As a technical leader, you play a crucial role in shaping the culture and communication style of your team. In everything from technical specifications to retrospective meetings, your choice of words can have a significant impact on the success of your projects and the morale of your team members. Today, let's discuss the benefits of using plain and direct language as a technical leader.
Build trust
One of the most significant benefits of using plain language as a technical leader is that it helps you avoid misunderstandings and build trust. Consider a couple of my most detested phrases:
"Let's put a pin in this."
"I'll circle back later."
Besides potentially sounding dismissive, phrases like these don't help your team understand what to expect. Will you revisit the topic later today or in two weeks? Should they take any action in the meantime? Should they wait for you to bring up the subject again, or was this your subtle way of saying "no," to an idea?
Instead, choosing more specific language helps to let your team know what to expect as well as builds their trust in you when you deliver on those expectations. Try something like, "I'll give this some thought and follow up with you tomorrow." and then set a reminder for yourself to do just that.
When you make commitments, speaking plainly about what you plan to deliver and when you plan to deliver it helps your team members as well as senior leadership to understand your intentions. When you deliver on your commitments, your team members and senior leadership will appreciate your clarity, and they will trust you more in the future.
Speak clearly and save time
When everyone on your team is on the same page, there is less back and forth, and you can avoid misunderstandings and rework.
While ambiguous or vague language can lead to different interpretations, plain language ensures that all team members have a precise understanding of the requirements. Additionally, when you use plain language, you encourage your team members to seek clarification whenever something is unclear. This helps eliminate the tendency to make assumptions about requirements or expectations, which often leads to rework.
Don't shy away from making goals and expectations explicit. Don't say that you'd like something to be addressed "sometime this week," unless you're happy to have it on Friday at 5pm. If you ask someone to complete a task, provide a clear description of what "complete" means. Your team members will appreciate your clarity, work with more confidence, and be more likely to approach you with any questions or concerns.
Know your audience
If you wish to be well understood, it is essential to know your audience and tailor your language to suit them. When you are speaking to a non-technical audience, using technical terms can be unhelpful and confusing. Similarly, using unspecific words like "integration" does not help a technical audience understand what you are asking for. Instead, be specific and use language that your audience will understand.
Even when working with your developers and using technical terms, you should still be specific. For example, instead of saying, "The API should return an error," you could say, "When a user signs up and the request is sent to the createUser API endpoint, the API should return a structured error with a human-readable message if the process fails." While there may be things that seem obvious to you, it's unreasonable to expect team members to read your mind. Err on the side of specificity and help ensure that everyone on your team understands the goals.
Generally, avoid using technical jargon and business buzzwords as it's possible that your team members may not be familiar with them. When you use plain language, you ensure that everyone on your team understands what you are saying, and there is no miscommunication.
Take it to work today:
Speak clearly and avoid business buzzwords to prevent misunderstandings and rework. Use plain language to articulate requirements, expectations, and feedback, and encourage open communication to avoid assumptions and misalignment.
Build trust by making commitments using plain language that both your team members and senior leadership can understand. By delivering on what you promised, you demonstrate reliability and accountability, which builds trust and strengthens your relationships.
Know your audience and choose your words carefully to suit their level of technical knowledge and understanding. Be specific and avoid unspecific words that may cause confusion or ambiguity. By adapting your language to your audience, you can ensure that your messages are effectively received and understood.