Soft Skills development workshop!!!

Foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my professors Mrs. Vijayalakshmi and Col. Jayakumar  for their continuous support to the blog, for their patience, motivation, enthusiasm, and immense knowledge. Their guidance helped me through the research and writing of this blog. I could not have imagined having better advisers and mentors for this wonderful assignment.

What does one mean by soft skills???Why do we need soft skills??? Are they as important as hard skills???
Don’t worry people, all your doubts will be cleared in this blog. Of course I am no expert in soft skills, it’s just that I am going to compile whatever I learnt in my soft skills course (MS4100) and what I researched using the almighty www.
I have been consistent in writing blogs for the past 700 days minus the last 699.

What are soft skills?

Soft skills is a sociological term relating to a person's "EQ" (Emotional Intelligence Quotient), the cluster of personality traits, social graces, communication, language, personal habits, friendliness, and optimism that characterize relationships with other people. Soft skills complement hard skills which are the occupational requirements of a job and many other activities.

SWOT analysis

The name says it: Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat. A SWOT analysis guides you to identify the positives and negatives inside your organization (S-W) and outside of it, in the external environment (O-T). Developing a full awareness of your situation can help with both strategic planning and decision-making.

The SWOT method (which is sometimes called TOWS) was originally developed for business and industry, but it is equally useful in the work of community health and development, education, and even personal growth

Johari window-

The Johari window is a technique created by Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham in 1955 in the United States, used to help people better understand their relationship with self and others. It is used primarily in self-help groups and corporate settings as a heuristic exercise. When performing the exercise, subjects are given a list of 56 adjectives and pick five or six that they feel describe their own personality. Peers of the subject are then given the same list, and each pick five or six adjectives that describe the subject. These adjectives are then mapped onto a grid.

Charles Handy calls this concept the Johari House with four rooms. Room 1 is the part of ourselves that we see and others see. Room 2 is the aspects that others see but we are not aware of. Room 3 is the most mysterious room in that the unconscious or subconscious part of us is seen by neither ourselves nor others. Room 4 is our private space, which we know but keep from others.

Assertiveness-

Assertiveness is a form of communication in which needs or wishes are stated clearly with respect for oneself and the other person in the interaction. Assertive communication is distinguished from passive communication (in which needs or wishes go unstated) and aggressive communication (in which needs or wishes are stated in a hostile or demanding manner).

Self esteem-

Self-esteem is a term used in psychology to reflect a person's overall emotional evaluation of his or her own worth. It is a judgment of oneself as well as an attitude toward the self.

Col. Jayakumar’s lectures-

Jayakumar sir’s lectures were real confidence boosters. That guy is awesome. Its like he has achieved everything in life. I became more responsible and sincere about the outcomes of my life after attending his lectures. I also realised that there is no such thing as fate but what we make. A weak man has doubts before the decision, a strong man afterwards. Once he caught me doodling and he said “Doodles are the window to the soul.” I really enjoyed his lectures.

Transactional analysis-

Transactional analysis (TA to its adherents), is an integrative approach to the theory of psychology and psychotherapy. It is described as integrative because it has elements of psychoanalytic, humanist and cognitive approaches. TA was first developed by Canadian-born US psychiatrist Eric Berne, starting in the late 1950s.

Buddy Group Discussions- (popularly known as GD’s)

It’s discussion by a group aimed to help us develop a better perspective(among ourselves) of the given topic.This broader perspective helps us to deal the problem better.

55% of people are more afraid of speaking in public than dying. I was a core member of this group before the GD session. I couldn't open my mouth in public because of fear of being constantly judged.

After the GD session I realized the importance of Batman’s famous dialogue from the Dark Knight trilogy-“To conquer fear, You must become fear, You must bask in the fear of other men”.

Social and emotional intelligence-

Emotional and Social Intelligence (ESI) refers to the competencies linked to self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management, which enable people to understand and manage their own and others’ emotions in social interactions. The study of ESI came out of research on multiple intelligences, personality studies, psychology of emotion and neuroscience (through MRIs and many other imaging techniques). It established that just as we take in data about ourselves and our environment through our minds and our bodies, we also process data through our emotional center.

I should stop now because empty vessels make more noise.

Right,so that was the long version,there are only six things you need to focus on-

1.Its not an ending if it isn't happy.

2.No matter what always say yes, unless no is required.

3.When life gives you lemonade,make lemons.life will be all like, “WHAT!!”

4.Success is 1% inspiration,98% perspiration and 2 % attention to details.

5.Never promise a list of six things if you cant remember the sixth one.

6.

After attending the soft skill classes I realized I have become more confident,sincere and responsible.I know I have to make my own future and I should never stop believing  in myself!!!