Whether you have a communications point person or need to work with other departments yourself, open and clear communication is a necessity. Having a person skilled in communication on your tech team is vitally important.

It’s certainly possible to have a tech expert who is also a great communicator, but many of them would rather stick to code and hardware than explain something to a sales rep. This becomes particularly important when dealing with large projects or process changes.

Communication is obviously a critical component of DevOps and Agile projects, but its importance in everyday tasks is often overlooked.

Leading communications across tech teams can, and often should be, a dedicated role. There are benefits to having someone who is solely focused on facilitating collaboration among colleagues. Even when your tech team is successfully completing objectives, they can only reach their full potential if are able to communicate effectively.

So, how can your department improve its performance and contribution to corporate goals? Hire a tech communication specialist. Here are some reasons why:

1. Communicating with tech departments can be painful for everyone.

It can be frustrating for your tech team to try to explain why they aren’t able to fulfill a request to someone who doesn’t understand their technical terms and restrictions. On the flip side, it’s frustrating for other departments to be told something can’t be done and not understand why. Other departments often feel that tech team employees are talking down to them, whether it’s true or not.  If you have someone who is part of the tech team but focused on communication, they can be that bridge between the tech team and the rest of your company.

2. Everyone wants someone who is “on their side.”

This builds right off the last one. As much as we dislike it, an “us versus them” mentality often arises with IT. An ideal tech communication specialist will be part of the IT team and be seen as part of every other team as well. They will know the best ways to communicate between IT and Manufacturing by breaking down what tech problems or enhancements will mean for their processes and machines. They can explain to IT the value of the requests from Sales for their order entry system. This person won’t specialize in IT, Sales, or Production; they will specialize in communicating with all of them. They will build trust with each department because people will understand that they want to help. This helps optimize the company's organizational effectiveness. 

3. They are great for planning and strategy for cross-departmental projects.

Since the tech communication specialist doesn’t have to get down in the weeds with the technical side, they can step back and look at the whole picture. They can connect the dots and plan for the life of the project beyond creation and implementation. They will fill in the pieces and help make the plans by working easily with other departments and orchestrating a team environment.

How Aspirant Can Help

Aspirant's Technology and Org Effectiveness experts help clients resolve departmental disconnects that hamper company performance. Use the form below to schedule a casual discussion about how we can do the same for your organization.