Learn to Live with IT -- Follow these rules to build a happy relationship with the technology pros.

(Industry Trend or Event)
David Haskin

Abstract: The basic principles of business and personal relationships should be employed between IT professionals and managers. There is a frequent lack of communication between IT and management because they do not necessarily speak the same language. The manager's job may become that of translator, as well as facilitator. Managers should understand the job responsibilities of MIS, which may include purchasing and installing hardware, software and network equipment, developing applications for running the business, managing Internet and other communications, and managing the telephone system. Small business managers need to identify the IT tasks of the company and hire people accordingly.

Full Text: COPYRIGHT 1999 CMP Media, Inc.
Certain principles apply to making any type of relationship a success: Communicate clearly and have realistic expectations. Try to understand each other and accept the other's limitations. Express your appreciation.

These rules work in personal relationships, as well as relationships between business managers/owners and IT professionals. But they become more important-and trickier-when the two sides don't speak the same language. And that's often the case with nontechnical professionals and IT folks.

So even if you have years of experience working with PCs and can snap open the case and perform minor surgery right at your desk, you can't possibly do that for all the people you manage. You know what your staff needs and you know the complexities of LAN issues, but your staff and the technology people may not understand each other. That turns your job as manager into one of facilitator and translator.

"The gap in understanding between technical and nontechnical people is the biggest challenge I've seen," says Steve Roberts, vice president of information technology for MindSpring Enterprises, an Atlanta-based Internet service provider.

Because technology is the bedrock on which successful businesses are built, the stakes in making this relationship work are high. Failing to use the correct technology can put you at a competitive disadvantage, and glitches in existing technologies can bring a business to a grinding halt. After talking to small-business owners, department managers in larger companies and IT professionals, we came up with these rules to make the relationship work.

Get introduced

The first step to work effectively with IT professionals, our experts agreed, is to understand what they do. Depending on your company or department, those responsibilities typically include:

* Nitty-gritty tasks such as buying and installing hardware, software and local area networks-and making sure it all works.

* Creating and managing the customized under-the-covers applications for running a business. These can range from tweaking off-the-shelf accounting applications to creating complex custom applications for managing your inventory.

* Managing the Internet and other digital communications. This can mean creating an intranet for in-house use or a Web site for the general public.

* Managing telephones. Not a traditional IT job, in smaller organizations this increasingly can mean making sure the telephone system is installed and operating properly. More typically, though, the IT department obtains and manages fast telephone lines that connect your company or department to the Internet.

Because small businesses lack the IT manpower to handle all those chores, these business owners must determine the most important technology tasks, hire the right people to handle those top priorities in-house and outsource the rest. That means dealing with value-added resellers and other outside vendors, which can be perplexing if you don't have IT staff to intervene. If you're a small-business owner without in-house IT help, you should make sure the vendor speaks in a language you understand, advises Calvin Atkinson, vice president of Daedal Corp., an Atlanta firm that provides IT services for small companies.

"If they don't," he cautions, "don't even take a second meeting with them."

Also, he suggests you make sure that the outsourcer either uses your existing hardware or software or smoothes the transition to the new. Finally, he advises doing some comparative shopping before you settle on a vendor - there are plenty from which to choose.

In bigger companies, get to know the IT department and what its personnel can-and can't-do. "Some IT people might be comfortable with Windows NT Server, but not Novell NetWare. Know what the technicians can do," Atkinson says.

Learn to communicate

Clear communications are at the core of a good relationship between technical and nontechnical managers.

"Nine times out of 10, when IT does not understand what you want or you don't understand what they're doing, it's because of the translation issue," says Lance Weatherby, MindSpring's vice president of sales and marketing. "You have to translate marketing-speak or accounting-speak into IT-speak."

Weatherby recalled a new hire in his department who had a notebook and who repeatedly told the IT department that she wanted a computer.

"She really was saying, 'I need a monitor, keyboard and a docking station for my laptop,'" Weatherby says. "But the technical guy said, 'She already has a computer' and did not act." This miscommunication went on until somebody translated.

Adds Atkinson, "Often, the tech person makes the nontechnical person feel stupid. If the technician can't explain something in language you can understand, you're talking with the wrong person."

Some large companies are building better communications into IT departments. "We have people whose sole role is to interact with our internal client base and translate," says Paul Brinkley, director of IT strategy for Nortel Networks, a Santa Clara, Calif., network consultant.

Brinkley strongly urges nontechnical managers to make a business case when asking IT for new equipment or applications. "Your technology requests should achieve a business goal," he advises. "What are you trying to achieve for your customer? Then, ask what technology will do that."

Weatherby adds another communications tip: Put it in writing. Submitting a proposal is often the best way to start communicating clearly.

Work on the relationship

Keep in mind the nature of the IT job, particularly when it comes to solving problems. "When you have a problem, it's the most pressing thing in the world (to you)," says Weatherby. "But they have to deal with 20 people, all of whom have the most pressing problem in the world."

If you want to get your department's needs pushed to the top of the pile, make a strong business case. "Tell the IT person how critical it is in terms of value to a client or in dollars and cents to the company," urges Atkinson.

Keep IT's priorities in mind as well. "It's one thing if a mouse isn't working and it's another thing if the server is down," he says. He also suggests creating a relationship with IT personnel and being persistent. "Sometimes, it's just a matter of who screams the loudest," he adds.

Weatherby advises that you put your needs in perspective and determine if that request really is an emergency. "Often, I'll do other things and not bother them," he says.

Also, credit IT when things are good. "A lot of people take it for granted when things work right," Atkinson says. "But if you tell people we're not having problems because of the work you've been doing, it goes a long way with an IT department."

David Haskin is a contributor to BusinessWeek and freelance writer based in Barneveld, Wisc.