Steve,
I think you are correct. Listening and understanding what a student is asking is one of the most important skills an instructor can have. If you do not listen to the student, you will not know if they are understanding the material or not. This can have a major effect on the student passing or failing a class or just a test. When the student says they understand what they were asking they might not. This is where I like to question them about the topic to see if they really do understand the material.
I think listening ranks as the most important soft skill. It is not only a prerequisite to other soft people skills like relationship and feedback, but also other hard skills such as verbal language and questioning skills.
Yes, I definitely like this one too. Too many grouchy people in the faculty room griping makes me want to eat lunch by myself in my classroom!!!!
lisa,
I wonder how easy it is to see "both sides"? We always say, "i can see it from both sides", but do we really? If we did we would probably never make a decision.
Philip Campbell
Karen,
So, how do we run interference on these situations? A faculty lounge has long been the area of complaining. How do we change that culture?
Philip Campbell
Having a Positive Attitude is a defining soft skill that sets the tone for the class and all interactions within it. I always ask my new students "What was the first thing you put on this morning?" After we get over the TMI'S someone gets where I'm going and responds with "A SMILE"....straight out of the Dale Carnegie book "How to win friends and influence people" Attitude is number one!
Wow, what a difficult task it is to choose the most important. All the soft skills listed in this course seem so important for any workplace. I'd have to say the most important ones are effective workplace relationships, integrity, and understanding/respecting others. Anyone masterful of these skills will be able to succeed in any workplace.
In my personal opinion, the most important soft skills is listening. Too many confuse hearing with listening and they are not the same just as seeing is not the same as observing.
If required to choose just one, I would have to say that customer service would be the primary soft skill for focus for an instructor. Whether the customer is a student, an administrator, or a co-worker if the instructor endeavors to provide excellent customer service many of the other soft skills follow. To truly provide excellent customer service it is necessary to pay attention to the details, be dependable, play well in the sandbox, practice integrity and common sense, and understand others. Always keep in mind the needs of the customer - usually the student.
We have on very large conference table. I try to stay at the one end where the talk stays light and positive. I try to avoid the people who tend to just gossip amongst themselves about other faculty and students. I am polite when I have to be but I dont join in the conversations.
Having spent 15 years as a customer service rep prior to teaching, I believe one of the most important soft skills is making people feel valued. Valued as a customer, valued as an individual, valued for the contributions they make to class discussions. I know this was not on the list shown in the presentation, but my first hand experience is that the "warmer and fuzzier" people feel, the more likely they are to get involved and stay invested in their performance.
Yamil,
Do you do any listening or Active listening lessons/activities in the classroom? Any one have any ideas?
Philip Campbell
I believe dependability and integrity are crucial skills for any work environment. People should be able to count on you to do your job correctly. You should be accountable for everything you do. Acting ethically in the workplace is important to the success of any company. Employees can show their integrity through the examples they set for others.
Common Sense is top of the list due to how it helps in and out of the work place by using good judgements and making good decisions.
In my school I think being flexible is the most important soft skill.
Not necessarily, but in a any LEARNING situation, students (and teachers) are going into uncharted ground and this is naturally stressfull. Under these conditions, it can be easy to get down (maybe it's gravity!). When we sense this happening is when we need to generate our own positive emotions and implement ways to turn the existing potentially negative emotions around.
Jeremy,
How do we explain common sense to people. It may sound like common sense, but this sis also one of the first excuses we hear. "It should be common sense." So, how do we get that across to people?
Philip Campbell
The two most important soft skills in my opinion are: self-control and professional communication
This is true whether interacting in a stressful situation with a co-worker or managing students in the classroom. We must maintain our composure at all times and choose words professionally whether it is verbal or written communication. We must always remember that we are examples to employees and to students.
I agree that being a good listener is a very important soft skill. Listening can help you as the instructor to head off any negative emotion that could be brought into the classroom.
Being personable, approachable, fair and consistent. I believe in every action you have the opportunity to set the tone also.
