Ideas for arguing your point effectively in IT meetings

If you’re in IT management, improving your communication skills is probably the best investment of time and effort you can make. Most business executives will tell you that even senior IT leaders tend to falter when it comes to putting their business strategy into a common business language. IT has a well-known tendency to drown their audience in a sea of technical jargon. And when no one challenges any of the statements, it can look like agreement. However, a lack of challenge is less a sign of an apprehension to ask for clarification. It takes someone with a healthy and brave heart to ask for clarification in front of the group, as many see it as an admission of one’s ignorance. It is of no surprise, then, that an IT leader finds after a meeting that her recommendations, seemingly well received by the audience, have gone unnoticed. Sometimes it’s just a blow to his ego, but most in this field have a story of a magnificent and expensive failure that resulted from IT advice that had been ignored. Discussing the three usual suspects that lead to such failures. Today, I want to explore the topic further and offer some advice on getting your point across that most people, irrespective of seniority, will find useful. This is not a complete list or an ultimate guide but a collection of ideas intended to provide incredible return on the time invested to read it. So, here we go…

1. Realize that a dialogue should not be about you, Accept the fact that you just might be wrong and treat the opposition with respect.
2. There are two parts to every argument: A position and a bunch of points that support it. Always separate them and be clear on them both.
3. Never accept an argument that you don’t understand. Ask for clarification.
4. To each decision, there are objectives (what we want to achieve) and alternatives (how we can achieve it).
5. Choose the language both you and your opponent understand.
6. When you make your point, nothing is as effective as the masterful command of the language and use of relevant examples.
7. Your opponent might pass his beliefs and opinions for an unquestionable truth. So, be ready for attacks (when your opponent targets your persona and not your argument).
8. Watch out for arguments that say that something is right just because it is either new or old.
9. Don’t fall for arguments that rely on wide acceptance and popularity. What’s right for many is not necessarily right for you, even if the others are in the same industry, market, or building.
10. Beware of the attacks like, your opposition objects not to your position but to a similar but much weaker and sometimes ridiculous one.
11. Watch for arguments with little to no connection to the issue at stake, which are introduced to misdirect the attention of you and the rest of the audience.
12. Sometimes you may lose on the basis of unobtainable perfection. Your way may be the best available but not perfect, When you feel that the conversation has fallen into this rut, call a spade a spade.

You have probably noticed that in a number of points I advised you to “watch out” or “beware of” or to “be ready” against various acts of attacks. The Golden Rule applies.