What is the best way to communicate with the Information Technology (IT) department? In this paper, we will look at two IT personnel and comparre communication styles. The most effective way to present this scenario is to engage you, the reader, in a mock computer/network crisis in your company.
For many years communicating with the IT department was not a priority. Most businesses used computers for word processing and simple spreadsheets. Networks were stations on the televisions and there was very little to no dependence on a computer system. The hardware was costly and the support was virtually non-existent (www.microsoft.com-small business solutions, 1998).
Today, hardware is affordable and support is abundant. With these major changes businesses are upgrading and installing complete network systems with multi-site databases and very complex Intranets. Along with the systems comes the support. The options are to have an outside firm support the system or an onsite/internal IT Department.
Either option a company chooses will require constant communication with the people in these areas and these people are a different breed of communicators.
The typical IT person is computer literate and usually very intelligent. They have incredible deductive reasoning and superior computational abilities. Most of them are very introverted and have little or no social graces, not to mention any ability to communicate.
Communication among their peers is usually something like a script from a very poorly written science fiction book or technical manual. Nevertheless they can communicate with each other.
Can they communicate with the average person in the real world?
Picture yourself managing a group of forty data processing people, all on a network feeding critical information to affiliates across the globe. At 3:00 p.m. one half of your network goes down and twenty of your people are not able to work. Your group is still producing, but at a reduced speed.
You pick up the phone and contact the company’s IT manager. Your situation is critical but not an emergency (at this point). You get him on the line and you get one of...
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...ferent is that Mark actually has compassion for the other person (the one that is communicating with him) while Joe is in a world all his own. Joe actually believes that other people should come to his level to communicate rather than Joe trying to find the most efficient level of communication.
When communicating with the typical IT person, you may want to try a few of these suggestions.
1. Remember that they are not very social and communicating is very uncomfortable for them; so do not try to engage them on the social playing field. Keep all communication relevant and to the point.
2. Do not diagnose the problem for them (unless you know it already in which case you would not need to call them in the first place). If you think you might know it, ask questions that will guide them to the answer you think that it might be.
3. NEVER get them started on the differences between the original Star Trek and Star Trek, The Next Generation!
References:
Administrative and Management Information Systems
http://www.microsoft.com-small business solutions, 1998
F. Talk greatly about 1 or 2 things, for example a movie or toy they want.
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