Why are we hearing more and more about IT professionals needing to be versed in effective communication and style awareness?

In the past IT and their service function existed in their own tower. Back in the 80’s and into the 90’s these departments operated somewhat outside of the business as a whole. As time moves on and they become more integrated they have to be more aware of what the business goals are, including customer service goals. As an IT person myself I’m aware that we’re generally speaking about introverted personalities who get excited about the technology more than they do about interaction. What the effects of that can be is taking that energy and turning it towards their own vision of the business goals without getting the full picture of what is happening. Without communication, and going back and forth with the real business needs in mind, IT staffs can end up going on their own tangents and miss important issues.

I do. I think the book “The Geek Gap”(Prometheus Books, 2006) did a good job identifying and addressing the issue. The authors tell you what the problem is, my focus is on fixing it. Most IT departments will encourage employees to take interpersonal skills training courses, so corporate willingness isn’t the issue. I taught a course on this for the ITT Institute and upon explaining the course objectives I heard groans from the attendees. When I asked them how I might make the course more interesting for them I heard back from several people that they were attending because they had to, not because they wanted to or expected to get anything out of attending. As part of my own research process I asked groups just like these to begin the session by simply interacting with each other. This way they were practicing, but in an environment that they were comfortable in. IT workers are almost always more outgoing when they are among other IT people. So they were practicing the skills without feeling as though they were forced to do so. People can be totally resistant unless they understand for themselves that they need and want to do something. Each of us is the center of our own universe and want our own needs and concerns addressed. As trainers or managers we need to provide them with a level of comfort, otherwise they are shutting their ears from the inside and raising their hackles. You’ve got to answer the question “How does this help me, and fit into what I want to do?”

The common vision of the IT Director or Manager is one a person with solid technical skills who can do each of the subordinate jobs, but also of someone with an "IT Attitude" towards service. How much does this play a role in the overall feel of an IT department's service outlook?

The research shows that in IT departments people come up through the ranks. That means that the managers are technically savvy but aren’t necessarily trained in managerial and interpersonal skills. Everyone accepts that the more you train the better you’ll be, but it’s difficult to focus on several different fronts - especially when you are talking about technology on one side and interpersonal skills on the other. If you aren’t gearing any training for IT staffs towards conflict management, communication, and others interpersonal issues you won’t be as effective as a manager, your staff will be less effective right along with you. The flipside of that is if you have a more traditional manager, but without the IT skills, you won’t have the respect of the department that you need in order to get the work done. You’ve got to work both sides. It’s not always easy.

When you are working with IT workers on their interpersonal skills what have you most commonly run up against as an objection to changing their behavior?

When I’ve geared up for these events we basically hear “Let me do my job”. IT workers who write programs just want to be left to programming. Our research found that IT workers feel that these types of skills are beneath them, are unimportant, and that they should be spending their time somewhere else. But there are deeper factors at work. As an IT person myself I’ve taken personality assessments that show me as very introverted and that makes me a fairly typical technology worker. For the most part we want to be left alone. But the information we’re getting shows us that feedback like that might not be indicative of how they feel about the subjects as much as they don’t want to be thrust into a training that forces communication when they are introverted personalities. As an instructor you have to keep it entertaining, in a way that is comfortable to them. But they have to understand the need for the training as it pertains to getting their job right.

Moving forward, do you see a shift from technology based advantages to service-type advantages for companies?

That’s a hard one, especially in specialized services or niche markets where there aren’t that many choices for customers. In some fields the customers who end up with you aren’t necessarily looking for customer service when your product is a scarce piece of software or other technology. I’m not sure how that will play out in the long run other than to say that where there is competition there is a need for increased interpersonal skills, perhaps a critical need. People who want any technology service want at least some amount of politeness too, but in certain cases the technology wins out. However as soon as the market shifts and your technology or service sees competitors enter the marketplace your awareness needs to increase as well, and you’d be better off building relationships properly from the start. It is definitely something you need to consider from a competitive standpoint.

The “Interpersonal Skills for IT Professionals” Workshop can be purchased in our bookstore.

http://www.theperformancereportwebstore.com/product/IPSITF/Interpersonal_Skills_Training_for_Information_Technology_Professionals_Instructors_Kit.html