Building Better Teams: Why Soft Skills Matter

Soft skills are the basic human characteristics that influence how people interact with others. They help shape team dynamics and drive success in ways that technical skills alone cannot.

Let’s examine some of the most common soft skills. We’ll take a look at why they matter for creating an inclusive and productive team culture and share tips for how you can help your own team develop these skills.

1. Accountability

Accountability means taking responsibility when things go wrong. When team members own their work and their mistakes, it creates an atmosphere where everyone trusts each other.

Accountability matters because:

• It builds a culture of collaboration and trust. When you know you can count on each other, collaboration becomes natural.
• It fuels personal growth. When you own your mistakes without fear, it opens an avenue for growth. 
• It increases resilience and adaptability. The whole team gets stronger when individual contributions are recognized and valued.

Here are a few ways to foster accountability in your own workplace:

• Cultivate an environment of transparency with regular check-ins and progress updates.
• Set up collaborative goal-setting sessions, where teams outline their objectives and commit to supporting one another in reaching them. 
• Integrate collaborative tools that enhance visibility into project progress, such as project management tools, like Monday.com, or communications tools, like Slack. 

2. Adaptability

Adaptability is about approaching setbacks with curiosity instead of dread. When someone on your team demonstrates adaptability, it inspires everyone else. Suddenly, you have a team that collaborates better because everyone’s willing to consider different perspectives.

Adaptability matters because:

• It opens doors to creative solutions. You can sense when to move forward with an idea or when to take a step back and listen.
• It builds a culture of continuous learning. When you are adaptable, you are constantly changing, and with that comes an opportunity to learn new things.
• It empowers team members to bring their best ideas forward. People who can read the room and adjust their communication style on the fly create more harmonious team environments.

Here are a few ways to foster adaptability in your own workplace:

• Encourage professional development through online courses, workshops or even departmental projects.
• Promote an inclusive environment where diverse perspectives are embraced by allowing employees to share their stories during all-hands meetings.
• Train leaders to model adaptive behaviors by openly discussing challenges.

3. Communication

Communication isn’t just about talking or sending messages, it’s about making genuine connections with people. The best communicators aren’t necessarily the loudest voices in the room. They’re the ones who can truly understand where others are coming from and respond thoughtfully.

Communication matters because:

• It requires actual listening. Instead of just talking at someone, those with true communication skills know how to lead a conversation and how to listen to understand.
• It helps you adjust your message for different audiences. Someone with strong communication skills can help different team members understand each other and work together more effectively.
• It builds bridges between different personalities and perspectives. Expressing yourself clearly while remaining open to others’ perspectives can turn potential conflict into a productive conversation.

Here are a few ways to foster communication in your own workplace:

• Implement anonymous employee surveys where employees can voice their thoughts and concerns.
• Use collaboration software, like Slack or Teams, so employees can regularly communicate with each other. An all-teams chat or weekly huddle will allow employees to contribute.
• Have an “open door” policy allowing employees at all levels to feel encouraged to communicate with leaders. This can take several forms, such as regular open-forum meetings and informal lunch gatherings.

4. Conflict Resolution

Conflict resolution isn’t just about putting out fires at work. It’s also about understanding people and what makes them tick. When you get good at this, you become effective at solving problems and creating something better than what existed before.

Conflict resolution matters because:

• It taps into your emotional intelligence. Instead of thinking everything is about drama, you shift your mindset to identify something that needs attention.
• It transforms differing perspectives. Teams that embrace healthy conflict tend to be more tight-knit and resilient.
• It builds trust during disagreements. When your team knows they can address concerns without getting their heads bitten off, you create an atmosphere of openness and trust.

Here are a few ways to foster conflict resolution in your own workplace:

• Implement role-reversal scenarios to encourage employees to see others’ perspectives. To make this effective, allow team members to role-play each other’s job duties, managers to experience team member roles, and employees to step into the role of the customer.
• Provide conflict resolution training to your employees, especially managers and leaders.
• Establish clear policies and procedures for handling conflict.

5. Empathy

Empathy goes way beyond just nodding along when someone’s talking. It’s the ability to understand and share another person’s feelings and genuinely connect with people on a human level. 

Empathy matters because:

• It turns everyday interactions into meaningful connections. When employees feel safe to express their thoughts without fear of judgment, creativity flourishes.
• It transforms good leaders into great ones. When leaders bring empathy to the table, the whole atmosphere changes. People bring their authentic selves to work because they know they’ll be accepted.
• It boosts team morale and productivity. Companies that prioritize understanding and compassion build strong, diverse teams where different perspectives aren’t just tolerated, they’re celebrated.

Here are a few ways to foster empathy in your own workplace:

• Implement team-building activities that encourage working together. Some ideas include an escape room, where employees must work together to solve puzzles, or a human scavenger hunt that helps employees learn about each other’s experiences and skills.
• Establish a mentorship program that pairs experienced team members with newer employees.
• Create a safe space for employees to provide feedback, such as surveys or a feedback box.

6. Emotional Intelligence

Think about emotional intelligence as assessing situations to understand what’s happening with the people around you. When team members have this skill, it creates an environment where everyone feels seen and heard.

Emotional intelligence matters because:

• It helps people connect on a deeper level. Emotional intelligence helps you notice when a colleague seems off or sense when someone needs encouragement rather than criticism.
• It reduces unnecessary conflicts. Understanding where others are coming from and using that knowledge to communicate can reduce strife among each other.
• It makes collaboration smoother. Tuning into others’ emotional states builds a foundation of trust for honest communication.

Here are a few ways to foster emotional intelligence in your own workplace:

• Implement reflection sessions, such as post-project reviews or individual self-assessments, where employees are encouraged to look at situations or projects through another’s eyes.
• Hold weekly team huddles where concerns and achievements can be discussed.
• Encourage one-on-ones with employees and their managers to discuss workload, stressors and achievements.

7. Problem Solving

Problem solving blends creativity, flexibility and emotional intelligence together.  Problem-solvers don’t just dive straight into solutions; they take time to understand the whole picture, including how people feel about the situation. 

Problem solving matters because:

• It combines analytical thinking with creative approaches. Problem solving helps tackle challenges from multiple angles rather than sticking to the same old methods.
• It requires understanding. When you can put yourself in others’ shoes, your entire team feels heard, unique ideas come to the table and the solutions tend to work better for everyone involved.
• It transforms roadblocks into stepping stones. Rather than getting stressed when things don’t go according to plan, you see roadblocks as chances to learn something new. 

Here are a few ways to foster problem solving in your own workplace:

• Create regular brainstorming sessions as a platform to solve business or individual project issues.
• Implement a structured problem-solving process that outlines key ways to handle conflicts.
• Recognize and reward employees for innovative solutions to problems.

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