When asked about the most important skills in IT, the majority of developers surveyed answered not: “writing smart algorithms” or “finding the right co-pilot prompt”, but rather “communicating”. This is what Eberhard Wolff and Lisa Moritz experienced at the Java Forum in Stuttgart when they asked event participants about the most important skills in IT for their videocast Software-Architecture.TV. We talk to software architect, podcaster and video caster Eberhard about the soft skills of communication.
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(Picture: eberhard wolff ,
Eberhard Wolff is Head of Architecture at SWAGLab and has been working as an architect and consultant for over twenty years, often at the interface between business and technology. He is the author of numerous articles and books, including on microservices, and is a regular speaker at international conferences. His technical focus is on modern architectures and development approaches such as cloud, domain-driven design, and microservices.
Your survey revealed that communication is the most important skill in IT. Were you personally surprised that so many people thought this?
To be honest, I didn’t think in advance about what answer I would expect. In the end I am not surprised because communication and social skills are also very important in my opinion. We in the Stream team came up with a survey together in our software architecture and conducted it at the Java Forum Stuttgart, that is, at a technical conference. So perhaps it is noteworthy that people did not find technical skills to be so important, but soft skills and communication were more important. If we all agree on its importance, I’m particularly interested in one question: What do we do to get better at communication? Do we have a systematic plan to strengthen communication skills in our industry?
What might a systematic plan look like that improves communication skills?
Typically, Scrum Masters take care of solving problems such as lack of communication in the project. Therefore this role is especially important for the subject of communication. But a systematic approach looks different: crew resource management from aviation could be a model for us. The aviation industry has recognized that communication problems are a factor in aviation accidents and have made this aspect part of training. Building blocks for improving your own communication are moderation approaches like Liberating Structures or Fearless Change for efficient communication during structural changes. You can also learn to pay attention to your language. about all these aspects It also has consequences In our Architecture section.
You also said in your video contribution that good software architecture exists to avoid communication. Is this not a contradiction?
No, this is not a contradiction. Projects should always communicate only as much as is necessary, and so communication itself should not be limited. But good architecture can reduce the need for communication. If multiple parts of the software are affected by the implementation of a requirement because the architecture is not optimal, this means a lot of communication effort. The responsible people of the concerned parts will have to coordinate. If you structure the software with good architecture in such a way that the implementation of a requirement only affects certain parts of the system, the need for communication is also reduced – and with it the communication itself.
Eberhard, thanks very much for the answer! The subject of communication is also the focus In iX Developer’s new special issue “Praxis Software Architecture”Which has just been published and is available at kiosks and online shop. Eberhard Wolff is also an author of this issue.
In the “Three Questions and Answers” series, iX wants to get to the core of today’s IT challenges – whether it’s the user’s perspective in front of the PC, the manager’s perspective or the administrator’s everyday life. Do you have any tips from your daily practice or from your users? Whose suggestions on which topic would you like to read briefly and point by point? So feel free to write to us or leave a comment in the forum.
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