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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Soft Skills Development Needs and Methods in Micro-Companies of ICT Sector

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Abstract This article calls for the inclusion of soft skills in the development of information and communication technology (ICT) sector's specialists in order to increase the competitiveness of ICT SME's. For a successful activity, ICT specialist needs two categories of skills: hard and soft skills. When talking about hard skills, we refer to direct technical knowledge. On the opposite, soft skills refer to communication, team work, creativity, problem solving and other personal skills. Experts agree that beside hard (technical) skills, soft (also called people-) skills are necessary. The research was based on an analysis of European level documents on skills needs, desk research in partner countries and expert interviews. In this article, we present the most important soft skills an ICT specialist needs for a successful activity in micro-companies and the most efficient methods to develop them. Based on the needs analyses the major soft skills to develop for the target group (ICT specialist in European SME's) are: Communication, Problem solving, Teamwork, Learning mindset, Creativity, Leadership, Strategic thinking, Customer service, Innovation and Risk management. In order to develop these skills, further researches state that a combination of the following will be the most effective: e-learning platform, face-to-face workshops/ interactions with role play, simulation, mentoring, coaching.