preview

Communicating With The It Department Essays

Good Essays

What is the best way to communicate with the Information Technology (IT) department? In this paper, we will look at two IT personnel and comparre communication styles. The most effective way to present this scenario is to engage you, the reader, in a mock computer/network crisis in your company.

For many years communicating with the IT department was not a priority. Most businesses used computers for word processing and simple spreadsheets. Networks were stations on the televisions and there was very little to no dependence on a computer system. The hardware was costly and the support was virtually non-existent (www.microsoft.com-small business solutions, 1998). …show more content…

Prior to that, Joe worked as a technician for Fry’s Electronics at night. Joe is also the president of the “The original - Star Trek ” fan club and believes that Captain Kirk is the only man qualified to command a starship, at least that is what his tee shirt says.

Joe answers the phone in his usual low toned, “Yea”. After explaining your situation for the second time very slowly, Joe finally grunts, acknowledging that he is still on the phone. You finally get frustrated and tell Joe that you were instructed to call him by the VP of production (the senior VP over both departments) and your problem is of the utmost importance. He insists that the problem was created by one of your people; but he agrees to send one of the “techies” down to your area and the problem is fixed (except for your ulcer).

This is not unusual, though a bit exaggerated. Most IT personnel are under the impression that the outside world is so inept that they alone are a much smarter breed so they have a superiority complex. It is often shared in the IT community that communicating our problems to them is a waste of time because we usually do not explain it in a way that will solve the problem.

Joe is the typical “Tech-Nerd” and is socially inept, and doesn’t care. He can interact with the outside world over the Internet, so why

Get Access