EASIT - Easy access for social inclusion training
This is Unit 4 - The profession
Element 1 - Personal skills
Key elements of personal skills
The video was created by RTV Slovenia and Zavod RISA.
The animation offers insight into desired personal skills
for producing quality Easy-to-understand information.
As other teaching materials support the learner in developing mostly hard skills,
this video primarily focuses on the softer side of the scale.
So you think you have what it takes to be a professional
in the field of Easy-to-understand information?
Are your personal skills already there?
Which might those be, you ask?
Let us cover some of them.
Critical thinking is an ability or skill
which lets you think rationally and clearly.
This skill is vital for producing quality Easy-to-understand information.
In a sea of facts, you need to be able to recognize
all the essential information.
Understanding links between effects and ideas is crucial.
So is precision.
One must be analytical, yet innovative and creative
to find the best solutions.
Inquisitiveness could be listed as a part of critical thinking
as it is extremely important.
Let us have a closer look.
To be able to provide quality easy to understand solutions
that are useful, you must be prepared to learn.
Be curious.
Be imaginative.
Ask yourself and others relevant questions.
Curiosity is your compass.
You need to strive in order to understand.
We put flexibility before setting goals and time management
as you will have to be quite adaptable and dynamic.
Sometimes the solutions you would prefer just do not work.
It is okay to let go.
Go back to the drawing board and search for better ones.
In fact if, you want the Easy-to-understand information to really be of good use,
you will perhaps sometimes need to let go of some of your beliefs and old practices
In general, goals can be divided into short-term and long-term.
Short-term goals help us achieve long-term goals.
And they need to be smart-
Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound.
There are many tips and tricks on how to be an efficient goal setter.
Our only advice would be to not set your goals too low or too high.
Goal setting is a process, so do not be afraid to modify your goals.
Flexibility, remember?
If you want to manage your time well, your goals and tasks need to be clearly defined.
To be a good time manager,
one must learn how to prioritize, schedule, list and delegate tasks.
But also rest.
The world of information is often speedy
and it is changing fast.
There are many tools for efficient time management.
Some are presented in our Tools for time and work management video lecture.
You might want to set the task of watching that, too
and complete the task as soon as possible.
Can you take an honest look at your work?
Congratulations, if you have already done so.
Self-reflection is the one skill that enables you to improve as a professional.
Ask yourself hard questions and challenge yourself.
As you will improve as a professional,
your work will become more valuable and more useful to the end-users.
Always be patient, never be lazy.
Those are the words that a lot of professionals could describe as
their daily drive with.
Easy information does not come easily.
Most often it is hard work.
Some things just take time.
As your technical and other skills will develop,
you will find yourself spending less and less time at your tasks.
Still, it might take a lot of patience to learn how to do hard things easily.
Sometimes can be hard to achieve
Easy-to-understand information.
So far, we have mostly discussed so-called soft personal skills.
Written communication skills are
a bit on the hard side of the skill spectrum.
You can learn it, to a point, in school or in a workshop.
To effectively exercise this skill, you will probably need
some other difficult skills, such as computer typing skills,
information technology skills
and language proficiency.
Perhaps you will walk away from written or spoken language
and devote your work to photography, illustration,
or some technical aspects of Easy-to-understand information.
In that case, you will need to develop various other core skills
but examples of soft skills from our list
are pretty much essential for the field.
One last word from us-
always strive for the quality of Easy-to-understand information.
In so doing, you will be able to identify the skills you need
to develop further, and the knowledge you must gain.
Good luck and happy travels!
The script was prepared by Zavod RISA and RTV Slovenia.
Graphical design and animation were created by Blaž Zajc.
It was produced by RTV Slovenia in 2021.