Imagine a world where machines, robots and AI do everything from driving cars to disease prevention. What sets us apart from them? Our soft skills.
Various military theses support the idea that the most successful mission teams are not necessarily those that are the most skilled in weapons, but mainly those that communicate effectively, work as a team, resolve conflicts and adapt to change. This is how in the 1970s the term ‘soft skills’ came to be used, i.e. transversal skills beyond technical skills.
Soft skills are considered an invaluable and differentiating asset in any profession, in the following, I will focus on software engineering.
From the military to software engineering
It was to be expected that over time companies began to realise that soft skills were critical to building, collaborating and having a fluid work environment.
In the last year I have heard several colleagues start and introduce themselves as follows: ‘Hi, I’m Luchito expert in PS Core, Polyfill and monad’ and what to say when we try to communicate with each other or with other areas of an organisation. Let’s not forget that every software engineer’s purpose is to create a better world using technology, to build a future and to leave a sustainable footprint on society.
Evolution of software engineering
From an artisanal discipline to a highly sophisticated and constantly adapting one, receiving base from others, such as civil engineering and architecture, that is why today we talk about: Software design, architect, design patterns, construction phase, among others.
With the latest wave of evolution, software engineering has moved from solitary programmers to agile teams (creating software as a social activity), the growing importance of user experience and artificial intelligence. They have made it necessary for today’s professionals to cultivate soft skills as well as technical ones.
- The World Economic Forum predicts that by 2025, 50% of the skills required in the workplace will be soft skills.
- LinkedIn indicates that 92% of recruiters consider soft skills to be equal to technical skills when hiring a candidate.
- McKinsey & Company indicates that 70% of employees consider soft skills to be equally or more important than technical skills.
- Google in its ‘Project Oxygen’ indicates that 86% of its employees believe that having strong soft skills was critical to success in the company.
The skills a software engineer should be working on by 2025
Summarising the sources used for the four bullets above I make a top 5 soft skills for 2025
- Leadership.
- Teamwork.
- Critical thinking.
- Effective communication.
- Emotional intelligence.
1] and [2] are fundamental in most professions and have been in the top 5 for many years.
3] is a particular soft skill for software engineering and has also been in the top 5 for many years.
4] has been in the top few years and is a consequence of evolution (last wave) and hence the title of the post. In the middle of 2024, we no longer talk about the importance of communication for a software engineer, now we talk about techniques, workshops and how to cultivate it.
Next, the novelty is that [5] already appears in the top, over the years I would dare to say that it will take the podium from leadership, why? I consider it to be the foundation, without emotional intelligence you don’t cultivate or visualise leadership or any soft skill for that matter it could tarnish a technical skill, what do you say?
Example, the impact of emotional intelligence
Imagine a senior software engineer, highly competent in the technology of the mandated project, with years of industry experience and several similar projects.
During code review: This unempathetic engineer may make hurtful or demotivating comments to team members, which may affect their confidence and willingness to learn or ask questions.
In project management: This engineer does not listen to the opinions of others and is unable to handle stress, making hasty and uninformed decisions, putting the project at risk.
If we use the analogy in the title of this post, it would look like this:
- Engine = Technical skill.
- Petrol = Soft skill.
- Octane = The soft skill of emotional intelligence.
Conclusion
Soft skills, such as leadership and communication, are just as important and complementary to technical skills. Even the soft skills may highlight or overshadow the technical ones.
If you are a technician and cannot communicate your ideas effectively or lead a team your achievements and those of the company may be limited.
In these times where after 10 minutes of posting a job offer there are more than 100 applications, what will be the differentiator?
