How Can I Communicate With Senior Managers?
From time to time, though, there could come a time where you, as an IT professional will need to communicate with senior managers at your job. This could be for a variety of reasons. You might be asked to present something to a senior manager (or even more daunting - a few senior managers!). You may need to incorporate information to an email to get delivered to someone at a senior level. Or it may be various other parts of your job.
For the purposes of this particular article, I mention senior management as somebody who is involved in making key decisions in your business, and is at least two levels above you on the organizational chart. So, your boss's boss, at least. While they might not have a senior or executive title, they do have a different area of obligation and it can seem overwhelming to need to speak to them. There are some things you can do to really succeed.
Don't Panic When Communicating With Senior Management
Senior professionals get created in the prime of their career from nothing and are automatically awesome at everything they do.
I'm kidding, by the way.
Senior managers are senior mainly because they have the experience doing roles at more junior levels or other elements of a business. They've been in your situation before. They've given presentations and provided information to other executives before they got to their position. So, they know what it's like to be where you are. For that reason, you shouldn't panic. Don't think a lot about what may go wrong when you speak to others. Attempt to relax. Concentrate on what you're trying to say or communicate to them, and just say it.
Don't Go Into Too Much Detail
It's very easy for us IT professionals to describe the details of what is requested of us to senior managers. We think it's relevant, it's important, and it matters to what's being talked about. Leaving it out would be crazy!
Before we go into too much detail, we should try to see it from their side. They more than likely don't want the details. Their time is precious and they don't need to find out the specifics. They have an interest in different areas of the company and aren't usually focused on technical areas.
If you have to give an update to a senior manager on a critical system outage, they would likely be thinking about specific things like the expected resolution time, who's examining the issue presently, and who to contact to find out more.
They probably don't need to find out about server logs and possible causes. Afterwards, they might, if some kind of review is done. But this is just one example. The idea here is that we need to understand which information is important and which isn't.
Know What You're Talking About
Depending on the manager you're speaking to, they can be pretty picky. In fact, senior managers will have other managers which they are accountable to and are accountable to. This means anything you tell them is likely to be passed on to their manager. This is relevant to know, because if the incorrect details are communicated or if it's uncertain, it can cause problems.
Be sure to know what you're talking about when communicating with senior managers. If you're unsure, don't hesitate to say so. It's better to be not sure about something, and say so, than to pick a response or a solution which might be incorrect. They will make decisions or take actions based upon what you tell them, so as long as it's correct, it will be OK. Be sure to tell them your concerns if it isn't accurate.
For example, if we use the same situation as above where there is an outage - another team tells you the hardware will arrive and be installed in four hours, but you're doubtful it can be done that quickly. Management then ask you for an update. It's a good idea to mention the four hour resolution, but also mention your concerns that it may not be accurate, and why. This may allow the managers to take necessary action.
Learning how to communicate with senior managers seems to be an intimidating experience, but it doesn't need to be. Once you're able to focus and ensure you're communicating the proper information, it'll be a lot easier!
For the purposes of this particular article, I mention senior management as somebody who is involved in making key decisions in your business, and is at least two levels above you on the organizational chart. So, your boss's boss, at least. While they might not have a senior or executive title, they do have a different area of obligation and it can seem overwhelming to need to speak to them. There are some things you can do to really succeed.
Don't Panic When Communicating With Senior Management
Senior professionals get created in the prime of their career from nothing and are automatically awesome at everything they do.
I'm kidding, by the way.
Senior managers are senior mainly because they have the experience doing roles at more junior levels or other elements of a business. They've been in your situation before. They've given presentations and provided information to other executives before they got to their position. So, they know what it's like to be where you are. For that reason, you shouldn't panic. Don't think a lot about what may go wrong when you speak to others. Attempt to relax. Concentrate on what you're trying to say or communicate to them, and just say it.
Don't Go Into Too Much Detail
It's very easy for us IT professionals to describe the details of what is requested of us to senior managers. We think it's relevant, it's important, and it matters to what's being talked about. Leaving it out would be crazy!
Before we go into too much detail, we should try to see it from their side. They more than likely don't want the details. Their time is precious and they don't need to find out the specifics. They have an interest in different areas of the company and aren't usually focused on technical areas.
If you have to give an update to a senior manager on a critical system outage, they would likely be thinking about specific things like the expected resolution time, who's examining the issue presently, and who to contact to find out more.
They probably don't need to find out about server logs and possible causes. Afterwards, they might, if some kind of review is done. But this is just one example. The idea here is that we need to understand which information is important and which isn't.
Know What You're Talking About
Depending on the manager you're speaking to, they can be pretty picky. In fact, senior managers will have other managers which they are accountable to and are accountable to. This means anything you tell them is likely to be passed on to their manager. This is relevant to know, because if the incorrect details are communicated or if it's uncertain, it can cause problems.
Be sure to know what you're talking about when communicating with senior managers. If you're unsure, don't hesitate to say so. It's better to be not sure about something, and say so, than to pick a response or a solution which might be incorrect. They will make decisions or take actions based upon what you tell them, so as long as it's correct, it will be OK. Be sure to tell them your concerns if it isn't accurate.
For example, if we use the same situation as above where there is an outage - another team tells you the hardware will arrive and be installed in four hours, but you're doubtful it can be done that quickly. Management then ask you for an update. It's a good idea to mention the four hour resolution, but also mention your concerns that it may not be accurate, and why. This may allow the managers to take necessary action.
Learning how to communicate with senior managers seems to be an intimidating experience, but it doesn't need to be. Once you're able to focus and ensure you're communicating the proper information, it'll be a lot easier!
