Business Skills for Software Engineer
Does software engineer need business skills? Yes, of course! This answer is clear for every senior-level specialist or software architect, but not for beginners or random people in IT. So let us have a look at why they are so important and see what specific skills might be useful for a software engineer.
What Skills?
A list of the most crucial business skills is arguable, but most will agree that the following skills are essential for a successful businessperson.
Financial skills like general economics, business economics, and financial management are crucial to understand money flows, be able to calculate profit and loss, plan further investments, and build business plans.
Marketing and sales skills are needed to understand how the market works (we have a market economy, right?). They show how the market can be affected, how to make and sell products it in the best possible way, and what additional factors have to be taken into account.
Project management skills may come in handy when a person wants to have overall control over the specific scope of work — i.e., plan, organize, and do this work. These skills can be used in lots of situations — form handling a project in IT to repairing of an apartment.
Communication skills are a foundation for all the other business skills because there is no way to do pretty much anything inside a team without well-organized communication.
Problem-solving skills are needed to solve problems that appear every day and have to be appropriately handled. These skills require both a little bit of management and communication skills to start.
There are other essential skills like leadership and time management, but let us start form these five as they are useful for any software engineer.
Why Do I Need Them?
Software Engineering is mostly an applied science. Every project always has a connection with one or more unrelated domain branches — finances, logistics, medicine, and others. Each of these domain branches requires software to automate internal processes. These internal processes are very often either business processes themselves or have a tight connection with them. Business skills can help to get a faster and more in-depth understanding of domain models and requirements. As a consequence, both an engineer and a customer have the same understanding of what has to be done so engineered software can satisfy a customer’s needs better.
Software engineering is a business itself, so it obeys the same business rules and follows the same business processes. Understanding these rules and procedures can make life significantly more comfortable and allows us to do long-term planning. Financial and marketing skills give you a base for budget planning and resource allocation. Project management skills are needed to build and organize a proper workflow. Communication and problem-solving skills are used everywhere, including actual software engineering.
Business skills can be useful not only in a professional area but also in everyday life. Financial skills are helpful for family budget planning. Marketing skills can help to buy a proper product for an appropriate price. Also, project management, communication, and problem-solving skills can use user pretty much everywhere no matter who you are and what you are doing.
Where Should I Start?
Most of the IT-related universities already have some of the business skills in their program, so it is possible to learn them from the very beginning. It is usually possible to visit elective courses or ask for advanced materials on the topic of interest.
There is an option to get a secondary business education. Acquiring a degree of Master of Business Studies is a time-consuming process, but it is worth it.
Another good source of business skills knowledge is public lectures and private training. Usually, they offer a specific set of lectures on business topics and some practical exercises to consolidate theoretical knowledge. Just do not expect too much from these lectures as they usually cover quite a narrow scope of skills.
There are lots of books that can help with business skills. Best-selling business books from well-known authors can be found both online and offline. These books are an excellent place to start if only a general understanding of business skills is required. Some books can be found at local library.
Finally, the last option is a personal experience. It is the hardest way but at the same time is the most valuable source of knowledge. However, it is usually recommended to get some theoretical knowledge before trying something in real life.
Summary
Business skills are excellent additions to a regular software engineer knowledge base. They open new possibilities in personal development. They can show the right direction when the situation is not clear. They can make your everyday life easier. The sooner you start learning them — the better. It is hard to overestimate how critical these skills are in modern life.