From the course: Effectively Leading Digital Transformation
Explaining in plain language
From the course: Effectively Leading Digital Transformation
Explaining in plain language
- [Instructor] One of the biggest challenges to digital transformation is engaging with your non-technical staff to help them understand what, when, how, and why things are changing. It doesn't help that IT has a tendency to assume that everyone has the same level of technical literacy. When a developer starts talking, don't be surprised when he dives into technical jargon. That's the way he's used to thinking about stuff. And don't be surprised if non-technical people's eyes begin to glaze over at this point. The reality is that there are wide differences in comfort level with an understanding of technology and I don't subscribe to the belief that it's generational either. Not all boomers are hopeless dinosaurs, and not everyone in Gen Z grew up teething on tablets. This gets back to things that I've spoken about before, the need to understand just who your audiences are and to communicate with them in the language that they can understand, and that's audiences plural, since not everyone is in the same place or at the same level. Once again, the principles of transition management are your guide here. Since you're already talking to people to gauge their needs and their readiness for change, by this time, you should have a good idea of who your audiences are. If not, stop, go back and do that work before you get in over your head. But since we know our audiences, we have an understanding of where they stand and should have a feel for the way in which they are the most comfortable communicating and that dictates the communication. So my advice, make sure of your audiences but when in doubt, err on the side of caution. Do not use jargon when simple language will do and don't use technical terms without making sure that people understand them. The likelihood of a successful transformation when your workers don't understand what's going on is virtually non-existent. Make sure your efforts are not going to waste by taking the time to communicate clearly and thoroughly.
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