CheatSheet: Professional Communication For IT Workers
- PDF Link: cheatsheet-communication-A4.pdf, Category: linux
- Blog URL: https://cheatsheet.dennyzhang.com/cheatsheet-communication-A4
- Related posts: CheatSheet: IT Career Path, Cheatsheet: IT Communication, #denny-cheatsheets
1.1 Pitfalls For Geek Culture
| Name | Second Thinking |
|---|---|
| No information barrier; sharing anything | Information is power and profit margin. Only share the relevant |
| No hierarchy; just talk with code | It’s more about people and business |
| Make all the possible improvements | You may miss the priority and cross-functions cooperation |
| Value inovation over cooperation | Working solo helps to try ideas faster; but PoC is different from products |
| Be absolutely accurate | Human is not machine; So it is software development world |
| Curse of knowledge | Normal people are not dummy; they just don’t have experience you have |
| Assume everyone is with good will | You may be set up or manipulated |
| Rarely think about monetization | Face it. Funding is very important, even for open source projects |
| Communication is not actionable | Keep talking fancy tech, but few impressive highlights or actionable items |
| Do everything in a hard way | Intellectual challenges may not be cost effective; you can’t do everything |
| Reference | CheatSheet: IT Career Path, Cheatsheet: IT Communication, Cheatsheet: Opensource |
1.2 Reference
| Name | Summary |
|---|---|
| SIPOC Diagram | Supplier, Input, Process, Output, Customer |
| Six Sigma | YouTube: Six Sigma |
1.3 Facts
| Name | Summary |
|---|---|
| The only thing matters is what you value the most | Pursuing different things will lead you to different action plans |
| Giving useful feedback is crucial for the senior | Selling is even more important than doing |
| Choose realistic goals | Are you sure you can afford that? And do you really need that? |
| Act differently for different persons | Stereotype helps; but remember each individual is different |
| Don’t lie to yourself | You will fail eventually |
| You can’t win big by working solo | |
| You can’t please everyone; Get the most of it | |
| Saving small money may harm the org as a whole | |
| Keep pushing until someone ask you to stop | |
| You don’t get paid for the effort you have spent | Only for the value you have delivered |
| You can’t solve all conflicts & problems | Some problems can’t be solved in your level or simply conflict of interest |
1.4 Terminology
| Name | Comment |
|---|---|
| stretch goal | an additional goal you set for your campaign in case you exceed your initial funding goal |
1.5 Typical Things People May Want
| Name | Summary |
|---|---|
| Be sharper in technical skills | |
| Be more profitable | |
| Get more hands-on experience |
1.6 Typical Audience
| Name | Summary |
|---|---|
| Technical Geek | |
| Executives | |
| Senior management | |
| Entrepreneur | |
| Product manager | |
| IT workers |
1.7 Typical Communication Scenarios
| Name | Summary |
|---|---|
| When another team asks you to do some chore | Small things can pile up to be a big demand of time |
| Express your feelings of inappropriate assignments/expectations | |
| Overlapped responsibilities for multiple members/teams |
1.8 Scenario – Technical Discussion Meeting
| Name | Summary |
|---|---|
| React fast for ideas people are presenting | If you’re listening to my ideas, why I would spare time in yours? |
| Don’t underestimate your effort and values | Trust yourself. You won’t buy, if servants keep complaining their own products |
| Understand the situation and big pictures | |
| Avoid going to extreme | You will probably be wrong; and make people uncomfortable |
| Learn how to interrupt politely | |
| Ask questions with the format of yes/no |
1.9 Scenario – Talk For Your Initiatives
| Name | Summary |
|---|---|
| Do rehearsal in advance | |
| Let people talk more, before pouring | |
| Know what the audience is interested | |
| Watch and response, before insisting | |
| Drain info and opinions from others, before talking | |
| Every punch should right into the point | |
| You have to earn your opportunities | The original assigment may not be good for both you and your employer |
1.10 Scenario – Build First Image
| Name | Summary |
|---|---|
| Label yourself; inject perception to the audience | People are clear your specialities for future opportunities |
1.11 Scenario – Small Talks
| Name | Summary |
|---|---|
| Expression of “Thank You” | Never underestimate the power of that |
| Be resourceful and useful | |
| Be interesting | Smile and small jokes bring people close |
| Don’t make people feel bad |
1.12 Scenario – Talk With Evangelists
| Name | Summary |
|---|---|
| Don’t keep pushing people with “interview questions” | They may walk away with pride hurted |
| People may not be able to explain problems/solutions clearly | Not everyone have enough broad vision and in-depth experience |
| Ask the right question | To right people, right situation |
| Admit your stupidity | Don’t hide it |
| Set examples by taking hard jobs | Show your muscle to win the trust and respect |
| People want to be super stars | Companies would only need that for very few scenarios |
1.13 Scenario – Decide When To Share
| Name | Summary |
|---|---|
| Be cautious to share the most real of your thoughts | It could be a bad thing for everyone involved |
| Only share to relevant people with relevant info | People may get confused; be less helpful |
1.14 Scenario – Avoid Getting Emotional
| Name | Summary |
|---|---|
| Even if you don’t like each other, you two can achieve more together | |
| The world is never fair | Avoid feeling angry, if something is unfair |
1.15 Scenario – Reject Politely
| Name | Summary |
|---|---|
| Ask people to create a PR | |
| Ignorance is also a valid response |
1.16 Scenario – When To Ignore Issues
| Name | Summary |
|---|---|
| Some improvements may not be that valuable as them seem to be | |
| As long as you’re not blocked, don’t bother | Track but think before escalating |
1.17 Scenario – Shared Responsibilities
| Name | Summary |
|---|---|
| Don’t want to cover other ass, especially when you don’t like them | |
| The ability to work independently, regardless of existing obstacles |
