Soft -Skill Training Can Fill the
Knowledge Gaps
Appeared in DFW TechBiz, October 15-21,
2001
When you think of IT training, the alphabet soup of certification
training quickly comes to mind. Those are the requirements to get IT
professionals hired. For those technical professionals who want to
keep their jobs and quickly find new ones in a downturn, there's other
training to consider.
What skills do you need? Being able to effectively
communicate with others is a skill that turns knowledge into
results. Many technical professionals understand their technical
processes perfectly and their people processes less so. One gap in
people process knowledge is communicating knowledge to a group. IT
professionals can begin to fill this gap by learning presentation
skills. You can learn how to organize a presentation, deliver it
effectively and reduce the jitters you may be feeling. Confident
presentation skills will get your hard work noticed.
If you think you'll be looking for a job, you must be a master at
networking (of the people kind). This is a skill that 70 percent of
the people who have found jobs have used. It's the people you know
and the people who know what you do that can recommend you for the
unpublicized job openings. Even if you think you're job is secure,
you still need this skill. With an effective network, you can
develop mentoring relationships which can fast track your
career.
Most technical professionals tend to be good listeners.
Listening is a skill that always can be further improved. For those
of you who never learned how to persuade, now is the time to master this
skill. Your persuasion skills will come in handy next budget cycle
with your manager. And with more technical professionals interacting
directly with customers, this skill is more critical today.
Make sure your business writing skills are strong. Many
technical professionals are more familiar and proficient with the type of
technical writing that they submit for publication in technical
journals. Business writing includes letters and proposals to
customers. Technical writing is different than business writing.
Use one for the other and you'll lose your
audience.
Where To Get Training Take advantage of your professional memberships and
take the courses they offer. Many technical organizations like the
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE; www.ieee.org)
provide their members with leadership, networking (the people kind)
and soft skills training like listening. They also offer Continuing
Education credits which many times are mandatory for maintaining technical
certifications.
It's not longer acceptable to say you don't have time to go to a
seminar. Busy technical professionals can take courses over the
Internet. E-learning providers like Learn2 (www.learn2.com)
provide a range of courses that are always available when you want to
learn. Their course offerings range from Listening and Organizing to
Delivering Effective Presentations. Your own company may have an
extensive offering of courses. Many companies offer both instructor
led and E-learning opportunities for their staff.
Local universities like Southern Methodist University offer
informal courses for adults. Day and evening classes are available
and many are offered during lunchtime. They have a SMU-in-Legacy
Plano campus for those who don't want to drive to their main campus.
Their website www.smu.edu/informal has more information.
Some people say it's who you know and not what you know that counts
in today's business. If you look at the successful IT professionals
in today's roller coaster marketplace, it's really both. Successful
IT professionals have a foundation of strong technical skills. They
also have the necessary people skills to network with others and
effectively communicate their knowledge. That's the best combination
to excel at any job.
Soft-Skill
Training Can Fill the Knowledge Gaps appeared in DFW TechBiz in the
October 15, 2001 issue.
.......................................................................................................
Maura Schreier-Fleming is
President of Best@Selling (www. BestatSelling.com). She works with
technical sales professionals and business professionals on skills and
strategies so they can sell more and be more productive at work. Her
column 'Selling Strategies' appears in The Insurance
Record.
(c) Copyright 2004 Maura
Schreier-Fleming. All rights reserved. |
