Power skills: what is this?

Power skills help you perform at your highest level!

Science shows...training power skills in employees can have a positive influence on your company's success. An MIT Sloan School of Management study found that power skill training in problem-solving, communication and decision making gives a 250% return on investment in 8 months. 

Soo, what are power skills?

“Power skills” are behaviours that help you perform at your highest level and help you progress in any role or industry.

👉 Improve technical skills to get into a new level role.

👉 Improve power skills to progress into a lead role!

Here are the power skills that Udemy, IDEO, and Elsewhen highlight:

Wellness is a power skill now.

Managing stress and sleeping well affect our daily interactions and keep communication positive! If you want to be a great leader, being well is important.

👉 Make sure you get enough sleep.
👉 Know your productivity peaks and troughs.
👉 Have some down time? Don’t wait to be told what to do.

Emotional proofreading

Have you ever dropped an unexpected event on someone's calendar without an explanation and didn't think that the person would think about the worst-case scenario?

This one is for you. Here are a few tips to develop emotional proofreading:

👉 Give yourself a pause before communicating, emotionally proofread the situation...how might this person feel?
👉 Ask for feedback. Ask someone you know how your email comes across to them. Does the tone seem right?

Debate constructively

Any project can fuel a discussion about what is right or wrong. The question is...how do we get positive results from conflicts and how do we manage different opinions.

Here are a few tips on how to debate more constructively. 

👉 If you ask for an opinion, remember, everyone has their own.

👉 When commenting - focus on one section at a time.

👉 Give specific, relevant and actionable feedback.

👉 When facing an argument, use questions as your main power.

Build momentum

Momentum is about leading motivationally and helping your team go through challenges.

👉 Help your team to avoid confusion and disappointment after a remote session by organising a debrief call.

👉 Kick start a new project in a co-working space. Do a walking stand up: take your team outside on a walk and let them share updates on their work!

👉 Add experimentation or brainstorming to an existing catch-up.

We have more tips that can help you get a lead role in the UX & Product Design industry — join our FREE UX & Product Design insights webinar on 20th September!