Career progress -just like other success picks- is not so easy to achieve. Intelligence and talent alone are not enough in today’s business world as computers can do the job that needs speed and intellect much better than any human being. What we need the most at this point of history is beyond that. We need to learn different soft skills, the most important of which are social skills. In this article, we look at the most important social skills required for programmers.
Of course, part of what lies ahead is the valuable experience of James Michel Lafferty, CEO of British American Tobacco, on the most critical and essential skills necessary for any employee’s career advancement and success. However, “any employee” includes programmers as well!
The importance of social skills:
‘We live in a fast-paced world. As I tell my teams in BAT, “It’s FMCG for fast-moving consumer goods; there is no ‘slow’ in the name.”
Says James Michel Lafferty.
Thirty years ago, marketing concepts such as “SEO” (search engine optimization) and “digital marketing” did not exist. However, today these concepts are fundamental and have a massive impact on business success. But James Michel believes that with all these changes, we can always fall into the misconception that today’s employees’ success does not depend much on their social skills, while this is not the case.
Despite the changes in the nominations and the set of technical skills, the basic principles remain the same: the “important social skills” that enable one employee to be retained and another to be easily replaced. These principles were the same in 1985, they are the same today, and they will be the same in 2045. These policies are a set of intangible skills that are not specific to time.
To get acquainted with the most important social skills – especially for programmers – stay tuned to SOJECT.
Reliability
When some employees are asked about the time they complete their tasks, they say “tomorrow.” Interestingly, when tomorrow comes, they answer the question with the same answer!! Some are still steadfast in their response after a few weeks!! LOL! We can say that these employees are not Reliable.
Reliability means your boss can be assured that you will actually do what you say. How would you feel if your manager said he would pay you on the 21st day of the month, and then when you got to that day, he would not keep his promise? And then keeps telling you that he will pay you tomorrow but never really does. “Do you accept?” Probably not.
If you expect the company to be trustworthy in fulfilling its obligations to you, you must do the same and keep your promise. It’s that simple, and that means reliability, one of the most important social skills you need to have.
The issue of reliability is crucial in programming. Whether you work for a company or independently, being reliable is an essential social skill in attracting customers. Most of the people are not willing to hire a skilled but unreliable programmer.
Communicate through writing
Writing is one of the skills that has replaced face-to-face conversation in recent years. By Expanding cyberspace, remote working opportunities, improving telecommuting culture, and, most importantly, the current pandemic, writing has become an especially important social skill. Unless you can write well, you can not communicate with customers, employers, or anyone else via email, social media, or project management software.
When you do not see others, your tone and feelings are conveyed through writing. So to have an effective relationship, you need to be able to write well. This so-called, social skill becomes more complicated and critical when it comes to writing in a non-native language.
The writing was important 30 years ago, long before companies became global and had branches worldwide. However, it is much more important today. Good writing can move mountains. Helps the person to move between time and geographical areas. Writing can represent you and build or destroy your brand value. There is nothing more important than learning to write effectively and concisely express your thoughts on paper or net.
Still, if you can not write well, practice! Attend business correspondence courses. Acquiring this skill is easy and only requires practice and perseverance.
Emotional intelligence or “social intelligence.”
Even more than 40 years ago, we used to live in a matrix of cooperation. No one is like an island anymore. Consequently, you need to know how to treat others and understand that they are affected by what you do or do not.
No matter how smart you are, If you don’t know how to treat others and attract them, you are undoubtedly your professional killer. Only a fool can recognize that “there is no one smarter than everyone else.” Learn to respect others. Make others feel valued and understood. The world we work in today is, more than ever, a world of “influence” rather than a world of “power.” This means that each person must learn the art of treating others well as well as other social skills.
As a programmer, try to respect both your colleagues and your customers. Listen to them and empathize with them if necessary. Do not try to be clever, treat everyone respectfully, and not consider yourself more important than others.
being professional
Professionalism is a broad field that covers everything from dress, behavior, and approach in the workplace. Do you look professional? Do you look suitable for your current job? We can all shout “The Injustice of Appearance,” but in most cases, people judge by individuals’ appearance. When you dress messy, others do not believe you are serious and orderly. When you are always late, others become angry because they have to wait for you and doubt your ability to get things done. Just do this simple test: Stand in front of a mirror before going to work. Are you willing to hire yourself? Are you ready to take responsibility for your company? Will you hire someone with your social skills?
So, become a professional and do the right thing.
Oral presentation
Still, you may think that “oral presentation” has nothing to do with social skills. But you’re mistaken. This art, like writing skills, is closely related to communicating with others.
Can you turn your thoughts into a coherent speech that is simple, understandable, and meaningful? This is generally related to the art of communication, and if you can not communicate well, you will hardly succeed. The good news is that just like writing, you can easily become a master in speaking. You just have to practice.
Our mastery of the way we express the subject has the most significant impact on the audience and encourages them to listen to our ideas. With eloquence skills, interaction and communication are possible. If you are good at speaking and writing, you will succeed. In today’s world, where time is of the essence and technology has provided continuous communication, it is very important to be clear about issues.
Because people’s worldviews and perceptions of issues are different from ours, we must avoid semantic ambiguities in our words. People who are aware of the principles of communication avoid ambiguity in their speech by clarifying their speech.
Being a good listener
If you communicate well with others but do not listen well to what they say, you need to do some practice to gain this social skill.
Being a good listener and attending carefully to what others say is an essential factor to have effective communication. For example, if you work as a programmer in a company, you probably have a lot of conversations with customers. Before each speech, the customer needs to say his words and express all his problems and ideas. If you are a skilled programmer but do not listen to your client, your work results will probably not be what the client needs.
Understanding and knowing others
If you can recognize others’ different characteristics or understand their difficult times, you can make a good impression on others. You need to improve this social skill to communicate successfully. For example, you need to be able to identify how people react in different situations.
Of course, you need a lot of time to achieve this ability, but when you succeed, you will understand the positive change in your relationships so that you can use this skill in marriage, dating, school, home, and so on.
Showing tolerance to others
The next thing in communication skills is tolerance and acceptance. When you show tolerance to others, you are patient with them, and you can remain calm in stressful situations. This feature will definitely not go unnoticed by your boss. If you can not cope well with such cases, you need to say goodbye to career advancement and success.
The important thing about social skills is that they all depend on our choices and have nothing to do with our genetics, education, lineage, or race. They rely only on human choice. We choose to be professional, trustworthy and improve our written or oral communication skills. With these choices, you will never have to worry about getting a great job during your career, and on the contrary, by not choosing these items, you will always face a struggle full of bitterness and despair. Now the choice is yours.
