Beyond Technical Proficiency: The Role of Soft Skills in Embracing Agility
By Carolyn McArthur
The Stepping Stone, November 2023
In today’s evolving insurance industry, the actuarial profession is undergoing significant transformation and simplification. Technical skills or “hard skills” alone are no longer sufficient. Industry professionals must embrace an assortment of soft skills to manage tasks and execute projects.
Agile has become a common technology and project management buzzword. This article explores how to apply an agile mindset and agile methodologies to improve your career success.
An Agile Mindset—What is it?
In essence, an agile mindset means having a quick, resourceful and adaptable character. This is a thought process and behavior that values understanding, collaboration, continuous learning and improvement, and staying flexible to achieve optimum results. Having an agile mindset encourages positive transformation while navigating complex challenges and driving meaningful change.
This should not be confused with “doing agile,” which aligns more with the technical skills associated with using specific project management methodologies like Scrum, Kanban, or Lean. Being agile consists of having the necessary soft skills or personal attributes that relate to how you work well and interact with others to reach peak performance. Using an agile mindset helps actuaries become agile and apply agile methods to succeed.
Six Essential Soft Skills for Actuaries to Master when Performing in an Agile Environment
Communication is the foundation of any successful collaboration and building strong relationships. Actuaries must be able to articulate complex data into layperson terms for audiences ranging from frontline workers to sales and marketing to the board room. Having the ability to actively listen, provide and receive feedback, both verbally and in writing (and without being defensive) is essential.
Problem Solving is at the core of agility and actuarial work. In addition to the analytical thinking skills they rely on every day, they need creative problem-solving abilities to create innovative solutions in an agile environment. This requires thinking outside the box and having the willingness to iteratively test and learn quickly from mistakes.
Collaboration is at the center of agility. As actuarial work is more integrated with business functions, actuaries must collaborate effectively with a broad range of stakeholders, from business leaders to technical architects. Emotional intelligence, empathy, conflict resolution, and negotiation skills are paramount in creating a positive and supportive environment to deliver via cross-functional teams.
Adaptability is vital in an agile environment, where changes are continuous and embraced. Being flexible, accepting uncertainty and having the ability to pivot based on new data, technology or changing priorities can be an actuary’s secret sauce to innovation and continuous improvement.
Resilience goes hand in hand with adaptability, as it is the capacity to recover quickly, bounce back from setbacks, learn from mistakes or failures, and maintain a positive attitude in the face of challenges and pressure. Given the dynamic nature of the business and unpredictable events, actuaries must have the capability to maintain top performance in volatile environments.
Continuous Learning is a critical skill for actuaries. Changes are constant in models, technology, insurance regulations and business processes. Staying abreast of insurance best practices, trends, technological advances, and maintaining life-long learning practices can assist in staying relevant, innovative, and committed to professional development.
Businesses must be adaptable and agile to navigate the current challenges and seize new opportunities. By developing these key soft skills and applying an agile mindset, actuaries can help foster more innovative organizational cultures, which can produce successful outcomes in today’s volatile landscape.
Statements of fact and opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors and are not necessarily those of the Society of Actuaries, the editors, or the respective authors’ employers.
Carolyn McArthur, MBA, MSITM, ALMI, is an assistant vice president at SCOR Global Life, a seasoned insurance industry expert with a wealth of business and technology experience maintaining certifications in insurance, agile leadership, six sigma and project management methodologies. She can be reached at CMCARTHUR@scor.com or via LinkedIn.