Bridging the gap between people and technology
Technology Architecture, and really any facet of technology, is more than building cool things, designing infrastructure and living in the tech world 24/7. There is very important part that sometimes is overlooked by IT Professionals, and it’s people. People can be customers, management, co-workers, external parties, vendors, business partners and any number of other people.
Building / Maintaining Relationships
First and foremost, building rapport and respect, both given and received is extremely important in any given role. Being open minded and understanding is key to building relationships. I do this by connecting with people, not in the sense of sending an email or having a phone conversation, but connecting with them individually and finding common ground. We may not agree on everything, but I guarantee we agree on something.
Respect
Respecting those around you, regardless of where they come from or what their situation is, I believe, key to building relationships. I think a large part of respect is built by the idea of acknowledging and accepting when you are wrong and being determined to fix the wrong. I think another large part of mutual respect is listening. We have two ears and one mouth; I believe in having about a 2:1 ratio of listening to talking.
Communication: Do what you say, say what you do
Recently, I heard about a ratio called the “Do what you say” ratio. It’s a ratio between what you said you’d do vs what you did. Ideally, I strive for that to be 1:1. Communicating takes time and effort and sometimes isn’t fun. Sometimes there are real issues that need to be addressed and communicating those can sometimes be painful, but doing so in a respectful and optimistic will ultimate begin the process of remediation.
Selling Ideas as a Complete Solution with Business Value Add
Selling an idea requires buy in. Getting buy in requires “why” to be communicated cleanly and effectively. I take an end to end focused approach on selling ideas and solutions; from the 10,000 foot view down to the inch view. I present the solution as a whole and then break it down to it’s most basic parts. This methodology has translated in to vast networks being created down to the individual components that were needed to make the solution work.
