By Christian Pedersen, Communication Adviser, Added Value Communication

In the past year I have facilitated many seminars for consultants in IT Departments. We have focused on how to strengthen the departments' dialogue with internal customers.

When you start to communicate with your internal customers I advise you to focus on the needs of the recipients.

You need to consider the following:

- Who are my recipients?

- What do my recipients know about the subject?

- Are the recipients interested in the matter?

- Do they have a positive or negative attitude?

- What do they need to know and do afterwards?

Before the seminars start I have asked the participants' internal customers about the way their IT Department communicates. This is done through a websurvey. The answers can typically be divided into four categories: Lack of precision in the messages, total technical language, lack of relevance and weak relations towards other departments.

Here are some quotes from the IT Department's customers:

- Precision: "It would be wonderful, if I could receive an estimated time for the completion of a job. Some takes months, others few minutes. We just do not know."

- Language: "You write in total technical terms. I have to guess what the text is about."

- Relevance: "It can be difficult to define what is relevant for me, and what is for my info only. I have experienced important information has vanished."

- Relations: "The IT Department would create a better atmosphere if they focused on why we call and send them mails. Sometimes you get the feeling that they see their users as a real nuisance and in their way."

The challenge for the IT Departments is that before it starts to communicate with its internal customers it has to be clear about who the recipients are. It has to state a message in a precise and vivid language, and it has to use a relevant channel to get the message through, e.g. in an e-mail, on the intranet or via a personal dialogue.

It is possible to communicate in a clear way with internal customers, but take the following into consideration:

- To have lined up clear targets for the communication effort, e.g. when servers are down.

- To have clear procedures for carrying through a communication effort, who does what?

- To set up frames for the consultants' behaviour and dialogue with the colleagues in the organisation.

When this is in place, you are well on your way to strengthen your communication and improving your internal customers' relations.

Read more about Seminars for IT professionals.