‘Nothing but the facts’ approach just won’t work with business people
I’ve been talking lately about how IT and business people have trouble communicating. It goes beyond speaking different languages. The two groups really think differently. If you believe I’m overstating my case, then try this experiment. The next time you give a presentation to business people, do a follow-up a day or two later. You will likely find that nearly everyone in your audience completely missed your point. The reason we often bomb when it comes to presenting to business people is that we misunderstand how they tend to process presentations and information. We make the...
Read MoreWhen techies speak, the devil’s in the details
Every IT professional has been here: A business person asks you a question, and your thorough answer just isn’t good enough. You try to give more specific information in an attempt to break through the communication barrier. But the more you try, the worse things seem to get. In the end, the business person is seething with impatience, so you start to get confused and angry. Both parties walk away from such encounters convinced that it’s hopeless to communicate with “those types” of people. They both say of the other, “They don’t get it.” And as a...
Read MoreCollaboration’s fragility
We all know that collaborating with other departments is hard. We all have visceral memories of failed projects, outrageous behavior and painful betrayals. When my colleagues talk about these experiences, I can see the sadness and anger in their eyes. Even decades later, the wounds remain raw, the lessons learned fresh, and the resentments intact. But most of us have had great cross-functional collaborations as well. Ask about those magical projects when everyone pulled in one direction, unified, synchronized and coordinated, and eyes twinkle with excitement. When groups face tough problems...
Read MoreThe Dangers of Too Much Information
Technical people have a bad reputation for being poor communicators. And unfortunately, it’s not entirely undeserved. If you ask managers in the finance department about why they think that the IT people they deal with are bad communicators, they point to all the common complaints. “They speak in impenetrable jargon.” “They don’t listen well.” “They don’t understand what I’m trying to accomplish.” While these are sometimes valid critiques, the problem often lies elsewhere. Frequently, we do listen well and we do understand what the...
Read MoreThe Art of Asking Questions
Information technology people tend to be answer people. When users, managers, family members or even random people from the Internet have questions, we’re right there with the answers, because we’re always the smart people. One of the first things we learn in school is that being smart means having the answers. The teacher asks the class a question, and the smart kids reach for the sky. But just having a hand in the air isn’t enough. To become known as the smartest of the smart, you’ve got to get that hand up faster than anyone else. It’s the original arms race....
Read More5 Steps to Poor Listening
The development of non-technical, soft skills represents a significant choice in the career of IT professionals. For those who choose to take the road most traveled, here are a few thoughts on how to ensure poor client and peer relationships, projects that focus on solutions to the wrong problems, and working cross-purposes with your team. 1. Just Keep Talking Let’s face it -- the more you talk, the less time others get to talk. This way, you completely avoid the issue of listening all together. Why risk having to pretend you’re listening when you have the opportunity to...
Read More10 Ways to Give a Bad Presentation
As IT professionals, eventually, we are all called upon to deliver presentations to clients, users, supervisors, or peers. It’s not something that tends to come naturally to us. We’d much rather be writing code, doing project plans, or even writing documentation. Almost anything is better than getting up in front of a group of people. In fact, many consider public speaking to be one of life’s most frightening events. Because presentations are so important to your careers, C2 Consulting is joining forces with two other companies, Hill Enterprises and Lee Inc. to...
Read More