I probably have written about this before. If I have though, I can’t find it. Tone is part of this. Online tone is definitely a part of this, but only a subset of the topic.
The best example most people can probably relate to is something like a car mechanic, a plumber, or an electrician. If you are not in their profession – you know you don’t know what they know. Most people might have some basic knowledge of electricity from high school science. They might have helped unclog a toilet or sink. They might have changed the oil in their car. But they know when the expert starts talking… they are out of our league.
I work in an IT-adjacent role. I am semi-technical and although I have some level of knowledge when the truly techy start talking, I start getting lost. I’m not a programmer, I’m not into hardware, I have vague knowledge of servers…. it can be frustrating.
I know just enough to join the conversation. And promptly feel lost.
So when I work with end-users who feel like I am the “mechanic,” I try to remember that feeling on my own end. I try to think through what are reasonable assumptions (I think it’s reasonable to ask an employee who uses a computer all day “open your web browser.”
I just wish others took this approach. I had to post on a forum recently regarding DAX (formulas in Power BI) and the only person who replied…. either was being WAY too technical or they didn’t actually know what they were talking about. They used the term “Power Query” like they meant something other than what I understand it to mean…. because my understanding is basically using any data in Power BI gets run through the “power query” software. It’s kind of the purpose of the program…. So either they are referencing something else within Power BI that I don’t know/understand or they are…. wrong?
When you are in the position of expertise, it is doubly important you use accurate language. Precision and accuracy. If nothing else, if this person had used a… better?… term, I could have tossed it in Google to see what they were talking about. But seriously, you put “Power BI Power Query” in Google and it’s like, “Well yes, that is Power BI.”
Dream by Day 