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By Ashlee Vance

(IDG) -- Senior technology officers are getting the message -- in plain English -- that they need to improve their communication and business skills as their role in guiding corporate strategy increases, according to a recent report.

In a poll of more than 1,400 CIOs in the United States, 40 percent of respondents said putting technical information into nontechnical terms is their greatest obstacle when working with end users. A summary of the report has been issued by RHI Consulting in Menlo Park, California.

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"We are seeing that CIOs and IT professionals are now playing an extremely critical role in developing corporate strategy," says Katherine Spencer Lee, executive director of RHI Consulting.

"Companies want you to crunch code and secure networks and at the same time explain to the end user why and how you are doing it and what the benefits will be."

During tough economic times in particular, companies are turning to CIOs for advice on how technology can be used to cut costs and increase returns on investment. In this type environment, technology executives need strong communication skills to explain the benefits of particular technologies.

CIOs who have brushed up on their communication skills can benefit most from the economy's downturn and establish themselves as leaders within a company, Lee says.

"The technical community has to realize that they need to be able to communicate on all levels," Lee says. "We think the entire world knows what Java is, but there are people out there who still think that's coffee."

Lee's sentiments were echoed in a separate study published in April by the Information Technology Association of America in Arlington, Virginia.

Results of that study indicated that IT workers with strong communication skills are among the most prized workers in the industry. Among technology-driven companies, 77 percent of the 685 IT managers polled said they look for interpersonal skills above all else in prospective employees.

Beside good communications skills:

•   Twenty-eight percent of the CIOs questioned for the RHI Consulting study said prioritizing deadlines is the biggest challenge they face

•   Sixteen percent said learning how to interact with different personalities is the main challenge

•   Thirteen percent cited managing stress in a crisis as their primary challenge

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New CIO-for-hire venture started
(Computerworld)
Special report: Surviving a downturn
(Computerworld)
Survey: Age bias seen by over-45 techies
(IDG.net)
How to reenergize the disengaged worker
(InfoWorld.com)
Just what is a CIO, anyway?
(CIO)
How to protect your IT career
(Computerworld)
Are IT professionals working in a time of feast or famine?
(ITWorld.com)
Pay attention to retention
(Network World Fusion)

RHI Consulting

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