Various problems arise in the day-to-day life of a system development project. Depending on the situation, it may be necessary to explain the issues that occur to the person in charge of the user department that owns the system.
The project manager may ask its engineers to explain if the IT department outsources the system development to an IT vendor. However, the person in charge of the use department is unfamiliar with the system. Therefore, it often happens that the explanation of the engineer is not “conveyed” to the person in charge of the user department.
When I thought about the reason for this, I realized that more experienced technicians often give explanations that “don’t get through.
This time, it was a very long time ago. Based on my experience on a project I was involved in, I will explain “explanations that don’t get across,” which is common among experienced technicians.
Why do “explanations not get across”?
No one points it out.
Experienced engineers are very knowledgeable and experienced in system technology. For this reason, they are less likely to point out that the person in charge of the user department is reserved and does not understand their explanation. Therefore, they cannot realize that their answers are not understood.
Therefore, if the explanation was pointed out to them when they were younger but did not improve it, then the experienced engineers’ explanation will remain “not understood.” Furthermore, even if they find that their explanations are not “understood” because of their pride due to their higher position, they may think it is the other party’s fault for not understanding them.
Differences in Assumed Knowledge
The complexity of IT technology often causes problems in system development. Experienced engineers are familiar with the problem and have the necessary prerequisite knowledge to understand it. On the other hand, personnel in the user department do not have sufficient prerequisite knowledge.
Not understanding this, they explain the complex system at length, and then at the end of the presentation, they talk about the scope of the impact and the prospects for resolution, which is what the user department staff wants to know. However, if they talk too long, the user department staff is only concerned about when the conversation will end, and they are not listening to the end of the conversation.
After the experienced engineer has explained everything, the person in charge of the user department asks, “When will you solve the problem? Etc. After explaining everything, the experienced engineer asks, “When will you solve the problem? For this reason, they are accustomed to prefacing their explanation with “I’ll say it again” or “I’ve said it before.
How to “get the explanation across”?
It is best to avoid pointing out directly from the project manager to the experienced engineer that the explanation is not understood. Technical problems should leave to them. If you directly point out the problem, they will feel denied and demotivated.
Therefore, when the project manager asks them to explain, he or she should first guide them to talk about what is important to the person in charge of the user department. In the case above, the project manager would say, “First, please explain the scope of the impact and the resolution plan.
If the person in charge of the user department asks questions about the details of the system, this is where an experienced engineer comes into his or her own. Ask them to explain it thoroughly.
Afterword
There is a saying, “Watch others’ behavior and correct your own. In the course of your work, there are many things you will notice by watching others.
I believe it is especially important for project managers to watch others closely and actively imitate their good points, and pay attention to their bad points to see if they are the same as you.
Incidentally, I still get pointed out by my supervisor that he doesn’t understand my explanations. I wrote this article about experienced engineers, which may be the same in any job.