What will the future of work look like? How can you ensure you are successfully positioned to evolve as work evolves? Connection with others and focus on social skills will be a key to this success.
According to the World Economic Forum The Future of Jobs report, there is an anticipated decrease in many job functions we know today, like office and administrative, manufacturing, production and construction. In their place, we may see growth in other areas like business and operations, management, computer and mathematical, architecture, and sales.
While computers and machines continue to automate work that has historically been done by humans, it will be up to humans to uncover the next set of business problems and opportunities. Whatever the future job classifications look like to dive into these business needs, the study points to social skills as a necessary criteria for success in the future of work. This includes emotional intelligence, collaboration, persuasion, and ability to teach others. How would you rate yourself in these areas?
Recently, I’ve embarked on collaborations with other coaches and professional development experts. A central theme to these collaborations is to help our students and clients think critically about their vision, energy levels, mindset and skillset in order to succeed in both their present and future of work. Collaborating in this manner has felt like the closest thing to the future of work that I’ve been exposed to in my career. Here are a few reasons why it feels like this:
- We are collaborating across multiple cities and time zones.
- Our forums for work are Slack, Zoom, Trello and Canva – technology that wasn’t familiar to me through my 9-5 job.
- Most of our meetings take place outside of normal business hours. Our busiest collaboration times are Thursday evenings and weekends.
- We have to be completely tuned into one another emotionally because we aren’t in the same room with one another and we are working at a rapid pace.
The future of work is both scary and exciting. It will require many of us to hire, train, and coach differently. Collaboration will be a constant. Connecting with others both within our job roles, as well as within the broader world, will continue to be necessary to keep up with both the technological and human elements of work.
Are you ready to sharpen your social skills? Reach out to me today. I’d be happy to spend 30 minutes with you to discuss your goals and help create an action plan that will keep you ahead of the curve.
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