In only a very few places, Neubert, Mainert, Kretzschmar, & Greiff (Reference Neubert, Mainert, Kretzschmar and Greiff2015) mention the role of communication and coordination among team members in collaborative problem solving. Although complex and collaborative problem solving is indeed an imperative for team and organizational success in the 21st century, it is easier said than done. Collaborative problem solving is critically dependent on the communication and interaction skills of the team members and of the team leader. The intent of this commentary is to shine a light on the critical role of interpersonal and communication skills in complex and collaborative problem solving.

Skills in interpersonal communication, influence, and persuasion (as well as other factors, such as intrapersonal skills and ethics) are often collectively referred to as the “soft skills” of leaders and team members, as opposed to the “hard skills” of technical competence, cognitive problem solving, and decision making. In shared decision making and collaborative problem solving, there is little doubt that success is dependent not just on the technical process of making the decision but also on the soft skills of the parties involved. A host of studies suggest that effective communication is critical for solving complex, collaborative problems, ranging from the well-known studies of groupthink (Janis, Reference Janis1972) to studies of the role of communication in moving groups toward effective decisions (Scheerhorn, Geist, & Teboul, Reference Scheerhorn, Geist, Teboul and Frey1994) to studies of communication breakdown leading to increased errors and poor decision making in aircraft cockpit crews (Sexton & Helmreich, Reference Sexton and Helmreich2000).

Although most scholars cringe at the use of the term “soft skills” to describe the various intrapersonal and interpersonal skills required by leaders and effective team members, this rather vague term is used primarily because there are no agreed-on frameworks for capturing this vast array of skills (see Riggio & Tan, Reference Riggio and Tan2014). There have been some recent attempts to create a taxonomy of managerial/leadership skills, most notably a project outlined by Pichler and Beenen (Reference Pichler, Beenen, Riggio and Tan2014), but this model does not seem to capture the vast array of skills that scholars believe fit under the heading of “soft skills.” To this end, a recent conference and edited book (Riggio & Tan, Reference Riggio and Tan2014) focused on reviewing the domain of skills that might fit under a comprehensive taxonomy. It is interesting to note that the success of collaborative problem solving is largely dependent on the soft skills involved in the process and the particular areas of skills that were the topic of the conference and book. What are these critical “soft skills”?