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Let's talk about "soft" skills in automation!

Michael_S
Community Team
Community Team

2 weeks ago - last edited yesterday

Hello Community!

Myself, @RobinParkerBPC and MVPs @asilarow, @sastharpa & @michaeloneil got together for a live chat today on how critical "soft" skills are for automation professionals who are seeking to climb their career ladder. We believe that, without core skills like excellent communication, negotiation, root cause analysis (to name a few!), it is very difficult to go beyond entry-level automation roles.

It was an amazing session with lots of brilliant questions! The recording isn't quite ready yet, but once it is, we'll share it here. In the meantime, I would love for us to create a library of advice for automation professionals on developing soft / human-centric skills.

I'm looking for a few stories and anecdotes on how soft skills have helped you in your work. 


Please contribute:

  • Which non-technical skills you have intentionally learned and honed through your career
  • Stories about how you utilized soft skills to turn a negative situation into a positive one at work
  • If you're a hiring manager, what soft skills you seek when you interview candidates

Thanks so much for your input,

Michael

2 REPLIES 2

lauren.attwood
Level 2

yesterday

Really enjoyed the webinar, totally agreed with what was said regarding putting yourself out of your comfort zone in order to gain confidence. Attend those meetings, ask the questions and gradually confidence will build.

Michael_S
Community Team
Community Team
In response to lauren.attwood

yesterday

@lauren.attwood thank you so much for coming along and asking some really great questions! I'm about as far down the introvert scale as you can get myself, and really struggled in my early career to have the confidence to have open and honest conversations with colleagues.

Two things really helped me:

  1. Formal leadership training - even though I didn't have line management responsibilities, I asked my manager for help. I was lucky enough to be a part of an organization that had a well developed leadership program, much of which focused on developing skills like communication, influencing, negotiation and empathy

  2. Emulating others - there were lots of people around me who were really good at being engaging, communicative and assertive. Most of them will happily tell you that they're not easy skills to develop, and can share great stories about how they got to where they are now. I really recommend finding others who already have the human skills you're looking for and asking them for advice. Offer to take them out for a coffee in return!

(PS - congrats on your first community post!) 🥳

 

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