Listening
Initially, the skill steps concentrate on being able to listen effectively to others - including remembering short instructions, understanding why others are communication and recording important information.
Individuals then focus on how they demonstrate that they are listening effectively, thinking about body language, open questioning and summarising and rephrasing.
Beyond that, the focus is on being aware of how they might be being influenced by a speaker, through tone and language.
The final steps are about critical listening - comparing perspectives, identifying biases, evaluating ideas and being objective.
Speaking
Initially, this skill focuses on being able to speak clearly - first with well known individuals and small groups and then with those who are not known.
The next stage is about being an effective speaker by making points logically, by thinking about what listeners already know and using appropriate language, tone and gesture.
Beyond that, individuals focus on speaking engagingly through use of facts and examples, visual aids, and their expression and gesture.
Beyond that stage, speakers will be adaptive to the response of their listeners and ready for different scenarios. The final steps focus on speaking influentially - using structure, examples, facts and vision to persuade listeners.
Problem Solving
The first steps focus on being able to follow instructions to complete tasks, seeking help and extra information if needed. The next stage focuses on being able to explore problems by creating and assessing different potential solutions. This includes more complex problems, without a simple technical solution.
Beyond this, the focus is on exploring complex solutions - thinking about causes and effects, generating options, and evaluating those options. This extends into analysis using logical reasoning and hypotheses.
Finally, individuals implement strategic plans to solve complex problems, assess their success, and draw out learning for the future.
Creativity
The first few steps focus on the individual's confidence in imagining different situations and sharing their ideas.
The focus is then on generating ideas - using a clear brief, making improvements to something that already exists and combining concepts.
Individuals then apply creativity in the context of their work and their wider life. They can build off this to develop ideas using tools like mind mapping, questioning, and considering different perspectives.
The most advanced steps focus on building effective innovation in group settings and by seeking out varied experiences and stimuli. Finally, individuals support others to innovate, by sharing tools, identifying the right tools for the situation and through coaching.
Staying Positive
The early steps focus on identifying emotions - particularly feeling positive or negative. Building off that is the ability to keep trying - and then staying calm, thinking about what went wrong, and trying to cheer up and encourage others.
The focus then turns to identifying new opportunities in difficult situations, sharing those, and adapting or creating plans accordingly. At more advanced steps, individuals identify and manage risks and gains in opportunities.
Finally, individuals support others to stay positive by managing their own response, helping others to see opportunities and creating plans to achieve them.
Aiming High
The focus is then about working with care and attention, taking pride in success and having a positive approach to new challenges. Building on this, individuals set goals for themselves, informed by an understanding of what is needed, and then be able to order and prioritise tasks, secure resources and involve others effectively.
At the higher steps, the focus is creating plans informed by an individual's skill set, with clear targets, and building on external views. At the most advanced level, individuals develop long-term strategies. These are informed by an assessment of internal and external factors, structured through regular milestones and feedback loops.
Leadership
At the earliest stages, the focus is on basic empathy - understanding their own feelings, being able to share them, and recognising the feelings of others. The focus is on managing - dividing up tasks, managing time and sharing resources, managing group discussions and dealing with disagreements.
Beyond that, individuals build their awareness of their own strengths and weaknesses, and those of their teams. This allows them to allocate tasks effectively. They then build techniques to mentor, coach and motivate others. At the highest steps, individuals will be able to reflect on their own leadership style and understand its effect on others.
Ultimately, they should be able to build on their strengths and mitigate their weaknesses, and adapt their leadership style to the situation.
Teamwork
The next steps focus on making a contribution to a team through group decision making recognising the value of others' ideas and encourage others to contribute too.Beyond that, individuals improve their teams through managing conflict and building relationships beyond the immediate team. At the top steps, individuals focus on how they influence their team through suggesting improvements and learning lessons from setbacks.
Ultimately, individuals support the team by evaluating others strengths and weaknesses and bringing in external expertise and relationships.
Skill Step
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Skill Step
To achieve Step 13, individuals will show that they can develop long-term strategies which are grounded in their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities or threats.
In earlier steps, the focus has been on developing plans, which are informed by the goals that are set, the resources available and refined through a review of the skills needed, and external input. This step and those that follow focus now on long-term strategies and how they can be developed.
Building blocks
The building blocks of this step are learning:
- What is a long-term strategy
- Why we have to take an internal and external view when building strategies
- How to build an internal picture through strengths and weaknesses
- How to take an external view on opportunities and threats
Reflection questions
- What is the difference between a plan and a long-term strategy?
- Why is it important that a strategy is informed by both an internal and external view?
