Dealing with managers who do not understand technology
Communication is critical between IT and other departments and their managers. In order to bridge communication and facilitate teamwork, it helps to remember a few things when explaining technical issues to non-technical management.
It means they need you
In response to a question about "dumbing down" on stackexchange.com, one respondent points out, "The fact that non-technical people need you to translate technical processes to non-technical business processes and vice-versa is what got you employed. The more proficient you are at translating between the two problem domains, the more valuable you become to an employer."
You need them
Just as tech support provides a buffer between developers and other IT staff and customers, a manager provides a buffer between those same staff and the board of directors and stakeholders. The ability to provide clear answers to managers should be considered a blessing, since they may relieve IT staff of the burden of having to explain the same concepts to an even less technically savvy audience. This reduces the need to prepare technical presentations for a non-technical audience.
Non-technical does not mean stupid
"Assume that the people you are teaching are not stupid," Roy Tennant suggests in a paper Talking Tech: Explaining Technical Topics to a Non-Technical Audience. He also warns against assuming any level of prior knowledge, and against adopting a superior attitude based on a more thorough knowledge in one area. "Although you may know much more than they do about a certain technical topic, they most likely know more than you do about a number of other things," he says. He adds, "your knowledge is no more important than theirs — it just supports a different goal."
Establish a baseline
It pays to remember that a manager may be just as frustrated by an overly simplified explanation as he or she is by an unnecessarily technical one. "To succeed, you have to reach out to people on their level, without being condescending," says Paul N Leroux of On Q. "Most people love a good explanation, but everyone hates being talked down to."
Establish a base line of understanding, where no further explanations are required. Tailor the way you speak to each individual to match his or her own base level of understanding.
Use appropriate analogies
When attempting to explain concepts above an individual’s level of understanding, try to find an appropriate analogy. This works even better if you can use an analogy the manager can relate to. Tech Republic provides a useful list of 10 common user questions — and some analogies that help clear things up for explaining basic computing concepts such as RAM, bandwidth, defragmenting, and file management systems. The replies on stackexchange.com also provide analogies for some more complex concepts such as "code stacking," which uses the analogy of a child building a tower of wooden blocks. Think of analogies as an interface between a manager’s natural language and the programmers’.
If all else fails, get physical
"Attempting to simplify something abstract, by abstracting it further without some kind of visual aid is just madness," advises Tim Post. Gesticulating may clarify some points, but it may confuse others. It's better to have a visual aid, like stacking paper cups. Often though, simple illustrations on a white board or using pen and paper may, Post says, allow you to "become a human layer of abstraction."
