4 Soft Skills to Master as a Consultant

Oct 27

To excel in a competitive consulting industry, a consultant should possess the right soft skills. Many companies put a high value on soft skills during their hiring process which means that if you have the soft skills that these companies are looking for, you have a higher chance of landing your dream job.

Also known as interpersonal skills, noncognitive skills or essential skills, soft skills relate to how a person works. It includes skills such as communication skills, problem-solving skills, listening skills, and more. Soft skills can either be innate or acquired later in life. Even if you don't have the right soft skills as a consultant, there are ways to develop them.

For consultants, the top soft skills to master include the following:

1. Leadership skills

A consulting job is unique because, unlike most industries in which employers or clients dictate what you need to do, in consulting, you are the one to give recommendations. A successful consultant needs to have leadership skills because how else can you recommend leading teams and companies if you are not familiar with leadership?

Some of the valuable leadership skills that you can use in consulting include delegation, negotiation, conflict management, and high-impact presentation skills, among others.

2. Time-management skills

Time management is also important as a consultant since this skill allows you to deliver projects and output on time. Apart from that, if you can effectively manage your time, you'll also enjoy a good work-life balance.

There are hundreds of articles that tell you about time management, but one of the most popular ideas is the time management method by Eisenhower. The Eisenhower matrix divides tasks into different quadrants which include Do, Schedule, Delegate and Delete. Under Do, you can put tasks that are important and urgent. For tasks that are important but not urgent, you can put them under Schedule, while under Delegate, you can include urgent tasks that aren't so important. Tasks that are not urgent and not important can be added to the Delete quadrant.

3. Skill to remain calm under pressure

As a consultant, many things could go wrong, and your ability to show professionalism is much needed. When you are not calm under pressure, you are more likely to do things that aren't acceptable. Calmness allows you to stay professional even if you are dealing with pressure from work such as when you have unhappy clients, miss a deadline, or have a client who does not stick to what you originally agreed to. Regardless if it is your client's fault or not, it is important to show your professionalism as this can affect your image. Your ability to stay calm will bring you a long way.

4. Communication skills

In consultancy, being a good communicator involves not just the ability to talk to people. However, communication skills in consulting are slightly different from general communication skills. With consulting, you need to learn about top-down communication or the Pyramid Principle which can save your listeners time and learn more takeaways easily. You should also master the art of listening attentively because listening allows you to understand what your clients want to achieve to serve them better. Understanding your audience is equally important as it helps you deliver complex information in a way that is more understandable to your audience.

The soft skills that we mentioned above are not all-inclusive. Of course, several other soft skills can give you an edge as a consultant. For instance, you also need to be a likable person and great at public relations. More importantly, you need to be willing to learn and improve the soft skills that you already have.

At Change Works, we are looking at helping consultants develop soft skills that can help them achieve more in the profession. Our soft skill training programs are fully customizable to your specific needs and requirements.