1. If you are completely new to IT, you might be more comfortable reading about it in the context of your favorite business publication. Walter Mossberg has a regular technology column in the Wall Street Journal, and Peter Lewis has a column titled “Gadgets,”

which can always be found in the so-called First section of Fortune magazine. Articles in both publications are on the shorter side, so take an hour and read through a few weeks’ worth of each. Most people are intimidated by technology. But like many things, technology becomes easier if you familiarize yourself with the basics. One way to learn to “speak a geek” is to subscribe to PC Magazine, the premier magazine about personal computing. Depending on your budget, it may be more feasible (and possibly more productive)

if you spend a set amount of time each week perusing the periodical section of the library and fl ipping through a selection of magazines dedicated to technology.

The important thing is to be patient, however. After several issues, you should begin to understand what they’re talking about. After that, it’s easy to stay current.

Subscribe at http://pcmag.com. You can also sign up for the “Term of the Day” e-mail newsletter at http://

webopedia.com. Each day, Webopedia will e-mail you a new technology term and its defi nition. Either way, you’ll soon be able to talk tech.

Why is talking tech so important? Information technology (IT) is an integral part of nearly every business, whether it’s simple e-mail applications or more complex networking, e-commerce, and operations software.

Very few companies are able to get by without using IT regularly. This being the case, managers need to understand this critical component of their companies’

operations. That’s not to say that managers (other than IT managers, of course) need to know every last technical detail, but as a manager, you will need—and want—to know what your tech staff is talking about when they bring problems, concerns, or suggestions for improvement to your offi ce.