Essential Soft Skills for Construction Teams

When building effective teams, leaders should consider soft skills in construction. Soft skills guide how we interact with one another, and enable us to have effective communication and collaboration on a job site. In the construction industry, many focus on the technical skills required to get the physical job done, but soft skills are an indispensable aspect of how teams function. 

Read on to learn which soft skills are essential in construction and practical ways to improve them.

What are soft skills?

Soft skills are personality traits that allow people to interact effectively with one another. By contrast, hard skills are technical skills such as running a forklift and wiring a building for electricity. Soft skills guide interpersonal interactions such as emotional intelligence, negotiation, teamwork, and empathy. 

Soft skills needed on job sites 

Leadership

Leadership is the ability to influence and guide others to achieve their full potential or their goals. Effective leaders have a sure sense of vision and understand the people on their teams enough to know what will motivate them. They are effective decision-makers, and they find solutions that will work for the most people possible while maintaining goal orientation. Leaders bring out the best in others to achieve collaborative success.

Teamwork and collaboration

Buildings are not constructed by one person alone. They are erected brick by brick by sometimes hundreds or thousands of people. Some projects may require a small group of tight-knit people working very closely together. In either case, the ability to navigate team dynamics, get along with colleagues, and achieve results together is indispensable. 

Effective communication

Effective communication is one of the most important softskills in construction. The ability to relay complex information to a variety of audiences with precision can make the difference between something being done successfully or a big mistake. To communicate well, you need to consider your audience. Has this team worked on a project like this before? Are there parallels you can draw or comparisons with a previous understanding? Can you explain the project using images, and put the steps into writing for the sake of documentation and consistency? 

Communication goes beyond saying something well, it is a soft skill that requires a person to take one step further and actively listen, empathize, and adapt their message to ensure it resonates with their audience.

Adaptability and flexibility

There are sometimes working in the trades where we should be inflexible. Safety standards, fair employment practices, and quality of production are rigid commitments. However, there are times in construction when we need to be flexible and be unattached to our expectations of how something should go. Flexibility allows for creative problem-solving and adjusting plans based on changing circumstances. Even the best-laid plans may need to change given new circumstances, and workers with the soft skill of flexibility may be more ready to adapt to those shifts. 

How they can help your career

Soft skills in construction center around empathy and interpersonal skills. These skills can give employees a competitive edge in their careers against their colleagues, as soft skills are required in managerial roles.

Ways to improve soft skills

• Seek feedback – Asking for constructive feedback from team members can give you important insight into how you are perceived on the job site, and where you may be able to improve your soft skills. The act of active listening is an important component of many soft skills, so starting with soliciting feedback is a great way to hone your work. 
• Set goals – Identify areas where you want to improve and ask people you respect for advice and materials to help you succeed. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses and understanding what skills are needed for your desired career will help you prioritize the actions you take to improve your soft skills.
• Engage with a team – Working with diverse teams can help improve collaboration. Whether you can seek out collaboration opportunities at work or outside of work, this will help you practice the craft and enhance transferable skills.
• Seek resources –  There have been many books, podcasts, youtube channels, online courses, and guides produced about soft skills. Once you know where your areas of opportunity are, you can seek resources to help you improve.
• Volunteer for leadership opportunities – A leadership opportunity may be something big like leading a team through a training exercise, or small like making sure the job site is cleaned up at the end of the day. Finding ways stand out as an ambitious leader can make the difference between being chosen for additional opportunities and being passed over. 

Conclusion

Soft skills in construction often take a back seat to more technical skills, but they are just as important to achieve success as a team. Mastering these skills is vital to anyone looking for a successful career in construction with growth or managerial aspirations. Whether it’s leading a team, collaborating effectively, or adapting to unexpected changes on-site, soft skills drive success in an industry built on cooperation and innovation. 

Ready to put your soft skills to work and stand out from the crowd? Register with Trade Scouts today.