Important Non-Technical Skills for Career Growth in 2024

Irrespective of your job roles and responsibilities, soft skills play a crucial role everywhere. They make you more hireable. And it’s not just us saying that but surveys and studies have even concluded the same. According to a LinkedIn report, around 61% of professionals accepted that soft skills are just as important as any hard skills.

In case you are wondering what is non-technical or soft skills, their types, and ways to improve them, this article is for you! Here, we’ll talk about different types of non-technical skills and more details that can help you advance your career with ease.

What Are Non-technical Skills?

Non-technical skills or soft skills are something that helps you get your work done easily. For instance, if you are given any code to write or multiple tasks to complete within a deadline, you will be required to manage the time for it, communicate the problems or requirements to avoid any future conflict, and also blend with the team’s pace to achieve success in the long run. These qualities that enable you to work efficiently and smoothly are called soft skills or non-technical skills.

What are the various types of Non-technical skills?

1. Communication

Communication skill is the ability to convey your message and ideas effectively and efficiently. This skill is vital for all job roles as every job requires you to communicate. Without clear communication, the chances of misunderstandings and mistakes are higher. Therefore, employees or candidates are appreciated with good communication skills. It can be in any form (verbal, written, or non-verbal). If you want to hone your communication skills.

Here is your guide: 10 Ways to Improve Your Communication Skills

2. Leadership

Leadership is a soft skill that is used to allocate resources equally, make informative decisions, and encourage groups of people to achieve common goals. The C-suites usually use it. But even if you are not among the decision makers of the company, taking charge of certain responsibilities like leading a discussion or a project is also a leadership skill. These skills help you get prepared for the senior position.

3. Creativity

Creativity or creative skill is your ability to think outside the box about a task or a problem. However, it is also crucial to understand that giving any bizarre ideas is not counted as creative. The creative ideas should have a logical base. Creative skills can help you stand out from the crowd and make an impression on the team.

In case you cannot think of how you can enhance your creative thinking skills, check out this article: 6 Creativity Techniques to Foster Creative Thinking

4. Teamwork

Teamwork is a soft skill that lets employees work together with their teammates and achieve a common goal in harmony. Employers often look for candidates with teamwork or team player skills in their resumes as it helps them to foster a culture of collaboration at the workplace.

5. Time Management

Time management skill is the art of managing your precious time. This skill helps you analyze your tasks, plan your day as per those tasks, and meet the targets on time without getting exhausted. Having this skill under your belt promotes productivity and improves work efficiency. But if you struggle with time management, it is completely normal.

Check out this article to excel time management skill with ease: 5 Ways to Improve Time Management Skills

6. Adaptability

Adaptability skill is a crucial skill for both professional and personal life. It is an ability to cope with the changing environment around you. An employee or a candidate who can easily navigate through changing situations, tasks, clients, or a team is considered competitive and an asset to a company.

If you want to teach this effective skill quickly and easily, read this article: How To Improve Your Adaptability Skills in the Workplace?

7. Decision Making

Decision-making skills do not mean just making decisions. You can make the right choice only after analyzing the risks and opportunities associated with the available information. This skill highlights your rational thought process and capabilities to be among the crucial decision-makers of the company.

To know the best way to make an effective decision, try this: 6 Steps of Decision-making Process

8. Problem-solving

Problem-solving skill is a quality that helps individuals find out the root cause of the problem, brainstorm the possible solutions, and work on it. Candidates or employees with good problem-solving skills are generally initiators and team players. They focus on resolving the obstacles and accelerating team productivity.

9. Public Speaking

Public speaking skills highlight how well you can address the audience or a group of people without getting anxious. This skill helps you take the center seat and showcase your leadership quality as well. However, having public speaking skills also means you need to be aware of the words you speak as you would be speaking in the group. So, being attentive and cautious is a part of public speaking skills. It goes without saying.

To enhance your public speaking skills, you can check out this article: 8 Best Tips To Improve Your Public Speaking Skills

10. Active Listening

Active listening skill is a must for all types of job roles. It is a process of listening to the information with all ears, analyzing it, and then responding to it thoughtfully. It showcases your active participation at the workplace allows you to avoid any misunderstandings, and promotes accuracy at work.

In case you seek some tips and tricks to sharpen your active listening skill, read this: 10 Best Tips For Active Listening

How can you improve non-technical skills?

Many people are naturally good at soft skills while some take time to excel and both are normal. All it takes is awareness and willingness to hone and improve any skills.

Here are quick tips for you on how you can easily enhance your non-technical skills.

• Seek Feedback: Ask your seniors or coworkers for feedback on your work and overall performance. You can even seek the same feedback from the supervisors or person you trust. Request them to be honest and accept it with an open mind and heart. This is the first step in moving towards the improvement journey.
• Analyse current skill level: Once you learn about the skills that you lack through either quality feedback or by yourself, note them down. It’s important to analyze your current skill sets to enhance them. Having a proper record will also help you track down your progress.
• Ask for guidance: It’s never too late to ask for support. If you get stuck somewhere, seek out help from your seniors or mentors. Ask them how you can enhance your skills. Also, make sure that you are asking the right thing from the right person as not everyone excels in every skill.
• Look out for helpful resources: There are multiple blogs, podcasts, and courses available on enhancing non-technical skills, even books as well. Some resources are premium while others are available for free. You can analyze and pick the one you feel the most helpful and start working on it.
• Practise and Be disciplined: Last but not least, it’s always the practice and the discipline that can help you achieve your aim. Be disciplined and keep practicing if you want to improve your non-technical skills for your career growth.

Conclusion

Having a strong hold on non-technical skills is always fruitful for career growth. But not being excellent at them is also normal. There is always room for improvement. This article aimed to enlighten you on various important non-technical skills and ways to improve them. Now that you are aware of different types of non-tech or soft skills, analyze which ones are your weakness and start working on them. You can follow the tips mentioned above to excel in any skill you want and boost your career growth efficiently. All the best!