Validating KTSoftSkills Investigation Report

On November 9th, the partners of the KT Soft Skills Erasmus+ project met online to discuss the results of the Validation of the KTSoftSkills Investigation Report.

The project is dedicated to elevating the competencies of Knowledge Transfer (KT) professionals, with a particular focus on enhancing soft and transversal skills crucial for effective knowledge transfer.

The KTSoftSkills Investigation Report

The KTSoftSkills Investigation Report is the result of 60 in-depth interviews of KT professionals, which included an examination of the scope of soft skills training included in pre-existing programmes. The report encapsulates the competencies of current training programmes and highlights areas where they can be improved.  

Some key questions addressed by the report are:

·         Which soft skills are most relevant to KT professionals in their current roles?  

·         Which skills will be crucial for the future of the KT profession?

·         How can these soft skills be effectively trained and adopted, by both individuals and groups?

The report emphasises several key points:

1. The soft skills gap: the research successfully identified a soft skills gap amongst KT professionals which will allow the project to deliver tailored content to address this shortage.  

1. Other soft skills: the report highlights the need for new skills beyond those KT professionals are trained in; approaches revealed further categorisations of soft skills need to be developed.  

1. An innovative approach: interviewees shared new innovative approaches to training and skill enhancement programmes for future generations of KT professionals.

1. Training methods: existing training methods and formats were outlined.

Validation Meetings

Following the report validation meetings were held in Poland, Finland, Italy, and Benelux, in which a total of 50 experts participated each providing qualitative feedback on the KTSoftSkills Investigation Report. The invited participants were selected according to several criteria:

• Diversity in experience (less than 3 years; between 3-7 years; more than 7 years)
• Diversity in technical role (Incubation/spin-off support staff; internal brokers; external brokers)
• Diversity in team role (management; team member)  

• Gender diversity

Helsinki Think Company and Sopu Academy, the Finnish partners, said: “The experts accentuated the need for a focused approach to soft skills training, identifying communication, self-reflection, and sales negotiation as top priorities. Practical, roleplay-based training was suggested as more effective, and the importance of a behavioural test for personalised training programmes was highlighted.”