Why Your Developers Need Soft Skills Too

Being excellent at writing code is not enough for the modern developer. Soft skills can make developers future-proof and prove to be game-changers. Web developers need diversified skills to remain competitive in today’s tech industry.
While technical skills and knowledge are invaluable for developers, less technical skills remain just as critical. With soft skills, developers can deliver better end products from an enhanced performance.
Developer activities mainly revolve around writing the right code and executing tests efficiently. These expectations on developers are, however, evolving as the software industry integrates with the business world.

What are soft skills?
Soft skills involve our interactions with other people. With such skills, your developers can collaborate better and have enhanced personal interactions, leading to better outcomes. Soft skills come in handy when communicating with members of your team and negotiating with clients. While these skills come more naturally to some people, your developers can learn and develop them with time and effort.

The Value of Soft Skills
Developers often focus on their tasks at hand or problem and spend most of their time in front of their computer screens. Software development is, however, a team effort and needs different players to get the job done. Your developers will interact with their peers as part of a larger team.
Software developers with good soft skills will have an easier time interacting with designers, project managers, executives, and other stakeholders. If good developers fail to communicate well to the rest of the team, your projects may stall or fail to perform optimally.
Besides enhanced communication, software developers need soft skills for better networking. Networking helps your team enhance their skills and performance. However, software developers need nuanced interpersonal skills to build the right networks, especially with people they don’t know very well.

Soft Skills for Developers
Developers need soft skills that enable seamless communication and interaction with other team members. Your developers can take time to learn to display more empathy and meaningful communication. Top soft skills for developers include:

1. Communication
Communication is crucial in software development, keeping in mind that it is a two-way process. When speaking, developers need to do so with confidence, clarity, and conviction. Your speech should also be polite to facilitate effective communication.
As a developer, learning how to listen to colleagues, users, or clients can also make a difference. Good listeners get to learn things, broaden their worldview, and expand their horizons. Non-verbal communication is also crucial in getting your ideas across.

2. Empathy
While working with other team members, it is essential to understand their belief systems, personal and mental characteristics. With this knowledge, you’ll be able to address their needs and collaborate more efficiently. Empathy makes you more sensible and approachable as you are more aware of other people.

3. Adaptability and open-mindedness
Developers can learn how to be receptive to feedback from other team members. Open-minded developers can quickly discover and improve on their weaknesses. As the software development industry evolves, you’ll also need to change your mindset and adapt to change to remain relevant.
Developers with pronounced curiosity can learn more and are more likely to find solutions to different challenges. Open-mindedness can also help you become a critical thinker, ensuring that you can solve complex problems. You’ll learn how to improvise and select optimum solutions from your colleagues’ suggestions.

4. Patience
Software development is a complex effort and can include long processes. Even in agile environments, project execution, testing, updates, and deployment can take a lot of time. Developers need patience to see out projects, especially when starting. Your team may need more convincing sometimes. You’ll need to sell your idea or approach patiently.
Overall, these soft skills complement each other; possessing them results in a well-rounded software developer with excellent leadership potential.

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