Whether you’re quiet, analytical, or full of ideas, soft skills become part of your everyday toolkit once you step into a team environment. It influences how you collaborate, make decisions, and grow professionally. In this edition of Expert Talks, we speak to Evgeniy Taran, Product Owner at Already Media, about unlocking the potential of tech specialists, building trust within remote teams, and the importance of soft skills for performance.
Today, it’s challenging to define a single “type” of person in tech – developers come in all kinds. You’ll find introverts and extroverts, serious and cheerful people, and those who are open or reserved. But in a remote-first environment, strong soft skills have become the key factor in how effectively someone performs their role. Clear communication, adaptability, and taking ownership of results are essential to being a capable professional, not just “nice-to-have” traits. It’s about collaborating effectively, giving and receiving feedback, participating in product decisions, and defending those decisions with reason and confidence.
Since we work on internal products, we’re not limited by a single domain or direction. That means that you can’t work on one project for years. Resilience and multitasking are crucial. One day, the team might work on accounting systems, and the next, on analytics tools for deal performance. Such dynamic working conditions require constant adaptability, a value we support at every level, from managers to developers. Flexibility enables us to embrace change and ease the onboarding process for newcomers.
For instance, during one of our projects, the product evolved so quickly that the documentation couldn’t keep up. So we hired a business analyst to streamline and structure the process. The developers supported her from day one, answering questions and providing context. Out of that initial chaos, a clear system emerged. The analyst was onboarded smoothly, and the whole team benefited from more transparent workflows.
A strong focus on hard skills isn’t as important as it used to be, since AI tools now handle much of the routine work. Interviews should focus less on testing technical knowledge and more on understanding how a person fits into the team’s culture. By “culture,” I don’t mean merchandise or perks, but rather, atmosphere.
We don’t shift blame or disparage teammates. When issues arise, we solve them together. New employees must share this mindset. After all, we spend a significant part of our lives at work, so everyone should feel comfortable, supported, and meaningful.
If you are not working on flexibility, it cannot be expected of others. Every leader was once a newcomer, so listening to and understanding your team is essential.
One of the most critical skills for any manager is stress management, especially when mentoring junior staff or onboarding new hires. Constant questions and corrections can be exhausting. The Pomodoro method helps: work for 45 minutes, then take a 15-minute break to answer team questions. This approach balances productivity and communication.
Strong specialists don’t respond well to strict control. In the past, managers assigned tasks and constantly requested status updates. Today, the focus is on helping the team self-organize. Micromanagement becomes unnecessary when team members have well-developed soft skills. When I joined the company, there were only three developers, and everything was managed manually. As the team grew, we transitioned to a traditional Scrum setup involving planning, retrospectives, and stand-up meetings. However, we use common sense when applying these, so there are no mandatory morning check-ins or repetitive updates. Instead, each person writes a short daily report detailing what they did and what’s next. Such an approach helps us track priorities and communicate progress to stakeholders.
Our team was also the first to test the OKR system. Having implemented it previously, we adapted the system to our workflow and began closing urgent tasks as well as strategically valuable ones that move products and teams forward.
We used to hold lengthy retrospectives, but now we meet online every two weeks for informal discussions about processes, improvements, tech trends, and personal updates. These meetings help us better understand each other. For hybrid teams, where some team members work in the office and others in different countries, consistency is key.
Previously, our company did not conduct performance reviews or use a competency matrix. Now, these tools help us evaluate results more objectively and link performance to growth and compensation. They also increase transparency in the relationship between the team and the company. We’re making the review process two-sided. I focus on soft skills, and our CTO handles hard skills.
Soft skills aren’t just about “speaking nicely” or “smiling on calls.” Instead, they’re about accountability, initiative, analytical thinking, and process optimization. People with these traits don’t just complete their tasks. They influence the evolution of the entire development process by eliminating unnecessary steps, improving the quality and speed of work, developing themselves, and helping the team grow.
Soft skills also shape product thinking. Developers need to understand the business goals behind what they build. Once they do, they stop being mere executors and begin to see the project’s overall goal. This approach strengthens architecture, improves backlog prioritization for future updates, and facilitates faster time-to-market.
Communication and presentation skills are among the most important for those aiming to become team leads. That’s why we organize internal workshops and training sessions to help developers become more confident in expressing their ideas and highlighting their achievements. It’s not just about defending technical decisions to clients. It’s also about being able to demonstrate your impact openly. I recommend collecting feedback from colleagues and stakeholders because it provides concrete evidence of progress and professional growth.
Even great performers can lose motivation, leading to a drop in output. Regular one-on-one meetings and open communication can prevent burnout by helping identify problems early. When someone shares that they’re struggling, we support them by extending deadlines when possible, adjusting workloads, or reorganizing processes. However, if the situation remains unchanged, it’s best to move on.
A strong team starts with its people, not its technology. Team members must be able to communicate effectively, take ownership of their work, and embrace change. Soft skills enable specialists to develop meaningful products that deliver real value to the business, rather than simply completing tasks. When trust and openness are part of the company culture, even the most challenging projects transform from a checklist of tasks into a shared journey of growth for each individual and the company as a whole.