{"id":19444,"date":"2023-07-20T10:13:24","date_gmt":"2023-07-20T09:13:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.topdesk.com\/en\/?p=19444"},"modified":"2025-05-12T10:41:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T09:41:10","slug":"5-soft-skills-for-it-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.topdesk.com\/en\/blog\/5-soft-skills-for-it-teams\/","title":{"rendered":"5 soft skills every IT team needs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We all know that IT departments do a lot more than just keep servers up and running. But with technology advancing at light speed and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.topdesk.com\/en\/blog\/rising-customer-expectations\/\">customer expectations rising rapidly<\/a>, the role of IT is shifting and so are the skills IT teams need to function within an organization.<\/p>\n<p>And it\u2019s not all about adopting the latest tech. In fact,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www2.servicedeskinstitute.com\/FutureofWorklifeReport_SDI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">new research from the Service Desk Institute<\/a>\u00a0shows that so-called \u201csoft skills\u201d like emotional intelligence and communication are becoming increasingly valuable for today\u2019s IT teams, while previously sought after technical skills are becoming less relevant.<\/p>\n<h2>5 soft skills IT departments need<\/h2>\n<p>Because technology is now changing at such a rate that technical skills can quickly become outdated and likely won\u2019t retain value in the long term. And with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.topdesk.com\/en\/blog\/service-desk-of-the-future\/\">artificial intelligence (AI)<\/a> changing everything about how we work, it\u2019s worth investing in uniquely human skills that can\u2019t be replicated by machines.<\/p>\n<h3>1. Communication<\/h3>\n<p>Sure, your service desk employees should have the right technical know-how to understand a customer\u2019s problem and help them find the solution they need. But <a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/profile\/Bushra_Sumaiya\/publication\/359800003_The_Role_of_Effective_Communication_Skills_in_Professional_Life\/links\/65792c446610947889c2bbe4\/The-Role-of-Effective-Communication-Skills-in-Professional-Life.pdf\">effectively communicating<\/a> that solution to them is another skillset entirely. Set yourself up for success by sourcing IT professionals with strong customer communication skills.<\/p>\n<h3>2. Emotional intelligence<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/publication\/325824290_Impact_of_Emotional_Intelligence_on_employability_of_IT_professionals\">According to the SDI survey<\/a>, 73% of IT professionals see emotional intelligence as the most valuable skill for an IT professional to have over the next 2-3 years. And is it any wonder? Working at the IT service desk often means helping customers in stressful, emotionally charged situations. And nobody wants to be treated like a number. Making sure your employees can empathize and ask the right questions to get to the bottom of the problem won\u2019t just save time \u2013 it\u2019ll make for a much better customer experience.<\/p>\n<h3>3. Failing forward<\/h3>\n<p>You can\u2019t innovate without making mistakes. And the same applies at the IT service desk. Your employees should feel empowered to take initiative and try to help customers without fear of failure. Foster a safe corporate culture where experimentation, failing and learning from mistakes is encouraged and you\u2019ll be sure to see results in the long run.<\/p>\n<h3>4. Continuous learning<\/h3>\n<p>Your employees should always be learning \u2013 whether it\u2019s their first week on the job or they\u2019ve been part of the team for years. Encourage and facilitate learning and development opportunities and actively source employees with an intrinsic desire to learn \u2013 your organization will only benefit from their continuous growth.<\/p>\n<h3>5. Agility<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.topdesk.com\/en\/blog\/agile-service-management-in-practice-6-examples\/\">Agile<\/a>\u00a0isn\u2019t a buzzword \u2013 it\u2019s a mindset. Done right, agile working can make your IT department more flexible, reduce response times and eventually create more value for your customers. When looking for new additions to your team, seek out people with an agile mindset, who actively embrace change and can think on their feet.<\/p>\n<h4>Help your IT team reach their full potential<\/h4>\n<p>If you want an IT team that consistently delivers great services, you\u2019ve got to start by creating an engaging environment for your employees to work in. Check out these 5 tips for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.topdesk.com\/en\/blog\/ex\/improve-employee-experience\/\">creating a better employee experience<\/a> for happier customers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We all know that IT departments do a lot more than just keep servers up and running. But with technology advancing at light speed and\u00a0customer expectations rising rapidly, the role of IT is shifting and so are the skills IT teams need to function within an organization. And it\u2019s not all about adopting the latest<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19456,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","inline_featured_image":false,"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-19444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"blog_author":28080,"blog_hubspot_cta_link":{"title":"Level up your employee experience","url":"https:\/\/www.topdesk.com\/en\/blog\/improve-employee-experience\/","target":""},"toc_display":"full","blog_promotion_overwrite":false,"blog_promotion":false},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.0 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Soft Skills for IT Teams: Enhance Your Team&#039;s Performance<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover the essential soft skills for IT departments. Learn how to enhance service culture and boost IT performance for your team. Read more here!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.topdesk.com\/en\/blog\/5-soft-skills-for-it-teams\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 soft skills every IT team needs | Better support, happy customers | TOPdesk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Discover the essential soft skills for IT departments. Learn how to enhance service culture and boost IT performance for your team. 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