Nearly every change that happens in organizations today needs technology support.  As a result, whether you’re doing a technical project or a business change project, technical details will be involved.  Technical teams are often the ones doing the work, so they need to be engaged in the process.

Engaging the technical team is the one exception to talking about technology, bells, whistles, features, and functions.  Often, the technical teams are consumed by these details, which they feel like few people understand or care about.  The degree that you can try to understand the technology and talk the language, the greater the chances that you’ll get the technology teams engaged.

For the engagement, you should expect that the technical team will deliver on their commitments.  Though there are times when the complexity of the solution creates unforeseen problems, generally, the technical team should be able to find resolutions for the problems they’re facing.  If they can’t deliver, they should come back to you and let you know they’re stuck, what they’re stuck on, and why.

You should also expect that your technical team understands the technology and can therefore resolve issues with the technology.  We’ve all walked into conference rooms where the audio-visual equipment doesn’t work – these problems and others are the kind that your technology teams should be able to resolve.