How to work as an IT manager and why your boss doesn't have to be Steve Jobs

Judging by the latest events, the technological agenda becomes number one in all news feeds. This applies not only to the play with the main character, whose name is Telegram, but also all sorts of seriousness of articles devoted to artificial intelligence, the Internet of things and big data. Journalists spend a lot of time looking for alarming stories about how someone vomited after passing another VR game. Therefore, in the IT ran up greedy to hot topics PR people. Perhaps we were called, but only as an outsider, able to explain to ordinary people how to properly use the application to automatically turn on the multicooker. However, the founders and employees of technology companies suffer from a great mind and need those who can simply and briefly explain the essence of the product to potential customers, investors and the media.

But everyone forgets about the good old conflict of techies and humanities, which is particularly acute when a very confident representative of the communication elite tries to use standard methods of attracting attention. Therefore, all performances in IT are similar to each other. All around are people repeatedly analyzing the speech of Steve Jobs from the series “Stay hungry, stay reckless.” By the way, it is on habr.com too. But no one can even think that he will interact with such a guy as Richard Hendrix from Silicon Valley, from whom there is a lot of confidence and recklessness. No need to get upset and run away in search of a new leader. There are some simple tips to make your pastime in an IT company more meaningful and effective.

User stories or just add water

Do not aggravate the situation and do not try to come up with something out of the way, so that your founder will not be painfully difficult to wade through too original and often hypocritical epithets describing the product. Instead, describe the functionality of the service, its distinctive features and "pain." What is pain? This is a description of the problem you are hoping to solve with your product. Best of all looks in a household case. Tell us how the staff of one of the banks terribly long and dreary collected comments about their work on websites, forums and social networks. They cried, looked for references, cried again and did not understand how to analyze the entire flow of information that was knocking down. But then you appeared. Not quite experienced, not quite communicative, but very diligent, not wanting to gain, but only slightly improve the world. It's enough.

Turn on the emotions

No article, speech, or negotiation should go without emotional overtones. As described earlier, you need to convince people that the problem is, it is common and very spoils the work or life. Inside IT, people are used to using facts, but it must be admitted that it is the most heated discussions that have an emotional background. Many of us remember by heart the songs or quotes from the film, which we saw ten years ago, but only rare birds recall the moments of the working meeting a week ago. Even if there were many, many facts and graphs. It is worth remembering only one thing. We sell an idea and sell it to people, and people don't like diagrams, at least most of them. Write about the product fun and interesting.
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Personification

The technology works in two directions. The first thing to do is to stop putting pressure on the boss and try to write him in a circle on stage speech, and then force him to keep a stylistically thoughtful instagram. We, the little humanities scholars, are accustomed to working for the public, but the demonstrative being should not necessarily please your founder. There is nothing wrong. Just sit in a quiet office and carefully consider promotion tools and select the most comfortable social networks. And wait for the instagram, although it is quite possible that your kitty Frontend-developer makes great photos and will be happy to post posts with beautiful cacti and illuminated keyboards. The second point, no longer associated with the boss's person, concerns the definition of his audience. Of course, the great creator of a software product wanted to spit on some strangers, but no one has yet canceled the rules of the market. Alan Cooper, the so-called "father of Visual Basic", long ago formulated the concept according to which the developer should determine the average user of the system. The essence of the concept is that if you want to develop effective software, then it must be designed for a specific person. The thought is true for promotion. Create a portrait of your user and only after that publish articles on thematic portals.

Strong base

No need to convulsively send press releases using huge Excel spreadsheets, although this is not so bad at first. Focus on communicating with existing customers and try to make their lives as easy as possible. Explain the functionality of the service, make updates with updates and do not forget to call and listen with interest about the problems. It is empathy that will make you a good employee in the IT field, because sympathy and sincere interest in ordinary users are often lacking here. It is necessary to establish feedback between the client and the developer to see all the problems and shortcomings of your product. Do not forget about the strategy. Get together with your colleagues and think a little about what values ​​and messages you would like to convey to clients, where you are striving for and what your main goal is.

And as they say, the creators of the “Merciless PR Man” public arena, PR is love. Therefore, love your colleagues and clients and do not try to change them.