As the worlds of business and technology become increasingly integrated, effective communication becomes more vital. Entrepreneurs often do not understand technical terminology. “While only 11% of SMBs [Small Business Owners] currently use AI [Artificial Intelligence], 51% believe AI is an important factor when choosing new technologies” (Salesforce, 2017). Many technical consultants find themselves equally as confused when pitching their ideas to business professionals. Proper communication in the workplace is a necessity in today’s technology-filled world.
Taking an inside look really opens up the importance of communication to product development. For her app, Roady, Rebecca Klor sees the need for effective communication daily with her chief technology officer. “There’s always differences in opinions on how you can create a technology application.” Klor continued, “I try to choose to route myself with people who are smarter than me and first in their field so it’s bringing on the chief technology officer because that is really his domain.” Rebecca Klor enjoys clear communication with her CTO; however, others have a hard time doing so.
When she was an academic director at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, Sangeeta Vohra saw that it was hard for graduate students to communicate outside of their specialization. On many occasions, Vohra found that the engineering students had trouble pitching their project ideas, while her business students could not understand the technological aspects. Believing that communication is essential to any job in the workforce, she developed programs, such as Management for Scientists and Engineers, for students to learn how to manage and communicate with the business professionals. The ideals taught by Vohra are relevant to the real-world. According to a 2017 report from Salesforce, “66% of SMB owners are personally responsible for three or more of the following areas of their business: operations, finance, sales, marketing, human resources, customer service, product development, or IT.” It's important that those starting small businesses know every aspect of the operation-- from finances to technology.
When people are educated on both technology and business, they are able to put out popular products quickly due to effective communication. Proper communication in these fields is more necessary than ever as technology and business come together to create new standards for founders and inventors.