You're navigating diverse engineering disciplines. How can you bridge the gap in technical communication?
Navigating various engineering disciplines means you must effectively communicate complex concepts to colleagues from different technical backgrounds. Here’s how you can bridge those gaps:
How do you ensure clear communication in your multidisciplinary team?
You're navigating diverse engineering disciplines. How can you bridge the gap in technical communication?
Navigating various engineering disciplines means you must effectively communicate complex concepts to colleagues from different technical backgrounds. Here’s how you can bridge those gaps:
How do you ensure clear communication in your multidisciplinary team?
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We recommend using a three-step approach for effective communication: 1) Answer First: Begin by stating your main message clearly to minimize any ambiguity. For example: "Approval is required for an additional 20,000k USD for GEN AI." This sets the context directly. When the call to action is clear from the start, any further explanation becomes more straightforward. 2) Provide Rationale: Follow up with the reasoning behind your initial statement, ideally supported by data, to enhance understanding and persuasiveness. 3) Use Simplified Language: Ensure your communication remains accessible by using language at a sixth-grade reading level. This promotes clarity and helps your message resonate with a wider audience.
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The key to overcome technical communication barriers is to establish a "translation culture" inside teams. By encouraging engineers to explain topics as if they were teaching a curious newbie, we may naturally reduce complicated ideas while maintaining technical accuracy. I've established regular "tech share" coffee events in which engineers from all disciplines express their issues in plain language, boosting both knowledge and innovation through casual encounters. This method has repeatedly transformed communication impediments into opportunities for collaborative growth.
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It's great to continually do excercises to share information to a variety of audiences - everything from elevator pitches to in depth PhD type arguments. All of them matter for different environments. When communicating, instead of a "push" look to serve your audience - how will they best learn? how will you assess that they received your message? what ideal actions do they take next? how can you serve them?
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