- What are strengths and weaknesses?
- What are opportunities and threats?
- How do we build these insights into our strategy?
What you need to know
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The long-term strategy
A strategy is a long-term plan designed to achieve an overarching goal. The shift from the plans we have been focused on so far, is that they are often much longer-term and can be much more expansive than a simple project.
For instance, organisations will almost always have a strategy for the organisation that might last between 3-5 years on average – although many are revised before they reach their planned end.
Because a strategy lasts longer, it often has to deal with greater levels of uncertainty. The strategy might not specify all the detail of exactly how everything is going to be done, but instead sets the broad, overarching goals of the organisation.
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The basis of strategy
Strategy and strategic management is an area where there is considerable specialist and technical knowledge and skill. There are a wide variety of different strategic tools available to specialists, as well as technical project management and planning tools.
The purpose of this step is not to try to replicate all of that, but instead to draw out a couple of tools which will be invaluable for everyone trying to get better at aiming high. A core tool here is the SWOT analysis.
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Strengths and weaknesses
When we think about a strategy, and what we want to achieve over a sustained period, we should think about ourselves first. This is called taking the internal view. That might be for ourselves as individuals if we are creating a strategy for our own lives, or it might be our team or even the whole organisation, depending on the scope.
We think about this internal view from two perspectives:
- What strengths do we have? These might include our experiences, our skills, our attitudes or knowledge and assets that we have. We can also think about this at an organisational level, when we think about organisational strengths or capabilities.
- What weaknesses do we want to avoid? These might be gaps in any of the areas that we have already talked about. Of course, these are not necessarily fixed, but in a competitive environment, it might not be feasible to address all of the weaknesses.
The internal view is important so that we draw on what we can do well, and avoid developing a strategy that is dependent on us doing things that we are not very good at. In a competitive environment, it is particularly important to play to our strengths.
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Opportunities and threats
However, it is also important to think about the wider environment when developing our strategy. None of us can simply do what we want to in isolation. This is called taking the external view. That might include the sector we are in, and those we might consider our competitors.
This external view takes two perspectives:
- What are the opportunities – those chances or changes that might be positive for us. These might come from new technology, more resources becoming available or the chance to do something new.
- What are the threats – that is, those things that might go wrong, risks that we face, events that might unfold, or the actions of competitors.
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PEST analysis
As we think about our strategies we want to ensure that we are positioned to make the most of any opportunities that arise, whilst avoiding the threats.
Another helpful tool for considering the environment is the PEST analysis, which looks at factors which might also impact a strategy:
- Political
- Economic
- Social
- Technology
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Why this skill step matters in education
In education, we will have an overarching goal about what we want to achieve and learn. We might set ourselves a strategy for how we want to achieve these long-term goals or we may receive support from our teachers whose strategy is to help us learn and develop. When making long-term plans, it is helpful to consider what we do well, our strengths, and what we find more challenging, our weaknesses. For example, a weakness may be that we get nervous before exams but if our strengths include determination and we enjoy studying, we can use this as an opportunity to improve our weakness; we could take some practice tests to build up our confidence ahead of the real exam.
We might also find it helpful to ask for constructive input from others when considering our personal strengths and weaknesses, or the external opportunities and threats – especially when making key decisions. For example, when making choices about next steps for the future; you can consider the study or work opportunities available but also any possible threats like changes to study fees or the cost of rent if you want to move. Looking at these different factors will give you the big picture and can help you with your choices along the way.
Why this skill step matters in the workplace
There are many internal and external factors which affect workplaces so this skill an essential part of planning for success. A SWOT or PEST analysis are two useful examples of tools which help workers understand the context for their strategy and plans.
In every workplace, strategies are designed and decisions are made which take risks. Individuals and organisations can use an understanding or analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to inform their choices and create a more confident and safe strategy. If a strategy faces more threats than opportunities or shows up too many weaknesses and does not make best use of the strengths then it probably needs to be adapted.
Why this skill step matters in wider life
When starting a new project or making key decisions in our life, it is helpful to consider the different aspects which affect our choices. For example, if we decide that we want to buy a car our strength may be that we are good at saving up but a weakness may be that we usually spend those savings on trips away. Externally, an opportunity may be that you have seen lots of jobs which require a car and you have seen several second-hand cars in your budget. However, a threat may be that there is a higher tax for non-electric cars. You can use this information to weigh up your options and help make a decision.
How to practise this skill step
To best practise this step of Aiming High, apply what you have learnt to a real-life situation. Choose one or more of the activities below, remind yourself of the key points and strategies in the step, and have a go!
