Origin story — How Human Skills came to be

Human Skills is a series of interactive workshops designed to teach empathy, interpersonal and communication skills to adults. It was developed at New Zealand software development school Enspiral Dev Academy, and has achieved enormous success for educational institutions and businesses in areas that were said to be ‘unteachable’. Sarrah Jayne, the programme’s lead facilitator, outlines the development of Human Skills from an idea to fruition, and how we got there.

Human Skills started out as ‘Engineering Empathy,’ a programme that was designed by San Francisco software development school Dev Bootcamp. New Zealand’s Enspiral Dev Academy inherited this programme, and its co-founder Joshua Vial delivered it to web development students. The thought was that web developers need to work in teams just as much as they needed to write good code, yet this was a skill that no web developers in the industry were being taught. In fact, it was an area in which they were really failing. There was also a massive gap between what employers were looking for and what was available in terms of training. Dev Academy understood that the employer needed to influence the training in order for graduates to be successful. Furthermore if we could teach these skills to our students, it might improve the industry as a whole.

The curriculum sparked my interest because it was different. Based on the latest research, it didn’t make any assumptions as to who the audience was. Unlike other trainings I had attended, it seemed to be more related to who we are as humans and how to enhance what we already have — rather than a rigid system that we needed to fit ourselves into. It also sparked a lot of curiosity and self-reflection in everyone who came across it, myself included. As someone who had ran my own business and worked in the wellbeing industry for 7 years I found the idea of accessing people who would not otherwise seek out these skills inspirational. I had seen many people struggle with their health for years discovering that their mindset was what really held them back from seeing results and this course directly focused on mindset.

I saw potential in this immediately. What if we could train people in the skills it takes to relate to each other and build connections? What if we could actually provide a space for reflection that sparks change in people’s lives? And, at Enspiral Dev Academy, we had a captive audience of web development students for the 9 weeks of the programme! It was perfect.

Pretty soon after I started learning from Joshua, taking abundant notes and annoying him with my endless questions, he asked if I wanted to teach it. While I would love to say I jumped at the opportunity with confidence — I took a bit of convincing. I wasn’t sure I had the skills that were required, but Joshua reminded me that no one is ever 100% sure of themselves or their ability and that I was actually the perfect person for the job because of my humility.

So off I went on a 3 year adventure of curriculum development and delivery. I called on all the support networks I could think of. I drew on the collective knowledge of Enspiral, I asked a psychologist to sit in on my sessions and give me feedback. I talked to a wellbeing consultant and I went and experienced a bunch of other facilitators and programmes to get a feel for what was already out there.

I knew if I was going to really create something to be proud of, I needed to do it my way. I have a background in teaching yoga so my primary focus was always “What is the experience the students are having in the room?”

I questioned everything. From my language to how the room was set up, whether we used slides, sat at desks or in a circle, the order the sessions should go in. All the while I was closely monitoring the reactions the students had to the sessions. We spoke to employers in the industry and asked what ‘soft-skills’ they wanted to see in their Junior Web Developers, and chose topics that aligned with trends we saw in the tech industry, both in New Zealand and overseas. I asked our technical teachers to give feedback and input into what I was teaching and I did a lot of reading, gathering inspiration from researchers like Brēne Brown and John Gottman.

All of this was a long process. We improved and iterated constantly for two years. Every cohort was a unique blend of students with different requirements to the last. What we landed on was a series of robust 90 minute sessions covering a range of topics that gave students the knowledge and practice they needed to make it through bootcamp and go into the industry with confidence in themselves. Some of the core topics were giving and receiving feedback, trust and empathy in teams and how to relate to our inner critic.

I always believed that this work had potential beyond bootcamp but it wasn’t until another year later that we decided to test it in the market. We ran some sessions with Enspiral ventures and projects like LifeHack and they were really well received. We were also contacted by a number of employers of our graduates to say how impressed they were with our grads. They were not commenting on their technical skills but how they received feedback and the integrity with which they worked. Our graduates were having an impact on the teams they were joining simply by being themselves and using the skills they practiced during bootcamp.

Last year we began thinking of Human Skills as its own programme. Always aligned with what we teach on bootcamp but able to be shaped in a way that suited large and small tech companies. Or perhaps a ‘plug in’ module for another course or accelerator programme. We have worked with the Vodafone change accelerator programme and with employees from many different roles within Kordia. We delivered a series of Human Skills modules over a year long period with Storypark and are delivering ongoing workshops with Ackama.

“ The work we did inspired us to make shifts in the way we praise each other, the feedback we give and how we relate to our differences. Over time we have noticed a happier, healthier work environment and a commitment from all staff to personal growth and self awareness. Our culture is inclusive and inviting and we continue to get positive feedback from the new staff coming onboard. “ — Storypark

All of these businesses have one thing in common — humans. It is the Humans that need the skills and they are hungry for them. Everyone I have come across has learned something new. Many of them end the sessions saying they feel inspired, that it has made them curious to learn more and that they have learned something new about themselves or their colleagues. Over time we see it brings teams closer together. It provides a common language for everyone to use and it creates psychological safety within the team because they share things in these sessions that they might not otherwise share and they all have an opportunity to speak openly no matter what role they play in the organisation.

We are now armed with four Human Skills facilitators, and a robust and constantly evolving curriculum. Learnings from the latest research and popular practices and a bunch of great testimonials. And we are ready to help you create the change you want to see in yourself, your team and your entire organisation. To find out more, visit humanskills.co.nz or contact Sarrah for a chat. If you have communication, retention or diversity issues in your workplace, then perhaps we can support you to create the change you are ready for.