Interface by Design - Developing skillsets

A computer may store and process information through its hardware but it is only beneficial if it is outputted in a useful form. An interface allows a user to see, access and interact with information stored in non-visible areas. This is effective as long as the interface feeds information accurately and coherently in both directions. When translation errors, bugs in the system and compatibility issues plague an interface, the objectives of both the user and the system become inefficient and quality degrades. This all comes down to communication or a lack there of.

Everybody has two sets of skills. Hard and soft. Basically, hard skills are quantifiable and soft skills are more subjective. Most spend a lot of time developing one side but have a tendency to neglect the other. Since the majority of people, education systems and cultures invest in hard skill development, we will start with that side. Focusing on hard skills creates a vast pool of knowledge and helps a person achieve an expert status, making them the smart choice for a specialised position.

If we see knowledge as hardware and the information, soft skills are the programs that make them usable and translates them effectively through to the receiver. If this isn't considered by the individual, the system or the culture, a high investment into education may return stunted and inconsistent results that fail to reach full potential. If these areas are addressed and soft skill level increased, total communication efficiency can improve and the effects would be reflected by high and consistent results with a more stable economy.

In the workplace, this idea is crucial to understand as one person may have an incredible level of hard skill to call upon, yet lack the ability to connect and transfer understanding through to stakeholders. This can create vast inefficiencies in the system through communication error, knowledge resistance and networking or cooperation breakdown. Ideas are lost or slowed, relationships become strained, trust falls, environments develop toxicity - and the bottom line eventually suffers.

If an organisation cannot wait the many years required for institutionalised education systems or external culture to change, it can drive change internally to speed the process. Hiring policy could be developed to include certain soft skills as prerequisites or rate them higher than current hiring techniques generally do. For each new recruit and people already within, training and development can occur that not only increases these skills but empowers the individual to further self-direct and invest independently. This gives a certain level of control to the organisation for tailoring and focusing plus helps build an environment of continual improvement into the future.

Taking the responsibility of training core soft skills for an organisation may appear expensive and go against the grain of corporate spending policy but can a managing director, board or investor afford not to ensure that employee skills include: reliability, flexibility, leadership, self-direction, teamwork, sociability, time management, motivation, attention, critical thinking, conflict resolution, independence, judgement, situational awareness, tolerance, patience, willingness, positivity...and finally, after many more in between... Integrity.

Taraz