Communication Skills for the IT Professionals
By Jonathan Jones
Part one of two
Communication skills are the differentiating factor for Information Technology Professionals. They can make a difference in the success of an organization as well as the individual. IT professionals have a bad reputation when it comes to communication. It is true that an IT professional may talk using terms and concepts that are over the head of a non-technical peer. On the other hand, other business professionals can do the same with their profession. Who really understands GAAP besides accountants? By the way, GAAP, generally accepted accounting principles, are a combination of authoritative standards (set by policy boards) and the accepted ways of doing accounting. If you think about it, the IT professional's role is to "mechanize" communication and processes for a company or even an industry. It is communication that can make or break an organization.
A quick concept that I want you to think about is the communication "filter". Filters are what keep communication from being clear from what the "sender" is trying to say and what the "receiver" hears. Additional filters on the receiver's feedback can confuse the communication even more. Filters can be physical, such as not being in the same room to see facial expressions and gestures. Background noise can filter some of the sound and messages when you are in a room with a loud air conditioner. Physical filters include environment, reduced visual, reduced sound, background noise, and body language.
Non-physical filters can even be more destructive. Have you ever been in or watched an email war? Consider this example:
A project team member is in a good mood. She sends an email out to the team to communicate the status of a project. After she sends the message, she has a feeling of accomplishment and moves on to her next task. Another team member is in a bad mood. He may be behind on another project and was not ready for his status.
After reading the first few lines, his boss just yelled at him. He decides to send a stinging retort regarding the first few lines of the email, including an off-handed shot at a coworker in another state. After 6 hours and 25 new participants of the hate fest the original sender is horrified at what she thought she started. It becomes worse when she gets a call from a vice president who had been blind copied on a third of the nasty grams. Who is responsible for this? Who can stop this?
Below are some ideas and concepts to look into to assist in improving communication at an organizational level, on the team level, and what you as an individual can do to give yourself a strategic advantage.
At an organizational level, I would encourage you to look into the Capability Maturity Models (CMM) for organization created by the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. Even if you are not in Information Technology, there is a People CMM that puts a strong emphasis on communication. Capability Maturity Models create 5 levels of maturity that build on each other. Level 1 is the Initial Level where there is little to no structure in place. Level 2 is the Defined level and is where communication and coordination are emphasized. Here processes are defined. At Level 3, Predictable, an organization can repeat defined processes. In regards to communication, team norms are established to create a participative culture. At level 4, Managed, work groups are "empowered" and work group integration is initiated. Finally, in level 5 or the Optimizing level, organizations have the communication and structure in place to improve in measurable ways.
The key US companies that have organizations that are CMM certified at level 4 or 5 are Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, and other defense contractors. This is because the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) is a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense. The SEI's core purpose is to help others make measured improvements in their software engineering capabilities. Their web sites are open to the public. http://www.sei.cmu.edu/cmm/ and http://www.sei.cmu.edu/cmm-p/.
Realization of the power of CMM has not been recognized in the US outside of the defense industry until recently. Over 50 percent of the organizations listed as CMM level 4 or 5 certified are from India. A majority of the rest of the organizations are outside the United States as well. Where are many of the information technology projects heading? I don't know about you, but this hit me like a ton of bricks. Think about it. If communication is so important, how can people thousands of miles away with some many potential filters in the way be successful? Because they standardize their communication and processes! Successful Indian companies market their certified level on the CMM scale. This was not an overnight move. Indian companies have been investing in the CMM for this for over 10 years. Don't you think it is time that you look into the CMM? At least establish organization standards. But before you can make anything happen on an organization level, you need to help your technical teams communicate better.
Jonathan Jones Consulting, Inc. Management Consulting and Coaching A Dynamic Approach to Corporate Success (314) 608-0783
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