While the hard skills (a.k.a industry knowledge) you possess are obviously important for a successful career, they don’t mean much if you don’t also have the soft skills. This is evidenced by the fact that 96% of employers in Australia view them as being equally important.
Thankfully, these personality traits can be learned via convenient and cost-effective business management courses online - an option that beats traditional text-based courses hands-down! In this article, however, our focus is on one soft skill in particular - communication.
However, let’s first talk about what soft skills are in their entirety to provide some context about what it takes to be a successful business manager.
So, What Exactly Are Soft Skills?
The importance of soft skills in the modern business landscape can’t be underestimated and must absolutely be included in your personal development plan. So, what are they exactly? Well, without them, you’re not going to get the career success you crave, as they cover a wide range of competencies that relate to how you interact with others and more.
They include:
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People management - the people skills that allow you to connect easily with others
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Emotional intelligence - understanding your own emotions and those of others
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Negotiation skills - important for deal brokering and conflict resolution
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Presentation skills - needed for conveying new topics to your workforce
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Leadership skills - how good you are at motivating/inspiring others
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Assertiveness - the confidence you convey to your co-workers
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Public speaking - a necessary part of leading a large team
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Time management - another vital skill for all workers
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Critical thinking - important for ongoing decisions
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Stress management - how to deal with pressure
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Body language/eye contact
While this is not an exhaustive list of soft skills, you get the idea. It’s all about how strong your interpersonal skills are. These skills affect teamwork and pretty much every part of your day. The moment you interact with someone else - your soft skills are used.
Thankfully, business management courses online allow you to work on these skills - something we’ll cover again at the end. First, let’s take a closer look at communication.
The Role of Communication in Business Management
As business management courses online like our Business Retail & Entrepreneurship courses show, there are a number of different aspects to the term ‘communication skills’. First of all, there’s verbal communication and non-verbal communication (body language). There’s also written communication and digital communication (e.g. emails).
Effective Communication in business management also involves the other side of the coin - active listening, meaning you must have an awareness of the need to listen to what others tell you.
Business success relies upon effective and clear communication - this is one of the fundamentals of commerce. Without this clarity, project management, and well, all business processes would become disjointed and error-ridden. Decision-making and problem-solving also become harder.
Online Courses Offer a Great Way to Develop Soft skills
When it comes to soft skill development, OCA online learning offers an array of advantages. To begin with, online short-course learning provides the flexibility to drive your career development, with our self-paced online learning able to be accessed when it’s convenient for you.
Other benefits of business management courses online include:
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Learners get lifetime access to our soft skills courses, allowing for easy refresher training
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The adaptability to upskill during your lunch break or on the train to work
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Soft skills training that offers feedback & assessment via quizzes
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1-to-1 expert mentoring throughout, providing great industry insight
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CPD points - that improve employability - for each module completed
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Wallet-friendly pricing when compared to in-person tuition
The fact is that online learning is one of the most convenient mediums with which to learn communication skills, technical skills, and more. Allowing you to spend more time in your work environment and less time in the classroom, it’s not hard to see why it’s so popular.
Improve Your Soft Skills With OCA Business Management Courses Online
In terms of professional development, there’s no option quite as convenient, flexible, and affordable as OCA business management courses online. Our CPD-endorsed, video-based learning can fit around you and allow you to develop at the most suitable time - whether that’s in the evening on your sofa or in dead time on the commute to work.
To find out more about studying with OCA, take a glance at our Student Study Demo, or to see our full course library that covers more than 20 different professional sectors, visit us today at www.onlinecoursesaustralia.edu.au. There you’ll also see that we offer a selection of flexible payment options to spread the cost of our already affordable learning.
Alternatively, if you’d like to chat directly with our friendly team about enrolling in one of our business management courses online, call 1300 611 404 or email [email protected].
