As any Salesforce (Architect) professional, having great Salesforce knowledge is mandatory.
I found a few other skills are as important which are often overlooked while super easy to improve.
All of the skills are less about learning and more about repeat practice.
– Fast typing
– English: Written and spoken
– Office products
– Clean drawing and handwriting
– Project management basics
– Process mapping (Lucid Chart…)
Fast Typing
It’s incredibly helpful to be a fast typer in our line of work. I’m not the best, that’s why I practice on keybr.com from time to time.
English
I know, most of us speak pretty well English, but there’s always something to improve. I take English lessons each year with a private teacher to improve.
Bad English, written and spoken can put a real handicap on your career. This summer I’ll get a coach to work on my spelling. I know of my many mistakes 🙁
Office products
This is an absolute mandatory skill, being well versed in PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. Similar to English, I do courses from time to time.
This summer I want to improve my PowerPoint skills.
Clean drawing and handwriting
From time to time, we have to draw and write by hand. I thought for my whole life: I just have bad handwriting, nothing I can do.
That was wrong, after I practiced for 4 weeks a few years ago, it got way better. Still not great but at least readable.
Project management basics
Project managers are usually the people we work closest with, understanding their line of thinking helps greatly.
Some basic knowledge of Project Management goes a long way. Definitely one of my weakest areas and something I’ve to improve.
Process mapping
Honestly, by far my weakest area. I can barely use Lucid Chart and my Flow Diagrams look horrible.
Recently I saw a person draw diagrams without sweating on the fly. I have to learn that as well!
Let me know what other not-Salesforce-specific skills are helpful for an architect career?