In part two in a series of four blogs, we argue that to label certain skills as ‘soft’ underplays their importance, and that these skills are in fact vital – and essential for the ongoing healthy flourishing of human organisations, communities and societies.
How we work is undergoing its largest overhaul in decades.
A broad range of trends are rendering traditional workplace organising practices obsolete. Those businesses unable to rethink and upgrade their management and leadership approaches to work will increasingly struggle to hire the talent they need for business continuity, transformation, futureproofing and market responsiveness.
Across the board, new mindsets and skillsets are needed.
Alongside the inevitable digital skills needed, to remain relevant in an increasingly digital future of work, we must all double-down on honing the deeply human skills that even the most sophisticated algorithms will struggle to replicate.
But what are these skills and why do they matter?
In this second part of our four-part series on vital skills for the future of work, we dive into four more essential skills to prioritise and nurture for high-performing workplaces and organisations. These skills naturally amplify and accentuate learning agility, cooperation, collaboration and psychological safety.
5. Communication
Our species’ ability to communicate – to share information, meaning and experience – underpins the elaborate societies and civilisation we have created for ourselves. Communication is the linchpin of successful collaboration, co-creation and human advancement.
Yet while all job descriptions allude to the necessary requirement of having ‘good’ communication skills, how often are they fully scrutinised and evaluated? What does having 'good' communication skills even mean?
Good communication isn’t singularly about making oneself understood. It comprises a range of skills and is as much about intentional listening to make sure we have clearly understood the viewpoints of others as it is about speech and messaging.
Successful communication is about creating shared meaning and alignment. It’s about acknowledging that perception and opinion are subjective and myriad. Being able to respectfully and empathically disagree with others is vital to team cohesion and critical in increasingly complex and uncharted operating environments.
Why is it important for the future of work?
Superior communication skills allow us to integrate the worldview of others and leverage the gains offered by diversity of perspective. Empathic communication allows trust and psychological safety to build and is an essential component of high-performing teams.
When we prioritise the impact of our words on others and practice active listening, we demonstrate our awareness of others and immediately enhance the relationships needed for successful agility and market responsiveness.
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6. Interconnectedness
Wharton Business School’s Adam Grant researches the dynamics of human effectiveness at work. His first book, Give and Take, explores reciprocity and highlights the way in which those who give without expectation of anything in return are often more successful than those who take or who only give in order to take. Awareness of our human interconnectedness and interdependence sits at the heart of reciprocity, and closely links with social awareness.
Grant’s research shows those who are ‘other focused’ are ultimately more successful in both work and life. He has found that “Givers” build reputation and yield more support within their social networks, harnessing manifold benefits at work and beyond.
Awareness of interconnectedness is the antidote to the hyper-individualistic competitiveness and self-absorption that mires the 21st Century. It’s these traits that often breed team dysfunction at work.
Grant writes: “Extensive research shows that people who give up their time and knowledge regularly to help their colleagues end up earning more raises and promotions in a wide range of settings, from banks to manufacturing companies.”
Why is it important for the future of work?
Recognising and valuing interconnectedness is a vital element of high-performing teams. It enhances psychological safety and breeds reciprocity, as we know helping others strengthens the group at large.
As the outside world becomes increasingly volatile, teamwork is key. When we see ourselves as part of a team with a shared mission, we immediately feel safer and more able to cope with life’s uncertainties. Interconnectedness supports a strong sense of community – a vital characteristic for any organisation looking to successfully navigate the fast-paced nature of increasingly complex operating environments.
7. Collaboration
Recognising the power of the team and effective collaboration is a vital social skill for the future of work. Unfortunately, the recent onset of social media and late-stage capitalism are fuelling a culture of peak-individualism. This undermines the reality that as a pro-social species, humans need one another to thrive.
Helping others has been shown in studies to promote personal wellbeing and enhance wider group performance, underscoring the adages “together is better” and “there is no ‘I’ in team”.
A commitment to collaboration automatically reduces the risks that come with hierarchy. It fosters the dynamics for successful teamwork. Collaboration encourages openness and raises the potential of the group at large, decreasing the risks of over-reliance on a finite group of ‘star performers’.
Why is it important for the future of work?
Conventional operating frameworks are increasingly fragile and unsuitable for modern business realities. Command and control, centralised hierarchies slow market responsiveness. Organisational agility requires trust to decentralise decision-making and empower teams to respond to market forces in as close to real-time as possible.
Setting the expectation of collaboration and creating the right environment to hone it is now an imperative. Proactively seeking team-players who naturally favour collaboration immediately boosts organisational resilience and endurance.
6. Authenticity
Psychology Today describes authenticity as “behaving in congruence with one’s values, beliefs, motives, and personality dispositions”. It links closely with self-awareness as it demands self-knowledge.
For us, the essence of behaving authentically requires a commitment to ongoing personal growth and self-discovery. It demands us to undertake self-enquiry and develop awareness of our moral code and the behavioural standards we value most.
When we know who we truly are, we immediately become able to behave more naturally. When we demonstrate commitment to pro-social values, we immediately put others at ease.
Authenticity allows us to ‘bring our whole selves to work’ and when we are committed to ongoing personal growth, we are less likely to need to hide the aspects of ourselves we either dislike or know cause problems for others. This is because we acknowledge we are in a perpetual state of ‘becoming’ and that we can always strive to improve our interpersonal relationships.
Why is it important for the future of work?
In the age of mass misinformation and disinformation, trust is imperilled. Yet we need to be able to trust those we work with in order to evolve, adapt and innovate. We need to be able to take risks and experiment without fear of judgement or reprisal.
Authenticity fosters trust because it eliminates any sense that games are being played. The ability to behave authentically encourages others to do likewise, which in turn fosters group diversity of thinking. And as we know, diversity of thinking bolsters organisational futureproofing as it encourages a wider range of perspectives, possibilities and scenarios to be considered and explored.
Conclusion
The vital skills we are showcasing are deeply human and nuanced. For this reason, even the most advanced algorithm designer will struggle to replicate them. They are also so interconnected it can sometimes feel hard to discern where one set of skills ends, and another begins.
But they are ultimately the skills that have held flourishing communities, societies and civilisations together across millennia. In this age of such profound technological advancement, it’s easy to believe a robust grasp of digital technology is of singular and paramount importance.
But to do so overlooks the threads of humanity that bind us and provide unity and cohesion in the face of existential challenges. It’s vital skills that will help us grow, learn, unlearn, relearn and progress – all key ingredients of success in the future of work.
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Business transformation isn’t the latest software or project tool. Lasting organisational change happens conversation by conversation...
So, if you’d like to explore anything we've touched on in this blog or discuss any other aspects of the future of work, please do get in touch.
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