Who killed the IT company?

Effective interdepartmental communication, for any company, is key to any future growth of the business, the team and satisfaction of the customer. I’ve delivered training programs to various industries but wanted to share my experiences of working with IT companies specifically. I became fascinated with the breakdown of communication between the sales department and the tech department (for example). Both were part of the same vision, both were managed well, and their senior teams were excellent, so what was the problem?

Every journey, both physical and mental, starts with self-awareness

Their problem was that they don’t understand each other. They speak two completely different languages. Which reminded me of a story I read on aviationhumour.net a few years ago about a person lost whilst flying in an air balloon.

A person in a hot air balloon realised they were lost.

They see someone standing on the ground and gets close enough to talk to them. “Where am I?” the person in the balloon asks. The person on the ground replies, “You are in a hot air balloon, approximately 20 feet off the ground.” The person in the balloon frustrated says “You must work in IT?” The person on the ground replies “Yes, how did you know?” to which the person in the balloon replies, “The answer you gave me is technically correct. But it does not help me at all. I am still lost. You are no use to me.” 

The person on the ground replies: “You must work in sales?” “I do” comes the response from the balloon. “How did you know?” The person on the ground replies, “You don’t know where you are and you don't know where you are going. You asked me a question and I answered you correctly based on the question you asked. Yet, you are still lost and somehow it’s now my fault and my problem!”

I love that story and it highlights the need to effectively communicate to either get your point across and/or gain the information that you need to move forwards to your goal. That maybe settling a dispute, passing information onto a customer, creating an in-house training program, or compiling a report or presentation for the senior management team.

So how did I help my clients become better at communication?

One of the tools I use is DISC psychometric testing – it appeals to the four different behaviour types

DISC is based on a person’s consistent characteristics and preferred communication styles and there are 4 styles: Dominance, Influence, Steady and Compliant.

One axis of the assessment shows if individuals are more “people-focused” on one side, and “task-oriented” on the other. I’m sure you can recognise team members who would fit into both. As a general rule, I have found that the IT department sit in the task focused side and the sales department sits in the people focused side.

And that doesn’t mean that salespeople don’t get the task done, of course they do. Have you ever met someone, and they are all about getting the task done? And if you try to talk to them about social stuff, they change the conversation to business? And on the other extreme you might have met a person that wants to have a conversation more on the personal level. In the meantime, you want to discuss the task at hand.

The two quadrants at the top if the axis shows if individuals are more “tell or talk” and the bottom half prefer either “listen or write”. Someone in the “listen or write” quadrants is also considered less assertive as well as operates at a slower pace. People in the “tell or talk” quadrants are usually more assertive and operate in a faster paced environment. I’m sure you can identify these people in your team as well.

And thank goodness we are all different. Each quadrant on the DISC graph have their strengths and it’s best when the team are a good mix of each stile. 

These are the DISC communication styles that really came to the surface during the programs I deliver.

First of all, I work with the team to work out there own communication style. It’s a great activity and tells me a lot about the individual. If I have time or during a following session I split the team into pairs and ask them to complete a test on another team member so we can analyse any differences with internal and external views of the person.

One team member I was recently working with produced a compressed graph and this either means that they didn’t understand the test paper, or they are demotivated and lost their way a little. In this case it was the latter and we arranged some coaching sessions to manage this.

Most people have a predominant style but can operate in the other quadrants too and mine changes when I am at work, I’m more task focused, and my time management is second to none.

So, let us have a look at the DISC quadrants:

Dominance – they are driven to results (task focused and assertive). They want to get it done and want to hear about how results will be delivered. As expected, they are task oriented and love to take charge.

Influential – on the opposite diagonally across from Conformity is influential (people focused and assertive). These individuals like the story, they like to talk. They love the energy. They are people oriented and are big picture thinkers.

Steady – they are opposite diagonally across from dominance team member. They are people focused and more passive. Amiable people who want harmony. They don’t want to make the wrong decision; their motivator is security.

Compliant – these are the team members that love data (task focused and more passive). They love flow charts, processes, and standard operating procedures. They want to know "how." They like organisation and are task oriented.

So, which one are you? And which of the behaviours winds you up?

When working in industries with teams and departments with such polar behaviours like IT with a both tech and sales departments, for example, conflict is either happening or just bubbling under the surface and tensions are starting to fray the fabric of the organisation.

There is a certain degree of frustration when these groups communicate with each other.

Take analytical and expressive or driver and amiable for example.

Analytical people want details while the expressive talks in big picture terms.

Drivers want to get the work done and want action. Amiable people are afraid to make a decision

So, how do we get these very different people to engage?

Here are some tips:

Dominance - tend to have uncompromising personalities and aren't afraid to confront other people directly if they think a situation calls for it. So, it's not uncommon to find them involved in disputes with others but resolving disputes like this can be difficult. A highly Dominant person will need to feel that they achieve some real advantage from any possible resolution.

show them how the topic discussed means a win for them. They work at a fast pace so be brief and they are irritated by indecision.

Influential - In some senses, highly Influential people are ideal team players. They are actively interested in building positive working relationships, and they have the natural confidence to help direct the team as a whole. They do, however, tend to take a rather informal approach at times, and this can be counterproductive where the team is working in more pressured conditions.

Tell stories and illustrate the topic being discussed. Give them time to express themselves. They sometimes struggle with commitment and follow-through.

Steady - A defining characteristic of a High-S type of person is a natural distrust of novelty, hence they are guarded (at first) when new people join the group. They tend to avoid change simply because it involves adapting to the new and the different. Where the change is inevitable, a High-S will eventually adapt to a new status quo, but it will take time for them to acclimatise to their new conditions.

Show how the decision affects everyone. They like to promote harmony and achieves compliance through conformity and loyalty.

Compliant - A person with high C will tend to solve problems using rules and structure, and so in a dispute will naturally try to work out a solution using logic and rational argument. High-C's can see the value in compromise and are generally ready to resolve problems by reaching a mutually agreeable solution and future plan.

When dealing with an analytical character make sure you are precise and to the point. Make sure your information is accurate and if they need more information, they will ask you. Also give them time to think and ponder (remember, they are analysing what you said).

Once everyone in the team (at every level) has a better understanding of how their colleagues and customers prefers to communicate then the barriers start to dissolve. This has been my first priority with all the teams I have managed in my businesses, the barriers have to be removed to build the trust and a cohesive team.

If you’d like some further information about how DISC can be influential for your team let me know and I’ll arrange a call back. I deliver various length training sessions both online and off.

Alternatively, you can buy our managing DISC E-book which contains the DISC test paper and instructions of how to use it for you and your team. The book comes with loads of useful information and tips of how to manage and work with other behaviour styles