How we communicate with non-technical folks is important

Many times, I remind our staff and tell our clients that we are in the communications business, not the IT business.  Technical folks (myself included) tend to gravitate to a technical solution and communicate in terms that the client doesn’t understand.  This creates frustration for both parties.  More importantly, the client doesn’t feel like they were listened to and that the technician doesn’t care about them or their issue.  On the other hand, technician feels (falsely) that they understood the client’s issue and have thus, solved the problem.  Then, the technician is frustrated when the implemented solution doesn’t meet the client’s needs or expectations.  I came across this TED talk recently.  Although it doesn’t directly address the issue of listening, the presenter does a good job in laying out how technologists should communicate their ideas.