7 Effective Communication Tips for Cybersecurity Professionals

IT professionals are notorious for being straightforward in their communication. As an IT or cybersecurity professional, you probably don’t spend a lot of time thinking about how to communicate in a way that makes other people feel comfortable. 

However, communication skills are key for every professional and are a vital part of every workplace environment. No matter what industry you’re in, communication tips can help you convey your message more effectively.

Being intentional about what you say and how you say it makes your communication far more effective. With these 7 communication tips for IT professionals, you can learn to clearly express your needs and start seeing more consistent results with your communication efforts.

Why IT Communication Matters

Professionals in the IT world tend to be more technical than most. As an IT professional, it’s not surprising if the majority of communication you send out, whether it’s a text message or an email, is relatively blunt and direct. You also might commonly use IT jargon that people outside your department don’t understand.

There are numerous reasons why IT communication matters. Not only does it matter how we treat other people and how we make them feel, but ineffective communication can significantly impact those around us. 

For example, sending emails with a poor tone can lead to misunderstandings and unnecessary conflict in the workplace.

There are many ways to communicate in IT that are both simple and effective. Effective communication comes down to being intentional about what you say and how you say it. To help you learn how to effectively communicate as an IT professional, we’ve come up with 7 communication tips to improve your communication inside and outside the workplace.

Effective Communication Tips for IT Professionals

In a professional setting, most of the communication between you and your colleagues will take place via email. This type of communication can be particularly challenging for IT professionals because conveying something technical in a friendly tone isn’t as simple as it seems.

No matter what your profession is within the IT world, communication is a skill that you can learn and improve on. Learning effective ways to communicate in IT will help you get things done faster, improve your relationships with your colleagues, and lead to an overall better work environment. If you’re ready to improve your communication skills, try these 7 effective but simple communication tips for IT professionals.

1. Pay Attention to Your Tone

Tone is one of the most important aspects of effective communication. If we’re not careful, our tone may come across as rude or crass, which is why how you say something is often more important than what you say.

It’s easy to overlook tone in written communication, but with some practice, you can start using a friendly tone in all your emails. Creating a positive tone is often challenging for those who are generally direct, such as IT professionals and cybersecurity professionals.

Taking the time to improve your tone is worth the effort. Here are some examples of phrases to avoid when writing an email and what you should say instead.

Improving the tone of your emails doesn’t have to be complicated. Sometimes it’s as simple as swapping out a few phrases that could be worded in a friendlier way.

2. Start By Saying Thank You

One of the most effective methods of communicating in a friendly way is saying thank you often. It might seem strange to thank someone simply for sending you an email or telling you something that you already know. However, a simple thank you shows that you value someone’s efforts and appreciate what they do. 

No matter what someone sends you an email about, always start your response by thanking them. Here are some examples of ways you can thank someone for an email. You can start your message by saying:

• Thank you for bringing this to my attention
• I appreciate you letting me know about this
• Thank you for taking the time to send me an email
• I appreciate your message

You don’t have to overthink it, but taking the time to thank the sender of an email does make a difference in your communication. It’s also good practice to say a brief thank you at the end of your response to emphasize your appreciation.

3. Keep Your Emails Short and to the Point

With IT communication, it can sometimes be challenging to get straight to the point if you’re trying to explain a highly technical topic. Unfortunately, no matter how important a topic is to you, no one wants to read an email that goes on forever.

If you want to communicate effectively in the workplace, keep your emails short and to the point. Instead of writing out long paragraphs explaining every detail, only say what is necessary. 

There may be times when more words are necessary to communicate something. If this is the case, set up a time to speak with the person instead of sending an email that’s the length of an essay. Sending a brief email that’s straight to the point not only guarantees that they’re going to read it but it also shows that you value the other person’s time.

4. Be Gentle with Angry Requests

Every professional, no matter what industry they work in, has been on the receiving end of a less-than-pleasant email. Whether you’re receiving an angry email from a colleague or a customer, there are some ways to approach this that lead to more effective communication.

