Skills trends in 2017 – What new skills will you need to develop?

Professional services companies depend on leadership for success. This is true for all companies of course, but it is especially true for companies that rely on the skills of their people to succeed.

If you are the CEO of a professional services firm please take this short survey. It will help you think about your own leadership skills and how you differentiate amongst your peers. If you are interested in learning more, we will provide you with a personalized report that benchmarks you and your company with your peers.

Leadership is a critical skill set that runs through all levels of professional services from top to bottom. Individual consultants and engineers have a great deal of responsibility and autonomy in how they conduct themselves (this is perhaps the essence of their professionalism) and this is a form of self-leadership. Most work is delivered through teams, which also requires leadership. The overall direction and culture of the organization are led from the top.

Each of us has our own approach to leadership. We bring different experiences and attitudes to how we make decisions, support other people and shape strategy. Understanding our own leadership skills and those of people around is key to success. The TeamFit survey on Leadership in Professional Services will help all of us understand the patterns of leadership at professional services companies.

Find and get found for great teams. Leadership alone is not enough. Professional services companies also need a set of core skills to deliver services to clients. So the survey goes beyond this to investigate three critical questions that we all need to be able to answer for our companies.

What are our core skills?
Where are our skill gaps?
How are we differentiated?

Answers to the question on differentiation will be especially interesting. Differentiating skills need to be just that, different from those of your competitors. It is not easy to know exactly what our differentiating skills are as we have to step out of our own box and see the world from our customer’s point of view. We also need to compare ourselves to our competitors. Taking this survey is a first step towards getting honest insight into your differentiation. Without this insight you will not be able to make the strategic choices you need to make in 2017.

The TeamFit skill management platform will help you to understand the skills in your organization and how they are being applied. We can also help you get a real understanding of the skills in your organization, where they are being applied, and to get the best people on project teams.