I.T. Specialist Communication

IT is a matchup of technology and people to produce products and services that run the company's business. When people get involved, there are bound to be disagreements and a need to arrive at group consensus. IT professionals who can work with people, find a common ground so projects and goals can be agreed to, and engage others in the process are in high demand.

With the number of emails, proposals, and design documents an IT professional writes, written communication is essential. Verbal communication is equally important. As an IT professional, you often have to explain technical processes in clear, easy-to-understand terms for customers and employers while building rapport and facilitating comprehensive understanding of your messages. You also need to be able to explain your ideas in such a way as to make others want to support and engage with your projects. 

We specialise in designing training and mentoring for Project teams and professionals, including Communication for Agile Projects

IT professionals often find themselves teaching skills, mentoring and supporting employers, new employees, or product users. Great IT professionals who can successfully walk someone through a technical process with clarity and patience are appreciated by organizations and teams. 

Engaging people to follow and deliver on project deliverables can often be time consuming and fraught with misunderstanding. Developing your leadership style is essential to create collaborative teams and consistent outcomes.

IT benefits when it hires individuals who can forge strong relationships with different constituencies throughout the company. This relationship building facilitates project cooperation and success and engagement at senior management levels.

IT projects are often the work of a team of professionals rather than an individual. Therefore, teamwork is essential; you need to be able to communicate your ideas and listen to others' suggestions, and know when to take a leadership role and when to be a team player.

Few IT or Business Management programmes teach vendor management — and even fewer IT people want to do this. But with outsourcing and vendor management on the rise, IT professionals with administrative and management skills who can work with vendors and ensure that SLAs (service level agreements) and KPIs (key performance indicators) are met bring value to performance areas where IT is accountable. They also have great promotion potential.

No matter what your position in IT, you will need some form of negotiation skills, from making hiring decisions to collaborating with vendors or contractors to selling your idea to an organization. Being able to come to an agreement that satisfies both parties is a great soft skill that will make you stand out, particularly if you want to be promoted to a management position.

A presentation can be anything from a one-on-one conversation to a department meeting to a lecture. Whatever the form, you need to be able to articulate your ideas clearly to others. Even if your ideas are great, no one will be able to appreciate them if you cannot convey them effectively. Working on your approachability, verbal communication, presentation style and your familiarity with presentation tools will help you strengthen your presentation skills.

Being able to delegate activities and expected outcomes without ambiguity is essential to IT projects. The ability to delegate and have an overview without micro management is a key soft skill for team leaders, Project Managers, service delivery managers and account managers.

IT likes to work in binary (black and white). Unfortunately, many of the people issues that plague projects are "gray." There is no right or wrong answer, but there is a need to find a place that everyone is comfortable with. Those who can identify and articulate the problem, bring it out in the open, and get it solved are instrumental in shortening project snags and timelines.

We’re all given the same amount of time, but at certain milestones more time is needed. Learning to prioritise and manage people, tasks and activities within a project is more than tracking a Gantt chart and risk register. We provide the strategies and tactics to manage multiple activities without stress and burn out.

With in-depth knowledge and IT experience, it costs nothing to call us to find out how we can assist your IT professionals to develop strategies and skills that enhance quality project delivery. You can also access out short courses which can be tailored for IT professionals and teams...