This is one of the answers I am trying to answer in the book that I am authoring on communication. The judgment is divided. There are some people that I have spoken to, industry stalwarts who believe that technical skills brings you across the door. And, there are other experts who tell me that communication skills help you climb up the managerial ladder. So the question I am asking today is which one is more important? Or is it at the same level? Or are we trying to compare mangoes with oranges?
I agree with what industry experts have to say. Technical skills help you secure a job, say as a network administrator or a software programmer. But what accelerates your career is the communication skill that allows you to put across your ideas, keep stakeholders updated and act as a channel for communication to flow through. Further, I also believe that communication by itself will make you a great English teacher and nothing more. You need to be good at your technical capabilities, always learning the updated nuances of your technical industry. The day you say good bye to technicalities, it is the day your downfall begins, despite having the best communication skills one can possess.
To put it in different words, a technical expert gets more rounded with communication abilities. Lack of communication skills will be evident with poor relationships on the job, team work effectiveness takes a hit, not comfortable approaching other experts for advice and basic ineptness in communication.
What do you think?
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