The Circle of Standards A blog about standards, style guidelines, & best practices for the Web.

Maybe it’s the co-worker who sits next to you, or perhaps it’s your boss. It could be a new client. And, invariably, someone in your family qualifies. That’s right, they’re the not-so-tech-savvy you have to deal with. How do you get them to understand you so that you can communicate and work together effectively?

Web Worker Daily provides 10 tips for working with the computer-illiterate, ranging from the obvious (avoid jargon and be patient) to smart strategies you may not have figured out yet (introduce new technologies gradually, talk results instead of process).

Two things that aren’t mentioned in the article but deserve emphasis:

1. Don’t talk down to the person or treat them like an idiot. First of all, no one deserves being talked down to. Doing so is going to make you look bad and it will make future communications even more difficult. The person you’re talking to could have a Ph.D. in some other field and simply may not have the background or experience to understand you without more explanation or context.
2. Take the time to educate. I had a boss who was very results-oriented. When I was able to demonstrate the ROI of Web Standards in an effective way, he wanted to understand more. Over the course of a few months, I helped him learn some HTML and CSS, introduced him to our publishing tools, and gave him a copy of Zeldman‘s Designing with Web Standards, which we discussed at length. Didn’t my boss turn around and become my biggest supporter and advocate to more senior management? And all it took was my investing in his education. Think of what educating a co-worker or client could do for you — relieve you of that constant headache from one-off questions? Stop you from rolling your eyes after every interaction? Maybe the payoff seems small, but the mutual growth is worth it.