IT professionals can improve their ability to communicate with business colleagues by participating in interdepartmental meetings, moving into business units and joining Toastmasters. Looking to help your IT team members improve their interpersonal skills? Technology professionals can refine their ability to communicate with business colleagues by participating in interdepartmental meetings, moving into business units and joining Toastmasters.Here are three ways IT pros can improve interpersonal skills:1. Keep in mind that business and technology are so intertwined these days that it’s critical for IT professionals to be able to work and communicate across departments. IT workers can develop their interpersonal skills by being involved in more interdepartmental meetings and in customer interactions where they must explain technical issues in a way anyone can understand. The more they interact with those outside their expertise, the better their communication skills will become and the better they will understand the needs of others in the organization.2. Remember that the “suits” and “techies” are going to mix about as well as oil and water. That’s OK. They don’t have to best friends and get together every weekend for a barbecue or Star Trek marathon. But those differing cultures can’t be used as an excuse to avoid working together. Consider having IT employees shadow department managers at work to become more comfortable interacting with them. Or place IT workers within other departments so they aren’t physically isolated. 3. Don’t stereotype IT professionals as people destined to be socially awkward and who will never be comfortable developing interpersonal skills. Many IT workers welcome career development opportunities, so put aside preconceived notions and allow them to attend seminars where they’ll be exposed to professionals from HR or marketing. Enroll them in classes such as those from Toastmaster’s International to help them improve their public speaking and presentation skills.Anita Bruzzese writes a column on workplace issues for USAToday.com and is the author of 45 Things You Do That Drive Your Boss Crazy. Follow everything from CIO.com on Twitter @CIOonline, on Facebook, and on Google +. Related content brandpost Sponsored by SAP When natural disasters strike Japan, Ōita University’s EDiSON is ready to act With the technology and assistance of SAP and Zynas Corporation, Ōita University built an emergency-response collaboration tool named EDiSON that helps the Japanese island of Kyushu detect and mitigate natural disasters. By Michael Kure, SAP Contributor Dec 07, 2023 5 mins Digital Transformation brandpost Sponsored by BMC BMC on BMC: How the company enables IT observability with BMC Helix and AIOps The goals: transform an ocean of data and ultimately provide a stellar user experience and maximum value. By Jeff Miller Dec 07, 2023 3 mins IT Leadership brandpost Sponsored by BMC The data deluge: The need for IT Operations observability and strategies for achieving it BMC Helix brings thousands of data points together to create a holistic view of the health of a service. By Jeff Miller Dec 07, 2023 4 mins IT Leadership how-to How to create an effective business continuity plan A business continuity plan outlines procedures and instructions an organization must follow in the face of disaster, whether fire, flood, or cyberattack. Here’s how to create a plan that gives your business the best chance of surviving such an By Mary K. Pratt, Ed Tittel, Kim Lindros Dec 07, 2023 11 mins Small and Medium Business IT Skills Backup and Recovery Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe