Communication is an important aspect of our daily lives. Being an IT professional, it is a necessity. In my opinion, Your written and oral communication should assist your technical skills. This marriage is very important to grow in your career.
A whole lot can be said about communication skills, but I would just put down few points:
- Most important, be assertive and not aggressive. You voice, tone should gentle enough to be heard and accepted. But it should be able to express your thoughts clearly
Research shows, most of the conversations failed not because content of conversation is not right but because the tone was not right. - Learn to say NO. Lot has been talked about this but still it holds true, however hard it seems to be. Long run, it helps to manage expectation.
- During analysis (or requirement gathering or design discussions), try to question the obvious things.
Even though you might feel embarrassed to ask silly questions, it helps you understand the complete flow. - When entering into any debate or conversation, listen out to opposite views with open mind. Remember there can be 3 sides of each conversation – Mine, Yours and the Correct One.
Always be flexible enough to hear the opposite view and acknowledge the correct view - In conversation, when you are providing certain information (e.g. answering to business), try to give certain context, before providing the required information.
I was told to write mail considering client doesn’t know anything about the topic. - Important aspect is to provide information based on the recipient group.
E.g. If high management or leadership is seeking information, make the information more concise, provide summarized details.
If IT team requests information, make the information specific to the requested module, use technical information (e.g. table name, column name etc) - Negotiation: While negotiating, it is important we talk in facts and numbers. Vague words or use of adjectives does not help the whole process. It gives an impression that Requestor is not clear on desired output of this meeting
E.g. I want the task to be done by this evening. Or In the upcoming cycle, I am expecting reward for the hard work.
We can try the following lines:
I want the task to be completed by 05:00 PM today. Or In upcoming cycle, I would like to be promoted to next title as Senior Software Engineer
