Talking Tech: How to Improve Your Communication Skills

IT workers have to have sharp communication skills in order to succeed. Such skills don't always come naturally, but they can be learned.

"Just like with baseball playing and piano playing, you can actually improve your communication style and how you are perceived through practice," says Maren Perry, principal of Arden Coaching, an executive coaching and management-training firm based in Manhattan.

The stakes for learning to communicate well are high. "An IT worker may have all the technical skills in the world, but communication skills are something that you need to get the job, keep the job and advance in the job," says Nancy Ancowitz, a New York City-based business communication coach and the author of "Self-Promotion for Introverts."

A properly programmed computer typically performs according to expectations. "But people aren't like that," says Perry. "People are messy. They have feelings. They mis-hear things, misspeak. They react; they take things personally."

Good communication requires that IT workers navigate the human factor. "In order raise your level of communication, you are going to have to take some risks, or do things that feel like risks, and step out of your comfort zone," says Perry.

Ways to improve your communication abilities can include initiating casual conversations and practicing paying attention and listening to others. Building relationships with others helps you to figure out how to deliver your information so they will hear it properly and feel comfortable enough to respond.

IT workers have to be careful to speak so their listeners can understand. "No matter how talented you are with computers, you have to learn to communicate with all types of people and translate your ideas into their language," says Ancowitz.

So refrain from speaking "geek" to a human resources employee, for example.

Adds Perry: "The most valuable person on a technical team will be the person who can explain things to someone who is not a technical person."  Practice describing technical information to a 10-year-old or to grandparents, she suggests.  "If you can describe technology in non-technical terms, people will love you for it."

On Dealing with People

Perry urges IT workers to pay attention to and acknowledge the "messy" human emotions that can be attached to technology-related conversations. When answering help desk calls, for example, "just addressing the technical concern or complaint isn't enough," Perry says. "You have to address the whole person. The caller may have lost lots of data, lost sleep, or be in a time crunch with a boss breathing down their neck to get something completed."

IT workers will garner greater customer satisfaction or co-worker affinity if they acknowledge the human emotions tied to technical problems. "People just want to be heard and understood," says Perry.

Perry's basic ground rules for work place conversations:

• "No profanity, no scatological conversation, no politics, no religion."
• "More formal is better than less formal until you are told otherwise."
• "If you wouldn't say it to your grandmother, don't say it at work."
• Avoid taking part in or listening to gossip. It always will come back to bite you somehow."

In addition, she advises that IT workers learn how respond without negativity, and not react defensively, when a workplace conversation is unpleasant. "So if someone comes at you with an accusation or a high-pressure conversation, absorb what that person is saying, take a moment if you need it, and respond with your best judgment."

On the flip side, learning to apologize can also improve communication ability. If you've overreacted, overstepped a boundary, made an error, or offended someone, you can't expect a colleague to pretend it never happened, says Perry. "You need to be able to apologize so you can repair the relationship—so the two of you can move forward, and the other person can hear the next things you say."

Workplace Tips

Communicating effectively at work also requires that you know your priorities and goals in order to effectively respond to others' requests throughout the workweek, says J.R. Samples, CEO of Accountability Partners, a business consulting firm in Chicago.  "Having a good perspective on your objectives, and how you are going to accomplish them and when, is important so you can give your manager or co-workers a heads-up when new demands might interfere with somebody's expectations of you."

Asking "What do you mean by that?" can clarify the scope or expectations of another person's request or idea, says Samples, adding that this is true whether speaking to a low-key colleague or a hard-driving, Type A manager.

If you have a question or concern in the workplace, it's your responsibility to speak up, adds Perry. "Sometimes that means making consequences clear and asking a manager to make a choice—about which requested tasks should be done before 5 p.m., for example."

Samples also urges people to make time and space to communicate well. "Stop doing email, and look the person in the eyes. Put your pen or smartphone down. Stop checking the scores of the game, and pay attention to what you are talking about."

Finally, IT professionals can also seek outside help. "Ask your boss and colleagues for feedback about your communication skills," says Ancowitz. "Ask for specifics about your listening and speaking skills, as well as the effectiveness of your participation in meetings or PowerPoint presentations. And learn from what they say."

Reading books or blogs about business communication skills can help you learn.  Ancowitz points out that learning public speaking skills through an organization like Toastmasters can be very useful. "A lot of people consider public speaking to be scarier than death, but it's an essential leadership skill and it doesn't have to take a lot of time to learn."