“All engineers calculate. Good engineers communicate.” – John Kuprenas, 101 Things I Learned in Engineering School.

The stereotypes are broadly true – engineers lack communication competency. Don’t neglect the need to develop this ultimate skill. Technical prowess will naturally advance as colleagues provide much-needed feedback and projects come and go—not so with communication. Delivering communication feedback is often avoided because it seems more personal and consequential than feedback on one’s design.

Aim to excel at communication. If an engineer can imagine a novel system but cannot explain it to investors, cannot translate it to drawings, cannot market it to the public/industry, and cannot sell it to customers, then only he/she will know of their accomplishment.

There are far too many facets of communication to discuss in a single post, so I expect at least two more posts on this topic.

1. Active listening
   1. How would I know that someone was listening to me? I would expect a reasonable amount of eye contact, generic restating or referencing of what I said, and relevant remarks in their response.
   2. It takes serious effort to still one’s mind and give full focus to a speaker—but it is essential. Mechanical Engineers (MEs) are frequently flooded with critical details that are hastily disseminated. Be prepared to remember what was communicated.
   3. When you err, swallow your pride and interject: “I’m sorry, I was a bad listener; can you repeat what you said after XYZ?”
2. Recalling what was said—note-taking
   1. I’m nothing without my notes—physical and electronic. Bring a notepad or device to every meeting and have an ear for what is worth documenting—some details are only shared once, and some colleagues find repeating themselves infuriating and unacceptable. 
   2. Your meeting notes are for your reference only—write however will best jog your memory, however ridiculous/unintelligible it will be for others to read. If you write down everything, you will likely not comprehend and engage with what’s being said. Learn what balance works best for you.
      1. In college, I came into many lectures unprepared and would reflexively try to transcribe lectures. This was overwhelming and switched my brain from comprehension to recitation. Don’t make this mistake.
3. Knowing your audience
   1. Throughout your career as a ME, you will be expected to communicate with fellow engineers, vendors, customers, presidents, investors, accountants, sales, journalists, artists, lawyers, and many other professionals, each with a different understanding of your day-to-day work. 
   2. Avoid technical jargon unless speaking with those with similar job titles. 
   3. I spent a week redesigning a mechanism for a client that lifts, indexes, and stores three large steel pipes with a single actuator. These pipes were 1-4’ in diameter and 10-30’ long. I was excited about my solution and spoke for several minutes in our weekly meeting about how it works—showing the various configurations in CAD. I did not realize that the individual I was speaking with was the most senior engineer at that company who happened to be the designer of the original mechanism. The engineer wasted no time “thanking me” publicly for teaching him how his concept works. Lesson learned—know your audience!
   4. It is possible to under-explain your work. Asking your audience if they’re tracking should alert you to this error.
   5. When unsure of someone’s background, ask. “How familiar are you with the XYZ project, client, process, etc.?”
   6. Give a disclaimer at the beginning of presentations/meetings. “If I’m oversharing or under-explaining, please interrupt me—I value your time and want to make sure everyone is tracking.”
   7. Be succinct and accurate. “If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself.” – Albert Einstein.
   8. For superior examples of knowing your audience, see 5 levels.
4. Expectation setting
   1. I once had a string of projects where I happily handed off the deliverable to my manager and was consistently met with requests for the “rest” of the deliverable. I was frustrated and stumped as to why this was happening until I realized that we were failing to align on expectations. Whether I didn’t hear all the initial scope, failed to record what was explained, or received partial information will forever be unknown. But I could have nipped this in the bud had I been better at active listening—restating back the deliverables and getting confirmation. This scenario sparked discussions with my peers and then again with my boss—others were confused about the scope of their work too. I arranged for the cross-functional team to meet with our manager to define each person’s role, resolving the recurring frustrations. 
   2. It’s the manager’s role to set the expectations and communicate them; it’s the engineer’s role to reiterate the expectations and get confirmation from management. This will maintain sanity and prevent surprises. 
5. Presentations
   1. Mechanical engineers have to give presentations on their work to any of the stakeholders mentioned above. Knowing your audience is critical for respecting everyone’s time and getting the appropriate information disseminated.
   2. Your company may have standards for formatting that you must follow.
   3. If your audience is studying your slides or reading a wall of text, they aren’t listening to you. For a presentation to be successful, the slideshow should aid the focus on the presenter.
      1. Follow the 6×6 rule: no more than six bullets per slide, no more than six words each. Nobody wants a wall of text.
      2. Only use visuals that aid your points.
      3. Screen captures are essential for CAD reviews. I suggest Greenshot or SnagIt. Don’t waste time with Microsoft’s Snipping Tool.
      4. Minimize transitions and animations.
   4. In CAD reviews, minimize rotating the model. Those less acquainted with CAD work can become dizzy with all the movement, especially if a 3D mouse is used. Additionally, the presentation will lag during these movements, creating confusion for the audience. 
   5. Utilize blank slides when you wish for the audience to return their focus to you.
   6. If you can anticipate specific audience questions, include extra slides after the end of your presentation that will help you field these questions. Your audience will be impressed.
   7. “A short presentation can be forgiven; a long presentation cannot.” – Gary DeLashmutt.

If this list seems overwhelming, rest assured these skills will become intuitive with practice. Focus on a few items at a time and give yourself grace as you’re learning.

Here’s a small sampling of topics I will discuss in the upcoming posts:

• Navigating difficult conversations
• How to disagree
• The front-page test
• The and-stance
• Affirming others’ ideas
• Accepting praise
• Useful writing tools

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