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Soft skills are skills relating to people issues. Soft skills are at least as important, and often more important than technological skills to the success of software development projects.

Soft skills include:

Leadership: The role of a leader in a group is just as important as a manager, but the two are often not the same person. The leader is the visionary, facilitating teams to completion through shared vision and commitment rather than compliance.

Mentoring & Coaching: A mentor is an experienced and trusted advisor. Every software developer should be able to give and receive software development and project management wisdom to help make project teams and individuals more successful.

SPC Skills Development Training (partial list of courses)

• Peer Mentoring: An Effective Process for On-the-Job Training
• Project Management: A Team Approach
• Managing Strengths and Conflicts
• Cross Group Collaboration
• Precision Questioning
• SPC Springboard - Courses on Soft Skills, Management & Leadership training

Recommended Reading

Soft Skills:

• Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams, 2nd Ed by Tom Demarco and Timothy Lister, Dorset House, 1999
• Welcoming New Hires by Johanna Rothman, E-ssentials! Issue 16, 2000.

Leadership:

• Visionary Leadership: Creating a Compelling Sense of Direction for Your Organization by Burt Nanus and Warren Bennis, 1995, Jossey-Bass Publishers
• Why Leaders Can't Lead: The Unconscious Conspiracy Continues by Warren Bennis, 1997, Jossey-Bass Publishers
• John P. Kotter on What Leaders Really Do by John P. Kotter, 1999, Harvard Business School

Mentoring & Coaching:

• Teach What You Know: A Practical Leader's Guide to Knowledge Transfer Using Peer Mentoring, by Steve Trautman, Prentice Hall, 2006
• Mentoring - The Tao of Giving and Receiving Wisdom by Huang and Lynch, Harper Collins, 1995
• The Gifted Boss - How to Find, Create and Keep Great Employees by Dale Dauten, William Morrow & Co., 1999
• Coaching - Evoking Excellence in Others by James Flaherty, Butterworth-Heinemann, 1998
• Managers as Mentors - Building Partnerships for Learning by Chip R. Bell, Berrett-Hoehler Publishers, 1998
• The Master Motivator - Secrets of Inspiring Leadership by Mark Victor Hansen and Joe Batten, Health Communications Inc., 1995

Recommended Links

• New Hire Checklist

Contact us to learn how these ideas can improve your projects.