Now you need to dedicate yourself to becoming a more effective communicator. This is one of the most important job skills, and one that is notoriously absent among many IT professionals. The skills that make for an effective communicator need to be developed first through understanding, then through practice. Many books have been written about communication, and there is nothing particularly revolutionary left to be told. Unfortunately, the world is full of IT professionals who understand these principles but fail to put them into practice.
Most people spend their time doing that which results in the greatest satisfaction.
Unfortunately, if you choose not to improve your communication skills, you do a disservice to your employer and yourself. Your credibility with management will be compromised and your solutions to problems may be narrowed. Time and again throughout my career, I've been frustrated by technical staff who are simply unwilling to get on the phone and talk to someone at another site about how they are dealing with a particular problem. Put these three steps into practice and you, too, can catch more fish. Dave Molta is director of network and system services at Syracuse University.