- Before taking on a new challenge or hobby, carry out a SWOT analysis to see if it’s the right opportunity.
- Plan a surprise for a friend or relative. What strengths can you use? What help could you get? What opportunities are there? Is there a special offer you can take advantage of or good weather so you can celebrate outside? What threats might there be, like a change in the weather or transport issues?
- Carry out a personal SWOT analysis. What are your strengths and weaknesses? Separately, ask a trusted peer to provide some feedback on your strengths and constructive criticism on any weaknesses. Is there anything you hadn’t considered? How can you use this understanding to make plans?
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Teaching it
To teach this step:
- The teacher should start by being clear in their definition of the difference between the plans that have been a main focus up to this step, and a long-term strategy. Some examples could be introduced to help to illustrate this difference.
- The teacher can then introduce the idea of analysis as the bedrock of a good strategy, which has to combine the internal perspective with an external perspective.
- Learners should apply this by completing a SWOT analysis. The focus of this is up to the teacher – it could be on the individual themselves in the context of their future plans or studies. Alternatively, it could be focused on a social action project or project within the school. Finally, it could be a case study related to a subject they are studying or another scenario.
- Learners can then share and discuss these scenarios with each other and compare the SWOT analyses that they carried out.
Reinforcing it
This step can be reinforced when considering topics in different subject learning, or as learners develop their own plans for themselves over time.
Assessing it
This step is best assessed by asking learners to complete a SWOT analysis based on a case study. The teacher should look to see that they demonstrate an understanding of the dimensions being considered, and that they can make a reasonable recommendation off the back of that analysis.
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Build it at work:
This step is relevant to individuals who develop plans and strategies to achieve goals.
To build this step in the work environment, managers could:
- Discuss with the individual the differences between plans and a long-term strategy. To do this a manager might show how team plans (ones which are deliberately short in length) differ from the company’s long-term strategy.
- Explain to an individual the role analysis plays in developing a good strategy. Here a manager can make the point that this analysis should combine the internal perspective with an external perspective.
- Model the use of a SWOT analysis to help an individual understand how this can be useful in helping to consider both internal and external perspective. The focus of this SWOT analysis is up to the manager, but it would be good to use an example that the individual can easily relate to - for example, a new project.
- Task an individual on an exercise to perform their own SWOT analysis. Again, the manager can set the focus of this analysis. For example, the manager might task an individual to perform a SWOT analysis on the work of their team.
- Reflect with the individual about the usefulness of developing longer-term strategies and identify opportunities they may take to develop them.
Practising it:
There are plenty of opportunities for building this skill in the workplace:
- Working with colleagues: When the focus is on creating long-term strategies, rather than day-to-day problem solving or planning.
- Working with customers or clients: When forecasting future scenarios to identify future needs our customers might have, with a focus on using tools to support our analysis and strategy to meet those needs.
Reviewing it:
For those already employed, this step is best assessed through observation. For instance:
- A manager can set up a planning exercise which tasks an individual to perform a SWOT analysis – such as on a proposition to develop a long-term project or launch a new product. During the planning exercise, the observer can watch the individual’s performance. Evidence of this skill step can be seen in the individual considering the key dimensions and making reasonable recommendations as a result.
Spotting it in recruitment:
During the recruitment process, this step could be assessed for by:
- Questioning an individual during an interview. Here an interviewer might ask the individual to describe a time when they have established a strategic plan and talk them through the process they went through. Evidence of this skill step can be found in the existence of a clear link between a careful analysis and long-term strategy.
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We work with a wide range of organisations, who use the Skills Builder approach in lots of different settings – from youth clubs, to STEM organisations, to careers and employability providers.
We have a lot of materials available to support you to use the Skills Builder Universal Framework with the individuals you work with, including:
- Tools for self-reflection
- Materials to support you to teach the skills, if appropriate in your setting
- Reward systems like printable certificates
We also do a lot of work with organisations who join the Skills Builder Partnership to build the Universal Framework into their work and impact measurement systems. You can find out a lot more using the links below.
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At home, you can easily support your child to build their essential skills. The good news is that there
are lots of ways that you can have a big impact, including:
- Talking with your child about the essential skills, what they are and how they are useful in all
aspects of life, whether at school, home or in the workplace - Talking about how you use these skill steps in your own work or wider life
- Helping your child to identify where they already build their skills at school, at home or
through other activities and clubs - Praising your child when they show they are using the skills well, and helping them to feel a
sense of achievement - Encouraging them to recognise and talk confidently about their skill strengths with others, and
supporting them to develop their skills further