Even if someone is rudely addressing an issue or concern, you don’t want to stoop to their level in your response. Much like you would with any other email, start by thanking them. This can be as simple as saying, “Thank you for bringing this up to me.”

Showing them that you care about their concern is an effective way of diffusing the situation. On the other hand, responding in the same way they responded to you is only going to add more fuel to the fire. 

After you’ve thanked them, address their concern and give them clear steps on what you plan on doing to remedy the situation. If you don’t know exactly what your next steps will be, let them know that you’re going to look into the issue and get back to them as soon as possible.

5. Show You’re Listening

Since there are no visual cues when someone is sending you an email, you have to use your words to show them you’re listening. One way to do that is to provide enough information in your email to convey you understood their message.

You don’t want your email to be too long and have a ton of unnecessary information, but you also don’t want it to be too short. Take the time to proofread your email and ensure you use proper capitalization and spelling.

There are many effective ways to show you’re listening when responding to or sending an email, including:

• Thanking them for bringing up a topic to you
• Repeating what they said to show that you understood 
• Asking clarifying questions about the topic of their email

No matter what type of email you’re sending, it’s important to pay attention to your grammar and check for any typos before you click send. Mistakes are going to happen sometimes, especially if you send a large amount of emails each day, but proofreading your emails is a simple way to show that you’re paying attention.

6. Add Details in a Recap

When you’re sending an important email as an IT professional, you don’t want the person reading your message to miss any details. Even if you keep your communication direct and to the point, the reader is bound to miss something every once in a while. That’s why having a short recap at the end of your email is an essential communication tip.

This recap should usually be numbered or include short bullet points. The purpose of the recap isn’t to overwhelm the reader further but to give them a brief and easy-to-understand reminder of the most important points of your email. 

A recap can also be effective when you’re responding to someone else’s message to show that you’re listening and that you understand what they’re trying to convey.

7. Be Mindful of How You Ask Questions

If you’re sending a colleague an email, there’s a good chance you have a question to ask them. There are many ways to communicate in IT, and this includes many ways to ask a question. Something as simple as how you ask a question in an email can come across as either rude or professional. 

To ask questions in a professional and friendly way, try these communication tips:

Avoid starting with the question

It may seem logical to start your email with the question you need to ask. However, this can come across as too direct. Instead of starting with the question, try starting off with some small talk.

You can say, “I hope you’re doing well” and then ask how their day, weekend, or morning is going. Something as simple as making a connection with them from the start can make your email more effective.

Don’t accuse them of not responding

There are times when you may need to email someone because they haven’t responded to you or they neglected a task or responsibility. Even if they did drop the ball, accusing them of doing so in the email isn’t the best approach.

If an email went out about an issue previously and this person hasn’t followed up, instead of accusing them of not responding or reading the email, bring up the email more subtly. You can start by saying, “I was reviewing the email from last week,” and then express your concern.

Ask for their help

It may be tempting to point out how they didn’t do their part or respond in the way they were supposed to. However, if you put the responsibility back on you, you’ll prevent any unnecessary conflict in the workplace.

Instead of telling them what they were supposed to do, ask for their help. You can say something like, “I was reviewing the email from last week and realized we still need to take care of X project. Would you be able to help me with that?”

Thank them for their time

No matter what the reason is for asking a question, always thank the recipient at the end of the email. This is a simple way to show appreciation and display that you value their time, even if they did drop the ball somewhere.

A simple thank you can go a long way when communicating at work, especially when bringing up a challenging or uncomfortable topic.                     

Prepare for Your Next IT Exam with Cyberkraft

Communication is a key part of your job as an IT professional, but it’s not the only important part of what you do. Advancing your career often includes professional development, training, and expanding your knowledge in your field. That’s where Cyberkraft comes in.

At Cyberkraft, we help IT and cyber security professionals prepare for numerous certification exams to improve their skills in the workplace. We offer in-depth training courses that combine a variety of techniques to help you ace your certification exams.

Whether you’re looking for a self-paced course or an instructor-led course, we can assist you in advancing your career through IT certifications. Learn more about our courses today to get started.