The modern CIO doesn't often get the luxury of being misunderstood.  Their peer group requires coherent language that is high on detail and at the same time low on technical jargon.  Those of you who have experienced conversations between technocrats and lay business people know of what I speak.

Such conversations go something like this.  The technocrat starts off and the lay businessman listens intently for two minutes hoping to become wiser and attuned with technology.  Soon, the blank stares appear followed by a confused (if not angered) look on their faces.  The techie has not only lost his audience, but also his opportunity to gain buy-in for their idea or proposal.

Enter the CIO
This is where the modern CIOs earn their money.  Conceptually, a CIO is hired to manage the best use of technology for the company.  For many years, there was a hidden reason behind the CIOs vital role. They were treated as a bridge between the hard core techie and the management. That role is no longer a secret. CIO job descriptions routinely include explicit language about their role as a top-level communicator.

In fact, a few larger corporations hire CIOs less for their technology skills and more for their ability to communicate, influence, sell, and manage others.  Such a non-technical CTO can be dangerous also.  The lack of technology background has led to some very costly business decisions. There are  other cases where the CTO lacked the technical background to understand the finer points involved in delivering on plans sold to a naive peer group.

It's the Audience, stupid!
Having made a back door entry into technology, I learned the value of communication at all levels.  One of the precepts to excellent communication is knowing your audience.  Always make the  assumption, when you are communicating with others (unless you can guarantee otherwise), that your audience knows less about the topic than you do, and that your audience is less technically conversant than you are. Not to make your peers seem like morons because they aren't, but you have to dumb down the techie a little bit.  Ease them into it; define your terms along the way into easily digestible bites. Remember, if you were in a room of actuaries, you would probably come away feeling as ignorant of their lingo than they would be of yours.

Play it again Sam
Another key communication tool is to repeat what you just said.  I actually refer to this as a reiterative tool.  You don't need to become redundant in your conversation, but after you make several key points it is a good idea to put forward a quick summary of what you just said.  In many presentations, I actually paint high value targets 3 times so that at the end of my communcation everyone at least knows the main points. Another reiterative tool is the follow up.  If I am trying to get a plan or initiative put forward I find ways of tying it into other communications.  Having stressed my points before, I subtly drop them into future emails, presentations, proposals and discussions. In this way, you will find that people pick up on the importance of a topic without feeling beaten with it.  Remember, subtlety is key!

Killing the Messenger
If you have not heard this expression, then you need to be aware that there are times that you will be communicating with hostile audiences.  In ancient times, when kings were sent messages that included unpleasant news they would often kill the messenger out of rage, thus the reference of ‘don't kill the messenger’ emerged. Such situations are unavoidable at times and you need to prepare for them.

Now - there are shades of gray here.  In some cases, the people in your audience are just simply not interested in what you have to say.  In such cases, you have to lighten the conversation, make it personal for them, and give them a sense of fellowship in your cause.  An example of this would be going in front of your board of directors with a proposal requiring a bunch of treasure to expand your infrastructure.  You should expect or anticipate a bit of ambivalence.  The way you bring them to your point of view is to actually know that extra bit: what are their key priorities for the company? what are the key initiatives they are discussing? how can your proposal help to accomplish them?

Follow Through
Your communication is built on history.  By that I mean, when you have a dialogue your effectiveness is based on whether you have a history of delivering on what you have discussed and whether or not you appear knowledgeable in your prior communications history.  People will remember the most amazing things - many of which are not what you wanted them to remember.  So, keep in mind that everything you say will, at some point, come back to you - even if you change companies.

Once you are known as a person that paints a tainted picture you lose credibility.  In this game, we call life credibility is really one of the few things we have to offer.  So, prepare yourself and be knowledgeable.  You will require information from individuals and there are times you will have to trust that information, but due diligence is never to be abandoned for the sake of a quick response.  It is better to delay what you want to say than to rush something into production that has a questionable amount of truth to it.

By Thomas Struan