Essential Business Skills For IT Professionals
While staying current with ever-so-fast moving tech skills is critical for IT professionals, it is only half of the battle. The evolution of IT over the past decade has seen tech reach much deeper into the business landscape. As our profession penetrates more business areas such as security, communications, AI, operations, HR, etc., it has become increasingly essential to develop business skills outside of our technical training. What skills should you hone? That depends on many things. Your organization, your project scope, the departments you interact with, and your role on the team will help you determine the skills best suited for you. Here are several to consider.
Project Management
Project management at its core is knowing how to manage resources to meet objectives in a timely and cost-efficient manner. In practice, it is much more complicated. How can you improve your PM skills? First, determine what tools you need. Depending on the complexity of your project you may need a robust platform or a simple spreadsheet. Set your goals, then develop a plan to achieve them. Set milestones and adjust your plans along the way as needed Celebrate wins and recalculate on losses.
Leadership
Leadership is effectively and efficiently accomplishing things through the work of others. At its core are setting common goals, clearly communicating the goals, and motivating your team to achieve the goals. To develop solid leadership skills, take on additional projects at work. Then delegate, empower team members, listen attentively, resolve conflicts, and remain disciplined. Practicing these will help you become an inspiring leader.
Networking
Networking skills are critical for building lasting relationships and curating a successful career. Click here to read about “5 Surefire Ways to Improve Your Networking Skills”.
Delegation
Delegation is often the most difficult skill for professionals to master. Even though it is essential to successful time management, executives often find it difficult to let go of the reins. A good place to start is relinquishing routine activities to an employee. Get these off of your plate so that you can focus on more critical items. Also, use this delegation as training for your staff and yourself. Teach your staff what you expect from them when you delegate responsibilities to them. Then teach yourself to develop efficient controls. Soon you will be able to delegate more important tasks to your team.
Finance
As the role of IT grows, so do the costs and budgets associated with tech. Two key areas that many IT professionals need to focus on are budgeting and financial performance. Learning to forecast, analyze your financials, and make actionable plans based on these will boost both your career and your bottom line.
Problem Solving
As an IT professional you are adept at solving problems. It is mostly what you do. Adapt your technical problem-solving skills to general business situations.
Danielle Foppe is a Recruitment Manager at Business Centric Technology. If you are interested in learning more about how to get the best IT talent in the Dallas metroplex, contact Danielle specializes in recruiting IT talent in Dallas, Ft. Worth and North Texas. If you are looking for a rewarding career contact us today.