11 Essential Skills You’ll Need To Succeed at The workplace

11 Essential Skills You’ll Need To Succeed at the workplace

Making your way up the career ladder will require a certain skill set. It’s about learning everything you can about your job to be as irreplaceable as possible and honing skills that will help you in your workplace. What constitutes success for one person is something entirely different for another. But, one thing is common for both parties – you’ll need some essential skills for success at your workplace.

1. Initiative

The initiative, drive, motivation will give you an X factor in your workplace. Employers love employees who are driven to give their best and achieve the right results. This doesn’t mean you have to burn yourself out. This means that the right motivation and drive will help you find out problems and solve them. Or, take up the initiative and propose new solutions that will enhance the project you are working on or increase revenue.

2. Communication

People communicate in different ways and communication is that one skill that you cannot ignore if you want to be successful in all areas of your life. Nonetheless, communication skills can make a great team or break one if there is a lack of communication.  Especially, if you are in a management role; you need to learn how to convey your messages across, both positive or not so positive. Take some time to analyze how you communicate in person, over Slack and even with your gestures. Mastering verbal, non-verbal and written communication can be a great asset because you’ll know how to approach your colleagues, employees, customers or potential partners.

3. Leadership skills to attract and retain people

If you want to be an effective leader, you need to learn how to communicate, listen, give feedback and motivate people. Invest your time into learning everything you can to manage people in the right way. When you do this, you’ll easily retain high achievers and also attract new people who want to work in positive work culture.

4. Organizational skills

Today we have daily, weekly or monthly tasks. People work on projects, have strict deadlines and organization is the key to delivering the right results and meet deadlines. You need to learn how to prioritise tasks, manage your time right and limit distractions. You should also prioritise self-care during your workday in order to be and stay productive. Take that break. Step outside and walk around the premises. This will reset your mind, improve concentration, boost creativity and efficiency.

5. Be open and adaptable

Being open to changes in work procedures and easily adapting to everything new or sudden will help you reduce work-related stress and build your resilience. People who are easily adaptable are more content and productive at work. Things will change unexpectedly, you’ll get a new manager or transfer to another team. But, being open and adaptable will make you more successful whenever a change happens at your work. There’s no need to stress over things you just have to accept.

6. Be a lifelong learner

Willingness to learn continuously and do the essential work to master a vocation or obtain a necessary degree will help you propel your career. This is something you can do to get that particular job you want, get a promotion or simply for the sake of learning and mental fitness. There’s even a chance you just want to change your career and start working on something completely new. Whatever the case might be, you can find accessible RTO training resources online and take up a course online. Being a lifelong learner will improve your skills in general and you’ll be rewarded for such an attitude.

7. Emotional inteligence

Emotional intelligence is an essential skill in all areas of your life. Higher EQ means that you know how to adapt to a situation, be an effective leader, craft your message properly to avoid conflict and be aware of different types of people surrounding you at the office. Everyone is different and emotional intelligence will make it easier for you to approach each one of your colleagues in a way that encourages collaboration and teamwork.

8. Learn to be a valuable team member

Since people work remotely these days, teamwork and collaboration have never been more important. Working efficiently alongside your team members means that you know what your responsibilities are and how they affect other members of your team. Open and honest communication, understanding, giving and receiving feedback, support are just some traits of a valuable team member. Learn to be one.

9. Learn to be better at negotiation

Negotiation is a skill every person should master. You’ll have to negotiate your salary or job requirements or expectations at some point. Being good at negotiation takes practice. So, invest your time into learning the most useful negotiation techniques especially if you work in sales.

10. Learn to network

Business networking is a great way to meet your colleagues, both in the company you work for or from other ones. You can easily build your network by attending company events or business events in your town or across the country. You never know what opportunity for your career or your company lies in networking opportunities. Take your time to build the online network as well on Linkedin or other platforms.

11. Time management skills

Distractions are everywhere. Slack, Skype, social media, kids running around your table if you work from home or a noisy colleague who loves to eat by their desk. It’s up to you to learn to minimise distractions and manage your time wisely. Learn how to plan your day, organise important and urgent tasks to avoid burnout and deliver expected results. You can use the Pomodoro technique to optimize your workday or different task management platforms. This will help you learn how to prioritise your tasks and focus on the most important ones. Plan your next day at the end of your current workday so you’ll stop wasting time on things that are not urgent nor important.