8 Critical Softskill For Remote Work

With more remote job opportunities offered across multiple industries, what makes one stand out from others is soft skills. Here I would outline 8 critical soft skills you need to have as a remote worker.

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What are soft skills?

Let's look at the definition again. Soft skills are power skills. According to the dictionary, Soft skills are personal attributes that enable someone to interact effectively and harmoniously with other people. Some other words used to describe soft skills are essential skills, people skills, interpersonal skills, and emotional intelligence quotient (EQ). They are an essential part of improving one's ability to work with others and can have a positive influence on furthering your career. They apply to all professions and they have the power to grow your career the same way hard skills and talent can. Click here to read more on the power of soft skills.

Why are Soft skills important in remote work?

 Soft skills are essential for career growth even in remote workspace. Remote work here refers to virtual jobs, home-based jobs, or online work. Productivity and reduced expenses for both employer and employee have made companies opt for remote work models for more flexibility. But due to the distance gap and the fewer natural opportunities for relationship building, we need to be able to communicate, collaborate, build relationships, and solve problems effectively and this depends on Soft Skills. That is why in most competitive job markets, recruitment does not stop at technical ability and specialist knowledge, as it is often said that hard skills will get you an interview but you need soft skills to get and keep the job. 

Here are the 8 critical soft skills you need as a remote worker.

• Accountability Skill: This means becoming aware of the situation, owning the problem, finding a solution, and making things happen. When you start taking full ownership of your actions, and your goals, it eliminates the time and effort you spend on distracting activities and other unproductive behaviour. Taking personal responsibility for your work fuels successful organization, especially in a remote workplace.

• Relationship Management Skill: This involves all your interpersonal communication skills. It is the ability to get the best out of others. It is critical in a remote workplace for getting along with co-workers, contributes to a team and establishes an understanding with others. Being able to form meaningful healthy work relationships will help you increase brand loyalty and increase profitability. 
  
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• Productivity Skill: This involves being able to manage your time and stress better while maximizing the benefits of the resources you have. It is the ability to work efficiently in a specific period and produce better output compared to your input. It's not just about getting the work done but proper time management, consistency, and efficiency involved which would increase profitability and drive innovation and growth in the organization.

• Problem-solving Skill: This is the ability to identify problems, brainstorm and analyze solutions. It is a complex skill, it involves critical thinking, decision-making, creativity, and information processing. "By learning structured problem-solving techniques remote workers can improve communication, prioritize tasks, and arrive at good decisions more consistently"-Kevin Harrington.

• Time management Skill: This is planning how to efficiently use and deliberately control time to maximize productivity. It involves having time to do everything you need without the feeling of stress. In remote work, tremendous flexibility is offered but if there is no proper time management the work will become stressful and isolating at times.

• Effective communication Skill: Most communications between remote teams occur online. As a remote worker, you may frequently email or instant message other employees, supervisors, or clients and this requires proficient writing skills. These skills help you to receive and convey information ideas and messages in ways that are powerful and appropriate to the situation. It helps drive better result for individual teams and organization.

• Stress tolerance Skill: This is a person's ability to manage an emotional incident without feeling overwhelmed (Linehan, 2014). It involves accepting reality by being relatively calm and composed when the reality is difficult to accept or during high-stress situations and resisting the urge to engage in unskillful behaviour.

• Service orientation: Flezhob and PAIRIN's study defines it as "the ability to anticipate, identify and meet people's often unspoken needs through assistance, products or services and the drive to generate customer satisfaction". It is a skill that is worth cultivating as a remote worker as it helps you to be able to read and react to situations quickly.

It is possible that many candidates will have similar qualifications and technical skills but these Soft skills will make you stand out. Learning and emphasizing these critical skills to attract potential employers matters in today's job marketing. lack of in-person interaction can lead to miscommunication and make you feel disconnected from the team.
But having these skills, and having clear guidelines and means of communication will help you excel as a remote worker.

Thank you for reading.

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written by JOY