When your company hires technology candidates, deciding between strong technical abilities or soft skills, like communication, becomes paramount. Of course, deep knowledge and experience in IT definitely makes a difference. After all, you want tech employees that know their stuff. However, excellent verbal and written communication skills also matter, especially in an increasingly collaborative technology world.
Let’s look more closely at an important issue influencing the practice of technology hiring. In the end, sourcing well-rounded candidates with strong technical chops as well as soft skills makes perfect sense. Use this information to ensure an effective IT staffing effort.
In some quarters, listening ranks at the top when it comes to communication skills.While this seems somewhat counterintuitive, being able to listen to clients,users, and coworkers helps in multiple ways. For example, when determining the requirements at the beginning of a project, understanding the customer’s needs is critical.
Strong listening skills also make a difference when interacting with coworkers. One of the reasons for the popularity of DevOps relates to improved collaboration between technology teams. Being able to listen and understand coworkers helps employees collaborate more efficiently, improving their productivity.
Written communication remains commonplace throughout the technology world. This includes everything from crafting formal project specifications to communicating over email or text messaging. Being able to express complex technical ideas in a manner that’s easy to understand is also highly important.This skill ensures the technical team and business stakeholders stay on the same page throughout a project.
Writing effectively also fosters teamwork on projects. This is especially the case when remote working with a project team located in different time zones. Clear and concise emails and text messages become essential in this environment.
Speaking clear and confidently definitely helps customers and business stakeholders understand all aspects of any IT project. In a similar manner as writing, being able to explain complex technical concepts is a must when speaking with clients. Interviewing candidates remains a great way to vet their verbal communication skills in a pressure-packed situation. Be sure to ask a few open-ended questions for this purpose.
Ultimately,to hire the best, find candidates with both technical acumen and strong communication abilities.
If your company needs help building a great IT team, connect with the experts at Developers.Net. As one of the top technical staffing agencies in the country, we provide exceptional candidates to help your success. Schedule a meeting with us to discuss your organization’s staffing plans.
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