What are soft skills?
In the business sphere an axiom exists that thanks to hard skills a person can get a job interview, but only the soft skills could guarantee him the position. The so called “soft skills” are all qualities, personal characteristics and social skills that every person has developed at different level. Know and Can Association offers non formal courses for soft skills development. Soft skills are all those abilities that help a person to adapt in educational, social and professional environments; to communicate properly; to work in a team; to be able to solve problems and come up with decisions in difficult situations. To be able to charm the others, to make friends, to lead a team, to maintain a conversation, to work effectively with colleagues, to receive and give constructive criticism – all those qualities are considered as soft skills. They are essential for every successful job interview and career development, thus they are extremely valued by the employers.
Why soft skills are so important?
The educational system in our country does not focus much on building and improving soft skills of the students. In most cases school and university classes are dedicated to teaching dry theory which is not backed up by practical skills acquisition. Unfortunately the soft skills importance and the knowledge how to put theoretical education in practice are much underestimated factors. According to some studies, big percentage of the Bulgarian experts and professionals experience difficulties in their communication and work with other people. Due to this reason we consider the non-formal education (fostering soft skills) as important as the formal one.
Soft skills trainings
Know and Can Association offers non formal soft skills trainings aiming at practical skills and knowledge acquisition. The courses are flexible and are completely consistent with the participants’ specific requirements. According to the clients’ desires and needs we could offer 4 modules simultaneously or in several combinations. The courses duration varies between 1 and 5 days depending on the clients’ requirements. The price also depends on the course duration and the number of modules. All soft skills trainings are suitable for children, youth and adults. They are designed for extracurricular activities, business development, team building and non-formal training. The training facilities of Know and Can Association is appropriate for training delivery, but upon request our trainers could organize the activities within the client’s premises or in other location.
Soft skills modules
We offer 4 modules aiming at development and improvement of soft skills.
1. Team work
Team work training course is an essential part of our soft skills development program. The good team work skills are becoming more and more important in the educational and the professional spheres, as well as in the everyday life. For every successful person is very valuable to be adaptable and flexible, to know how to communicate and work with different people, to be able to foresee the possible outcomes of the work of certain teams and to manage to cope with different situations. The training is focused entirely on developing practical skills by solving many cases, example situations and problem solving cases.
2. Problem solving
Conflicts are something normal for each sphere of life. People say that in the conflict the truth is born and the good ideas are generated. There is a popular misbelief that a conflict is equal to a scandal or a problem, which is not true. Every factor that stops the smooth running of an activity is categorized as a conflict. Unfortunately not many people have the necessary skills to effectively manage such situations. The training aims to teach the students how to deal with the conflict situations in the best possible way.
3. Communication skills
This module is appropriate for all age groups. It is aimed at people who are shy and not very communicative due to low presentation or public speaking skills. This module can help them overcome their concerns and build self-confidence. Other important skills and competences this module teaches are team work; tolerance; active listening; proper expression of opinions and points of view; etc. The training also focuses on non-verbal communication and body language. The students will acquire valuable lessons in the sphere of business communication; debating and problem solving.
4. Leadership methods and styles
The aim of the course is to present the essence and the necessary qualities and characteristics of a good leader and manager. It starts with theory and a comprehensive analysis of the leadership qualities. The theoretical part is followed by individual tests for determining the leadership approach and style of each student. Apart from the tests, the biggest part of the training activities is carried out in the form of case studies, situational games and other interactive activities.