We’ll study our technical know-how
- but try to deliver them (to clients) without ‘soft skills’
OK, imagine you are going for a better job. Impressed with your academic credentials and excellent career-to-date, the interviewer lobs in a ‘soft-skills’ hand grenade:
So, tell us about a time when you successfully won an argument with a colleague without raising your voice.
No ready answer? Your chances go up in smoke.
It is plausible enough. According to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), it is employability skills that make a difference in the workplace – which is why the recruiters are looking out for them. But these soft skills are not tested by examination and are rarely easy to substantiate on a C.V. yet they make the difference between a successful career and a stalled one.
And if you are thinking of setting-up your own practice and need to employ some people – try making any money without those “soft skills”. So, what are they?
“Soft skills” include:
- "Teamwork." And that doesn’t mean you employ a dozen people. A ‘doubles’ in tennis is as much a team as you and a secretary.
- "Negotiation." OK, so you can reach a deal outside court, represent a client’s interests; maybe get a ‘good deal’ on your car. But try the same techniques with someone you work beside every day and you’ll soon end-up as ‘Billy No-Mates’ unable to get anything done!
- "Decision-making." Easy when you know best; this is why clients pay you for your advice. But try that with someone that knows more about an element of the matter than you do – like your finance people – and you can come unstuck.
- "Communication Skills, rapport, mediation." It’s funny, isn’t it? We can interact with clients (because we know they have a choice to stay with us or get another professional in) yet struggle to deal with our staff (because we think they are a captive audience). I’ve never met a firm that felt its internal communication was ‘all it could be’.
- "Building Motivation." Try to get something done through another if they can’t be bothered and you’ll fail.
- "Building Ability." If they don’t know what to do – how can anyone help you achieve your goals?
- "Building Confidence." Try to get an individual or team to perform well if they are not confident and you’ll expire trying.
And of course, ‘soft skills’ are fundamental to your success in two other key areas.
- "Customer Service." Technically competent but an inability to empathize, negotiate, communicate, and you lose money.
- "Leadership." Such skills are needed aplenty to inspire people to follow you as you build a department or firm.
So, while management training might not be mandatory for you – beyond Management Course Stage One – the way we do it at the Connect2Law Hubs is a dynamic way for you to start to build the hardest of skills – the soft skills – as a manager of lawyers.
So, want to survive and prosper? Improve the engagement of your people...
Talk to your Connect2Law Hub.
