Archi­tects need soft skills in their day-to-day work. They are contin­u­ously in contact with stake­holders, requirements engineers and devel­opment and quality assurance staff. They make design decisions based on information obtained from many different discus­sions, held with people with a wide range of interests. In this area of potential conflict, they must be able to identify the relevant important content for the decision to be made, and to present it in detail.

Commu­ni­cation of their actual decisions in a clearly under­standable manner is another challenge. Human traits are often an obstacle to objective commu­ni­cation, with the result that misun­der­standings and sensi­tiv­ities can hinder the decision-making process and smooth cooper­ation, and that conflicts can easily develop. This course specif­i­cally addresses the typical work situa­tions of archi­tects in this context as the “hub of the wheel”, and provides pragmatic tools for enriching one’s own set of soft skills and appro­pri­ately construc­tively coping with the challenges of an architect.