LISTENING TO IT PROFESIONALS

SECRETS

IT Professionals have to gain knowledge and develop skills and competencies to enable them to maximise their potential the following rules can help them to do that.

IT Professionals are fight and flight animals. They have choices and are capable of making a considered decision. Whether in fight or flight they stop listening. If we are to get them to listen to the message we wish them to receive we need to generate trust and understanding.

IT Professionals have highly developed emotions. People like to be liked and want to be helped. A mature Profession has the power to make members obey instructions. An embryonic Profession can make them happy to carry out those instructions by offering them something in return.

If our relationship with IT Professionals is important we need to give them some sincere quality time.

Start by trusting them rather than not trusting them.

IT Professionals have intelligence and the ability to make a valuable contribution to society as individuals. The Professions role is to enable them to maximise their potential in their own way. Treat them accordingly they will repay the efforts 1000 fold.

Take care to ensure IT Professionals see and understand both sides of the argument. Don’t play tricks on them. Don’t take them by surprise. Be sincere. They need to trust us. 

IT Professionals do not learn when fearful. IT Professionals don’t communicate when fearful. The environment needs to feel safe to encourage reflection communication and learning so next time they do not repeat their mistakes. If IT Professionals are fearful of the implications of their actions they don’t act effectively. Reward the smallest success. Learn from errors no matter how small. Encourage don’t punish.

Most IT Professionals like and appreciate praise and recognition. If IT Professionals care and want to know whether they have pleased you rather than fear the reaction if they have displeased you they will volunteer information about their performance rather than hiding it. Demonstrate your recognition immediately don't wait. Catch them doing something right.

We all have sensitivity in our make up. Effort taken to communicate with and understand IT Professionals will pay dividends almost immediately.  Enable them to relax and focus on the task.

Discover the benefit IT Professionals require as a result of effort and provide the promise of it. This will differ from professional to professional. What do IT Professionals see as a trophy?

Make the effort to learn the language your IT Professionals are talking. Learning to speak it and understand it will increase interpersonal communication within the organization.

If IT Professionals are not performing it is not necessarily their fault. Involve the IT Professional in a review of the methods being used and be prepared to adapt. If something has worked once it might not work again.

Association influences IT Professional performance. IT Professionals will notice how we react to their actions and act accordingly. Do we want your IT Professionals to be afraid of communicating with us or pleased to communicate with us?

There is nothing better than a good role model/influence when training IT Professionals. IT Professionals need to learn "how things should be done round here" and fellow IT Professionals are the best people to tell them. Once IT Professionals understand the culture they can then make their own contribution effectively.

IT Professionals need to know when they have to wait for/ask for/take or create permission to act. Empower/Enrich an ability to take responsibility.

The teacher/mentor cannot push information into the brain. The IT Professional must pull it in. Never say you must. Always present a selection of options. You just make the option you would like them to choose is the one you would like him to take. Always enable them to think that it was their idea.

Our IT Professionals perception of the world might be different from ours. Theirs might just be right. How we see the world influences our decisions. Time might have to be invested in discovering the perception and expectations of our IT Professionals before designing a change strategy. Discover how our IT Professionals see the world and act accordingly.

People/IT Professionals like certainty. People/IT Professionals do not like change. Establish good habits. If you notice behavior or performance changing, notice it and deal with it straight away. Time will not make things better only worse.

IT Professionals have good memories. Trust and respect can be lost very quickly but takes a long time to win. Once won it is one of the strongest leadership factors.

Different IT Professionals have different characteristics ~ make the most of them don't work against them.

We must train ourselves to be perceptive. Listen to the words, listen to the body get the message. Think about and be aware of what your body language is telling our IT Professionals. Your body language could be being a barrier.

Create a learning environment. Well meaning is not well being. Treat IT Professionals well and fairly and they will treat you well and fairly.

People/IT Professionals need to know how to release the pressure. Be clear and give them the opportunity to improve and get it right.

Create the environment/relationship as soon as possible. Do not allow bad habits to establish.

When giving feedback to our IT Professionals always finish on a positive note. The final parts of the message sticks in the mind and has the ability to make staff feel positive rather than negative. What’s in it for me?  If an IT Professional is slow to learn provide them with a chance to get something right then finish for another time.

Latent learning. Do one hundred things 1% better rather than 1 thing 100% better. Break tasks down into small chunks.

LISTEN. IT Professionals are capable of telling you how to get the most out of them. All you have to do is listen.

A good IT Profession can hear its members speak a great Profession can hear its members when they whisper. Some IT Professionals are walking away when no one listens. MAKE SURE WE ARE LISTENING.