The Soft Skills are the Hard Part for IT Teams

How do you transform a team of technical experts into trusted advisors?

People with strong technical abilities all too often lack the softer people skills to be viewed as true partners and advisors to their clients. How many times have you seen technical experts use language that leaves their audience even more confused? How many times have you seen clients get upset at a technician who didn’t manage their expectations, didn’t bother to ask questions about their business, or seemed more interested in using the latest technology rather than understanding and addressing the client’s real need?

A trusted advisor knows the importance of relationship management and takes specific steps to build trust, understand the need, speak the client’s language, manage expectations, and deliver on what is promised.

It takes more than technical expertise to navigate these challenges. Our course, The Facilitative Consultant, helps your teams build the soft skills to ensure every project runs smoothly and successfully. Attendees will learn:

• A consulting process you can immediately apply
• Techniques to gain confidence and build trust
• How to manage difficult conversations, listen effectively and respond to requests
• Communication strategies for developing and presenting recommendations
• Tools to uncover needs, articulate project scope and get buy-in to ensure on-time delivery

Ask yourself – how much more could your team accomplish with these skills?
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Technical expertise will only take you so far. To get results, you need the “soft skills,” too.

CIOs consistently tell us they know their teams would be more successful if they could better communicate with both internal and external customers, instead of serving simply as an IT resource. In particular we hear several consitent obstacles:

• Miscommunications and poorly defined goals
• Lack of agreement on the best way forward
• Scope creep, unreasonable requests and unrealistic expectations

Facilitation is a powerful tool for helping people reach better decisions, often faster, with much higher levels of buy-in and commitment. Our flagship course, The Effective Facilitator (available in both in-person and virtual formats), teaches you a repeatable methodology for effectively running meetings. Learn to:

• Plan, initiate, manage and close a session successfully
• Clarify needs and keep the team focused
• Get groups to develop and agree upon workable, realistic plans
• Motivate and engage participants in the process, and generate ownership
• Deal with group dynamics and dysfunction that aren’t always easy to address

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While both managers and leaders play important organizational roles, true leaders know how to engage and motivate people to produce meaningful results.

When we talk to CIOs about their teams’ leadership development, they often tell us it would be helpful if their managers were taught how to create a shared vision, gain buy-in, and generate commitment to decisions.

Our workshop, The Facilitative Leader, is an interactive course that provides you with the tools and strategies to take your management skills to the next level. You will learn how to:

• Create a project ownership mindset that generates viable solutions
• Engage effective leadership communication styles to drive success for the organization
• Gain buy-in from your team, boss and customers as you implement fundamental changes
• Build consensus using proven collaboration strategies

Would it be helpful if you had a proven method to follow when developing leadership skills?
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