Equip yourself with skills for the future workplace today

#KayaIsAfrica Equip yourself with skills for the future workplace

By Zuko Komisa

Technology is rapidly changing and so is the way we go about our days in the workplace, all kinds of information is available at our fingertips. In the future, life will be so much simpler, led but continuing technological advancements aimed at changing the dynamic of our daily lives.

The following are important skills you will need to master to be productive in the future.

Critical thinking and analytical reasoning.

This is a very important skill to master, especially if you look at our schooling system in South Africa that is obsessed with matric results and continually rates a learner’s intellect on the amount of knowledge they can memorise and regurgitate. There is very little emphasis put on the getting them to ask questions. In the future, innovation will be a big deal. As will questioning the norm and solving a complex problems. All this begins with learning how to ask questions and making up your own mind about the direction you choose to tackle a problem.

Computational thinking and new media literacy

The future will need you to have an ability to translate vast amounts of data into abstract concepts and to understand data-based reasoning. You will be expected to critically assess and develop content that uses new media forms, and to leverage these media for persuasive communication.

Collaboration across networks and leading by influence

Technology has made it easier to collaborate remotely with individuals from anywhere in the world. In the future you will have a very strong focus on using limited resources to accomplish the same results, people will be working on collaborative projects from the comfort of their homes, using minimal company resources. This will aid and accelerate inter-cultural exchanges, working towards a common goal. You will be required to collaborate across various networks seamlessly.

Agility and adaptability

As with any change, you will need to know how to constantly maneuver every environment, the unpredictability of future environment will impress upon you an exciting and ever-changing reality. There will be very little routine and procedure. In a perfect world, this should be minimal for purposes of certainty, but in the future, you will need to constantly adapt your strategy in the workplace.

Initiative and entrepreneurship

With a changing environment comes a new horizon of opportunities, it will be incumbent on you to seize them. To thrive in this new environment you will need to be efficient in having prompt action and exercising your entrepreneurial muscle. This will happen when you seek out new opportunities, ideas and strategies for improvement you work experience.

Effective oral and written communication

With the advent of instant messaging there is a fear that the next generation won’t be able to effectively communicate with others, this is very important for the future as your ability to communicate in all forms unlocks unimaginable frontiers for you in the workplace.

The future is a destination we can’t avoid and we need to prepare ourselve and the next generation. Lifespans are going to be increasing, we will be working longer hours with multiple revenue streams there will be so much automation that will not require the human beings to perform daily workforce tasks. You will need to ramp up your skills for the future.

Written by: Zuko