Bridging the Soft Skills Gap: How to Teach the Missing Basics to the New Hybrid Workforce

Nurture and develop well-rounded team players by focusing on soft skills development People entering the professional world are better educated than ever before. Their technical skills are often off-the-charts, helping them make short work of even the most challenging tasks. At the same time, however, many of these very same people lack soft skills we’ve often taken for granted. In the newly revised second edition of Bridging the Soft Skills Gap: How to Teach the Missing Basics to the New Hybrid Workforce, veteran business advisor, speaker, and consultant Bruce Tulgan delivers a practical and incisive roadmap to developing crucial professionalism, critical thinking, and teamwork skills. You’ll also find: A collection of 92 instructive lesson plans designed to break soft skills down into their component parts and teach them one manageable piece at a time An exploration of the soft skills gap, including what it means and how its impact on your organization will be felt Explanations of why you can’t hire your way around a soft skills gap An essential leadership handbook for executives, managers, and other business leaders, Bridging the Soft Skills Gap is a must-read resource for human resources professionals, team leaders, and front-line employees who deal with promising, but unpolished, talent.

Table of Contents:
Part One the Soft Skills Gap 1 Prologue Meet the Workforce of the Future 3 Chapter 1 The Soft Skills Gap 9 The Soft Skills Gap: Growing Steadily from Gen X to Millennials to Gen Z to Whoever Comes Next 11 Something Much Larger Is Going on Here: The Post- Boomer Generational Shift 11 Soft Skills Are – Sort of – About Conforming in an Age of Non conformism 14 The Soft Skills Gap: The Missing Basics in Today’s Workforce 17 Face the Hard Realities of the Soft Skills Gap 24 Chapter 2 You Can’t Hire Your Way Around the Soft Skills Gap 27 Staffing Strategy and Hiring 28 Onboarding and Up- to- Speed Training 33 Performance Management and Talent Development36 Ongoing Training 38 The Human Element: What Role Are You Going to Play? 43 Become a Teaching Style Manager 45 Take It to the Next Level 48 Chapter 3 Unlocking the Power of Soft Skills 49 Drill Down: The Missing Basics 52 Unlocking the Power of Soft Skills 54 Unlocking the Power: The Rest of This Book 59 Part Two Teaching the Missing Basics 61 Chapter 4 Teaching the Missing Basics of Professionalism 63 Teaching Self- Evaluation 63 Self- Evaluation: Lesson Plan #1 68 Self- Evaluation: Lesson Plan #2 – Evaluating Yourself on Ability, Skill, and Will 69 Self- Evaluation: Lesson Plan #3 – Evaluating Yourself on Productivity, Quality, and Behavior 70 Self- Evaluation: Lesson Plan #4 – Evaluating Yourself on the Key Soft Skills Competencies71 Self- Evaluation: Lesson Plan #5 – Drill Down on Understanding the Key Soft Skills Competencies76 Self- Evaluation: Lesson Plan #6 – Explore Your Own Successes with the Key Soft Skills 80 Teaching Personal Responsibility 84 Personal Responsibility: Lesson Plan #1 – Introduction 86 Personal Responsibility: Lesson Plan #2 – All the Factors That Get in Your Way 87 Personal Responsibility: Lesson Plan #3 – Considering the Most Common Factors, Mostly Outside Your Own Control, That Get in the Way at Work 88 Personal Responsibility: Lesson Plan #4 – Response Power 90 Teaching Positive Attitude 92 Positive Attitude: Lesson Plan #1 – Considering Theories of How to Be Your Best at Work 94 Positive Attitude: Lesson Plan #2 – Defining “Good Attitude” Behaviors 95 Positive Attitude: Lesson Plan #3 – Considering the Most Common Bad Attitudes 96 Positive Attitude: Lesson Plan #4 – Considering Good Attitude Behaviors 98 Positive Attitude: Lesson Plan #5 – for Individuals Who Need an Attitude Adjustment100 Teaching Good Work Habits 101 Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan #1 – Overview: Wellness, Self- Presentation, Timeliness, Productivity, Attention to Detail, Follow- Through, Initiative 104 Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan #2 – Self- Assessment 106 Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan #3 – Self- Improvement Planning 108 Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan #4 – Wellness 109 Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan #5 – Planning a Wellness Initiative 110 Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan #6 – Self- Presentation 113 Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan #7 – Using a Time Log to Learn to Start Living by a Schedule 115 Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan #8 – How to Make a Basic Project Plan 119 Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan #9 – Taking Notes and Making Checklists 121 Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan #10 – How to Do a Time/Motion Study on Your Own Work 123 Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan #11 – Spotlight on Follow- Through 124 Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan #12 – Going the Extra Mile 125 Teaching Interpersonal Communication Skills 126 Interpersonal Communication Skills: Lesson Plan #1 – Introduction 129 Interpersonal Communication Skills: Lesson Plan #2 – Self-Assessment 131 Interpersonal Communication Skills: Lesson Plan #3 – Learning to Use the “People List” 133 Interpersonal Communication Skills: Lesson Plan #4 – Put More Structure into Your Communication 137 Interpersonal Communication Skills: Lesson Plan #5 – Put More Substance into Your Communication 139 