I frequently tell seminar attendees that the most important skills a technology professional can develop are communication skills. I’ve been saying this since 1997 and I can’t see a reason to change my opinion now.
In fact, I would suggest that the current economic conditions make communications more important than ever. If you are the IT manager or the IT director for your organization, I would encourage you to communicate the following information to your manager or director in the next two weeks – regardless of the normal procedures:
- What does your current budget look like and how can you help save the organization money in the next 12 months?
- Other than human capital, what can you cut while maintaining current service levels?
- What planned expenditures can be delayed and how will you deal with the productivity and functional limits the delay will cause?
- What are your top three ideas for running IT more efficiently?
Sharing this information will show that you’re thinking about the organization and you want to help everyone weather the storm. It not only builds good will; it is just plain good sense in times like these.
