• Home
  • Education
  • News and Resources
  • Advocacy
  • Associate Members
  • Contact
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
News
News

The Importance of Communication: How to Assist the Non-Technical in Understanding Technology

By Rob Foxx, CCBTO

As an information technology or information security professional, have you ever had a conversation with a member of your team and watched their eyes glaze over and think to yourself, ‘did they just understand a word I said?’ Welcome to the industry — this is part two in my series assisting technical and non-technical staff to better communicate on the subject of technology. Before breaking down a few simple ideas tech professionals can keep in mind when communicating with non-technical peers — we should first discuss where (and why) we as technology professionals falter in our communication.

Gaps in Experience

Like many of my peers, I spent my younger years studying both in college and independently to absorb as much information as I could in preparation for my career. In many ways, college helped me build my baseline for what I would need to learn both on my own as well as on the job. In addition to the standard classes within my major, I was also required to take speech classes like many college students. I did very well in speaking classes, however, my speeches were often on topics far more engaging to the audience than disaster recovery, firewalls, or server specifications.

Since then, I’ve spent much of my career working in teams with non-technical co-workers and, considering my target audience is usually within the banking industry, more than likely you too are a single individual or part of a very small team supporting your enterprise with minimal contact with those sharing your understanding of technology.

If you are of my generation or older, you were likely told somewhere along the way that you were very gifted or had aptitudes that leaned towards the up-and-coming field of information technology. Unfortunately, if you had any degree of awkwardness, it may have also been sold to you as something that would not require you to regularly communicate with people — a detail probably very few people have found to be true.

Having technical skills, aside from communication, is one of the most important skills one can have. On the upside, many of us have found being an effective communicator does not mean being a master orator or an excellent writer. As proof to that, I will tell you in all honesty that I am neither. I stumble over my words, and I need someone to proofread anything holding more content than a short email or technical report.

Four Things to Keep in Mind

As I continue through my career and often work closely with non-technical individuals, I have found that there are a few ways our profession can not only communicate better, but also build relationships for better future communications.

  • Do not get frustrated with your audience.

None of us learned our profession overnight, so do not set the expectation that your non-technical team members will learn yours after one chat. By getting frustrated, you do a great disservice to the effort of everyone who was patient enough to make sure you understood your profession well enough that you could work successfully and independently.

In further developing good communication skills, technical people will realize the importance of asking co-workers to be specific in their requests. You may frequently get calls from peers saying, “my computer does not work.” By asking follow up questions such as “what are you trying to do,” “what does the computer do when you do that,” or “walk me through the problem,” tech professionals will generally get a better overall response and diagnosis of the issue at hand.

  • Know your audience.

Knowing who you’re talking to and their level of understanding in the subject you are talking about is the major difference between public speaking and speaking with business leaders. Never make assumptions about their level of understanding or be afraid to ask how familiar they are with virtual environments. The least technical executive at your bank most likely still receives business articles that could offer a baseline understanding of the subject matter at hand. Either assuming too much or too little could lead to your target getting frustrated with you expending their limited time.

  • Find a beta user.

My original career goal was to become a software developer. I said from day one that I would want to hire someone who is older and less tech savvy to work with my team and test my product. If my non-technical mother could operate it without significant guidance, then I would have succeeded in developing a product that offers an intuitive and user-friendly design and would be well accepted for its ease of use.

To apply this idea in dealing with business leaders, remember that if you can explain it to someone non-technical — be it a spouse, parent, or even a helpful co-worker — business leaders should have a better chance of understanding what thoughts you are trying to convey.

  • Don’t be judgmental.

Make sure to have a non-judgmental way of communicating if a decision that is being made or considered is problematic. In technology, it may be stating that “this is a band aid to the problem,” or “we will need to readdress this problem sometime in the near future.” In information security, the cue is often “we can do that if you are willing to accept the risk and sign a risk acceptance form.”

Now that we have looked at the issues and a few things to help keep in mind, I encourage you to keep in mind that learning complex concepts and making decisions is a process. Talking over the heads of your coworkers and business leaders may only make this process more difficult. Remember, technology is your profession — not theirs.

Foxx is director – infosec and IT audit services for FIPCO, a WBA Gold Associate Member.

Print 🖨
October 21, 2022/by Hannah Flanders
Tags: Associate Members, Technology
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Share on Vk
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
https://www.wisbank.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Technology-scaled.jpeg 1707 2560 Hannah Flanders https://www.wisbank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Wisconsin-Bankers-Association-logo.svg Hannah Flanders2022-10-21 07:00:232022-10-19 13:31:12The Importance of Communication: How to Assist the Non-Technical in Understanding Technology
You might also like
ILCs: Fad or the Future?
FIPCO Serves Compliance Concierge® Customers With Software Updates
The Fed’s FraudClassifier Model — A Powerful Tool for Countering Fraud’s Increasing Threat
Bankers’ Bank Announces a New Addition to the Team and Two Promotions
Triangle BackgroundUnder Pressure: Cost of Funds Strategies in a Rising Rate Environment
Triangle BackgroundReimagining Accessibility for Banks
Triangle BackgroundBuilding a Strong Credit Culture
It’s Time to Take Action in 2022

Categories

  • Advocacy
  • Community
  • Compliance
  • Credit Unions
  • Education
  • Member News
  • News
  • Products
  • Resources
  • Uncategorized

Recent Posts

  • Nelson Celebrates 30 Years at National Exchange Bank & Trust
  • Bakalars to Retire
  • PWSB Mortgage Lenders Receive the Five Star Mortgage Professional Award
  • Executive Letter: Wisconsin Supreme Court Upholds Priority of Secured Creditor Under Receivership Rules
  • Peshtigo National Bank Announces Promotions

Archives

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • November 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • June 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • January 2018
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • August 2016
WBA logo
  • About
  • Community
  • Subsidiaries
  • Staff

questions@wisbank.com

608-441-1200

4721 S Biltmore Ln.
Madison, WI 53718

Get our Newsletter!
Subscribe

© 2023 Wisconsin Bankers Association. All rights reserved. | Website Design by Bizzy Bizzy
Longtime Badger Bank Employee Celebrates Retirement, Receives WBA Lifetime Service...DC Everest Education Foundation Receives Donation From the AbbyBank Foundat...
Scroll to top

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

OKLearn more×

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

Terms of Use
Accept settingsHide notification only

Subscribe

* indicates required








Membership