Why are communication skills important in Software Development? Comprehension and verbal skills are required to read and understand, as well as convey: a. Requirements b. Specifications c. Books, articles and manuals d. Bug reports e. Project Plans f. Achievements g. Difficulties and obstacles coming in way of goals h. and more...
More importantly, good communication skills help a developer prioritize tasks better. A good communicator can better grasp the urgency/importance of a particular situation or feature. And of course, innumerable other reasons. Now, one thing I have noticed is that there are many software developers, those with excellent academic records, who could be brilliant programmers or testers, if only their communication skills were better. Often such 'latent' good programmers find their way into organizations of all shapes and sizes. Sadly, more often than not, such professionals are unable to achieve their potential because of their Achilles' Heel: Communication. Often we hear reports of speeches by industry leaders or top managers who have said that graduates from <insert country or state or university> are unemployable. My belief is that the students have the fundamental material built in, but are only hampered by lack of good communication skills. Responsible organizations will want such people to achieve their potential. What are the options open to such organizations? Classroom Training? Online Training? I will appreciate if other people who have thought about this issue could contribute their opinion. If anyone has links to online articles which address this issue or online training programs, that would be very helpful. -- http://mm.glug-bom.org/mailman/listinfo/linuxers