Interpersonal Communication Skills: Lesson Plan #6 – Preparing for Meetings 141 Interpersonal Communication Skills: Lesson Plan #7 – Email Best Practices 142 Interpersonal Communication Skills: Lesson Plan #8 – Communicating Remotely 144 Chapter 5 Teaching the Missing Basics of Critical Thinking 147 Teaching Proactive Learning 147 Proactive Learning: Lesson Plan #1 – Knowledge Work 151 Proactive Learning: Lesson Plan #2 – Open Mind 155 Proactive Learning: Lesson Plan #3 – Suspend Judgment, Question Assumptions, and Seek to Learn 158 Proactive Learning: Lesson Plan #4 – Question Assumptions: What Do You Know? What Don’t You Know? 160 Proactive Learning: Lesson Plan #5 – Seeking Out Information, Technique, and Perspective 161 Proactive Learning: Lesson Plan #6 – Studying Information to Build Knowledge164 Proactive Learning: Lesson Plan #7 – Practicing Technique to Build Skills 166 Proactive Learning: Lesson Plan #8 – Contemplating Competing Perspectives to Build Wisdom 168 Teaching Problem Solving 170 Problem Solving: Lesson Plan #1 – Introduction 173 Problem Solving: Lesson Plan #2 – Preventing or Avoiding Problems Before They Happen 174 Problem Solving: Lesson Plan #3 – Ready- Made Solutions to Commonly Occurring Problems 175 Problem Solving: Lesson Plan #4 – Common Denominators and Underlying Principles 177 Problem Solving: Lesson Plan #5 – Applying the “After- Action” Review Tool 178 Problem Solving: Lesson Plan #6 – Using the After- Action Review Tool to Learn from Others 180 Teaching Decision Making 181 Decision Making: Lesson Plan #1 – Introduction 184 Decision Making: Lesson Plan #2 – Information Analysis: Simple Pros and Cons 186 Decision Making: Lesson Plan #3 – Cause and Effect: Positive Outcomes 188 Decision Making: Lesson Plan #4 – Cause and Effect: Negative Outcomes 189 Decision Making: Lesson Plan #5 – Applying the After- Action Review Tool 190 Decision Making: Lesson Plan #6 – Using the “Decision/Action Tree” 191 Chapter 6 Teaching the Missing Basics of Teamwork 193 Teaching Respect for Context 193 Respect for Context: Lesson Plan #1 – Introduction 196 Respect for Context: Lesson Plan #2 – Reading the Structure, Rules, Customs, Leadership 197 Respect for Context: Lesson Plan #3 – Where Do You Fit? 199 Respect for Context: Lesson Plan #4 – What Do You Need to Do to Adapt? 200 Respect for Context: Lesson Plan #5 – Context- Limiting Factors 201 Respect for Context: Lesson Plan #6 – Complicated Relationships 202 Respect for Context: Lesson Plan #7 – Positive Contexts 203 Respect for Context: Lesson Plan #8 – Negative Contexts 204 Respect for Context: Lesson Plan #9 – Dealing with People with Bad Attitudes 205 Respect for Context: Lesson Plan #10 – Dealing with People with “Great” Attitudes 207 Teaching Citizenship 208 Good Citizenship: Lesson Plan #1 – Introduction 211 Good Citizenship: Lesson Plan #2 – The “Respect” for Others Model 213 Good Citizenship: Lesson Plan #3 – The “Best Interests” Model 215 Good Citizenship: Lesson Plan #4 – The “Civic” Model 216 Good Citizenship: Lesson Plan #5 – The “Communitarian” Model 217 Good Citizenship: Lesson Plan #6 – The “Common Sense” Model 218 Good Citizenship: Lesson Plan #7 – The “Solid Standards” Model 220 Good Citizenship: Lesson Plan #8 – The “Personal Sacrifice” Model 222 Good Citizenship: Lesson Plan #9 – The Theodore Roosevelt Model 224 Good Citizenship: Lesson Plan #10 – Create Your Own Model 225 Teaching Service 226 Service: Lesson Plan #1 – Introduction 230 Service: Lesson Plan #2 – Common Myths About “Service” in the Workplace 232 Service: Lesson Plan #3 – Realities About Service in the Workplace 233 Service: Lesson Plan #4 – Myths Versus Realities in the Workplace 234 Service: Lesson Plan #5 – The “Be a Great Employee” Model of Service 239 Service: Lesson Plan #6 – The “Service” Approach to One- on- Ones Between Managers and Direct Reports 240 Service: Lesson Plan #7 – The Service Approach to Meeting Attendance and Participation 243 Service: Lesson Plan #8 – Helping Your Boss Monitor Your Performance 245 Service: Lesson Plan #9 – Putting Yourself on a Performance Improvement Plan 248 Teaching How to Play Your Position 249 Playing Your Position on the Team: Lesson Plan #1 – Introduction 253 Playing Your Position on the Team: Lesson Plan #2 – Defining the Dimensions of Playing Your Role on the Team/Teamwork 255 Playing Your Position on the Team: Lesson Plan #3 – Your Role in Relation to the Mission 257 Playing Your Position on the Team: Lesson Plan #4 – Coordinating, Cooperating, and Collaborating with Others 258 Playing Your Position on the Team: Lesson Plan #5 – Supporting and Celebrating the Success of Others 260 Playing Your Position on the Team: Lesson Plan #6 – Identifying Your “Go To” People and Building Relationships with Them 261 Playing Your Position on the Team: Lesson Plan #7 – Becoming a “Go To” Person for Others 262 Playing Your Position on the Team: Lesson Plan #8 – How to Use Influence to Get Things Done 263 Playing Your Position on the Team: Lesson Plan #9 – Consider the Lessons About Teamwork from This US Air Force Special Operations Team 264 Lesson Plan List: 92 Different Lesson Plans 267 Acknowledgments 273 About the Author 277 Index 279

About the Author :
BRUCE TULGAN is a sought-after speaker, leader, and advisor to businesses and executives around the world. He is the Founder of RainmakerThinking, Inc., which works with top companies on improving their management practices, as well as the bestselling author of It’s Okay to be the Boss, Managing Generation X, and Not Everyone Gets a Trophy.