consequently
applied in practice. But what about the process of skill acquisition? Guthrie (1952)
defined a skill as the ability to bring about some result with maximum certainty and
minimum outlay of energy or of time and energy. Skill acquisition is an essential
component of any learning system. The development of a skill, from playing basketball
to resolving a conflict, will progress in levels of achievement. An individual will begin
by struggling through attempts to perform the skill. In time, success and improved
confidence will ensue. With enough practice, a person can become an expert in the
performance of the desired skill. It has been described that this progression occurs
through four steps (see Figure 1).

Described further, a person can begin to learn a skill with no

concept of it, and no ability to perform it. With some
teaching and/or practice, the individual becomes aware of
the skill and its goal, but still cannot perform the skill with
any significant success. With vigorous teaching and practice,
the skill is acquired and can be performed well, with higher
levels of concentration. More practice positions the person
to the highest level of function in which the skill can be
performed with great success and without the need to
concentrate intently. At this point, as one understands, the
skill has become very repetitious. There are a great number
of examples to illustrate this point. At the highest level, very skilled athletes perform
seemingly impossible tasks with relative ease. Just as the instance of learning to walk,
further examples can be taken into consideration like training the thinking system to
resolve conflict, to overcome non-assertiveness, to improve communication requires
time, patience, and many repetitions.

1
HARD SKILLS
Hard skills or “technical skills” are the technical competencies that an individual
possesses. These are skills which are gained through educational learning and practical
hands-on applications. Hard skills are quantitative in nature and can be measured. For
example, Gatsby, a 10th standard student can do any complicated mathematical
problem within no time. Molly, a 10th standard student has a very good grasp over the
concepts of science. Even she can solve complex problems very easily. Gatsby’s and
Molly’s skills in mathematics and science drive them to choose careers in engineering
and medicine, respectively. Both their skills in engineering medicine can be termed as
hard skills, which they have acquired through learning over a period of time.
In other words, hard skills are essentially the technical abilities required to do a
particular job or to perform a specialized task. A degree, diploma or certificate confirms
that the relevant abilities necessary to perform a particular job have been sufficiently
mastered. Hard skills are vital to get employed.
SOFT SKILLS
In contrast to hard skills, soft skills are generally interpersonal competencies and are
more difficult to define due to their subjectivity, which consequently makes them
difficult to measure. The term “soft skills,” is used to refer to the entire array of non-
technical skills. They can be grouped into three old-fashioned categories:
professionalism, critical thinking, and followership.
Here is a list: • Listening skills, •Communication skills, • Team-building skills, •
Leadership skills, • Problem-solving skills, • Time management skills …etc
People skills: Attentive listening, observing, and reading; perceiving and empathizing;
effective use of words, tone, expressions and gestures—verbal, written, and otherwise—
one-on-one and in groups, in-person and remotely = Communication Skills
The above list of soft skills presents issues related to human capital. For example,
Gatsby, a graduate from Institute of Technology, has problems in being assertive and
is generally bullied by his friends. While Molly’s professional skills are far more
superior, she has difficulty in managing her time.
Gatsby’s non-assertiveness and Molly’s inefficient time management can both be
regarded as a lack of soft skills being detrimental to their professional and personal
success. Soft skills are as important and often even more important than technological
skills for an individual to succeed. One can achieve synergy if one can combine both
hard and soft skills.