Workplace success used to mean mastering certain soft skills like holding a room during a meeting, chatting by the water cooler, and swaying your manager with a well-timed in-person presentation. But as work shifted to a new reality, those soft skills didn’t just change – they became different enough to require an entire reboot.
After years of remote and hybrid work, workers with in-office experience often find that their people skills don’t transfer over to Zoom. For so long, face-to-face communications were foundational for building other soft skills like emotional intelligence and clear communication, and if your team members are in different time zones (or countries), even collaboration becomes a soft skill that requires significant updating.
Not to mention the challenges of digital communication, from presenting yourself well on camera to staying productive under algorithmic scrutiny or managing anxiety in a place where your personal and professional lives are constantly colliding. Tech skills that used to be optional, such as adaptability, digital, or cultural literacy, are becoming core to job performance.
But just what has changed with workplace soft skills in the years since the pandemic began? Read on.
Digital Collaboration Tools
With more collaboration in the workplace now moving to digital channels, using universally accessible platforms and processes has become an absolute must. Thankfully, the universal compatibility of PDF file formats provides the perfect no-fuss solution to file-sharing quickly and efficiently across borders – and devices. Today, using a PDF editor has become essential for remote workers who need to manage documents efficiently without wasting time on repetitive tasks. The ability to merge multiple files, add annotations, or convert images and other formats to PDF can all help remote employees work more efficiently and avoid frustration, and cumulatively shave hours off the work week for each employee, especially when those people work as part of a larger team, spread across multiple time zones.
PDFs are just the beginning of a range of AI-powered and labour-saving tools that can make remote work faster and easier. AI summarizers, for instance, can quickly condense long reports, contracts, or meeting notes into easy-to-read highlights that help employees stay up to date on projects without having to re-read entire documents. Workflow management tools like Trello, Asana, or Monday.com, meanwhile, help teams track what work has been done and is outstanding in real-time, assign tasks, and set deadlines, without having to meet in person or hold frequent check-ins.
Tools which allow multiple people to collaborate on the same document at the same time, such as Google Docs, Notion, or Microsoft Teams, become especially useful for hybrid or fully remote teams, as they can instantly see each other’s edits in real time, in conjunction with version control and commenting features to avoid miscommunications, reduce back-and-forth emails, and coordinate their work more efficiently.
Coping With Surveillance And Work Pressure
Your boss can’t walk up behind you and peek into your cubicle anymore, but that doesn’t mean you’re not being observed all the same. Your workplace can monitor everything from your personal computer to your search history. They know when you’re slacking off, and they know when you’re struggling to meet a deadline.
Stay organized and maintain visibility with project tracking tools or shared spreadsheets. Set clear deadlines, update progress regularly, and communicate proactively with your manager to demonstrate reliability without needing constant oversight.
This can feel a little overwhelming, especially if you’re not well organised. Keeping an eye on all your projects, managing your superiors’ expectations, and looking after your mental health can help mitigate all of that. While we’re all eager to find work that is flexible, working from home doesn’t mean not having to do anything all day.
Transition Of Social Skills
Gone is the era of the water cooler talk and the cigarette break. Socialisation in the workplace is no longer an intimate and direct experience. Direct interpersonal communication has given way to group calls and group chats. Direct communication happens through impersonal emails that have no room for charisma.
This doesn’t mean that the workplace is suddenly impartial, or that bosses won’t play favourites. There are now new pathways to generating favour with the higher-ups, and it doesn’t end at performance metrics. You need to demonstrate that you have the ambition and drive to take charge in a group setting and stand out from the crowd.
Emotional Intelligence & Self-Management
When you work in a hybrid model, self-awareness and self-management are more important than ever. The ability to keep yourself motivated and mentally healthy when you’re working from home and dividing your time between different spaces is critical.
This means knowing when you’re burning out or getting distracted, and proactively taking steps to stay on track with your work. Scheduling times to focus, communicating your availability clearly, and setting boundaries for yourself when you need some alone time are important soft skills in this area.
It also refers to the ability to stay flexible when things don’t go as planned, whether that means your schedule, technology or a project direction shifts. People who can roll with the punches, stay calm and focused, and keep contributing are going to be a major asset in the new world of work from home.
Technological Literacy
Regardless of the role you serve in, technological literacy is a must in remote business success. Nobody appreciates a person with their mic unmuted in a massive group call. Familiarize yourself with the company’s digital infrastructure and strive to appear competent and respectful at all times.
Lapses in tech use can make you look very unprofessional and disorganised. This is a soft skill where, no matter how many workshops or classes you attend, the key is to put in the hours and familiarize yourself with it. Today, everyone is technically capable of using electronic devices, but these skills are about being proficient and adapting to what’s new very quickly.
Cross-Cultural Sensitivity
The end of the traditional workplace means not all your co-workers live in the same city anymore. This can lead to a very diverse team, one representing a variety of cultures and mindsets. It is important to be able to navigate such a space without offending or upsetting your colleagues.
Insensitive language and questions are to be avoided; differences are to be embraced, and everyone is to be valued based on what they bring to the team. Language barriers can create an unwelcoming environment, especially if there’s a majority vs individual situation. It is key to teach yourself how to deal with being the odd one.
Implement checklists, templates, or communication guidelines that ensure messages are culturally sensitive and professional. Take a moment to reflect on tone, wording, and context, particularly in written communication where nuances may be lost, and actively seek feedback from colleagues.
The Future of Soft Skills in Remote Work
If there is one thing that has always been part of the soft skill set, it is an individual’s ability to work in a team. But with teams becoming increasingly virtual, spread across many time zones, and often never meeting face to face, being a team player and having good communication skills take on new meaning.
As with any adaptation, some will fare better than others. The skills of technologically savvy workers, open to people’s differences, and empathetic toward colleagues working in another part of the world will be assets to any company. Employers who value and compensate for such skills rather than just looking at numbers and other key performance indicators will have an advantage in this new work environment.
There is no going back to the way it was; remote work and hybrid arrangements are here to stay. So workers and companies who focus on building those soft skills and continue to add to the technical skills needed to perform work will be well-positioned to help lead the way into the future of work.
