|
The art, science of effective communication
Engineers and scientists often are caricatured as brilliant analytically, but poor
communicators. As the nation’s number-one undergraduate science, mathematics and
engineering college, Rose-Hulman strives to make sure that its graduates learn the skills
of effective communication that will be so important for their success and continued
growth. Only those who communicate well will be able to achieve leadership positions, work
in project teams effectively, and impart vital technological knowledge. This affects
interactions with colleagues, and with other departments of a successful business or
institution (e.g. marketing, purchasing, finance and administrative departments) as well
as the general public. Society is becoming more and more curious about the technological
wonders that enhance our world, and we need technical people who can explain them.
Effective communication often involves reducing obtuse terms to ordinary language that can
be understood by those who are not in the same field.
An example of failure to communicate: As a teenager I decided my Jalopy MGA needed the
1962 equivalent of a “Boom Box” radio. This required the installation of a
filter near the voltage regulator, which was located on the firewall in the engine bay. I
consulted the official MGA Factory Workshop Manual purportedly written in English, but
which I determined was actually written in some strange Chaucerian dialect.
Having previously been successful in using what the dialect calls “Whitworth
Spanners” (wrenches) to cure a “banging in the silencer” (backfire in the
muffler), I proceeded with trepidation to tackle installation of the filter and Boom Box
near the “Control Box” (voltage regulator). Lack of effective communication
between Chaucer and myself resulted in disaster. The hood needed to be removed to access
the control box. After consulting the manual, I was confronted with these instructions:
“Removing the Hood: First, place the hood in the folded position…” I found
this strange. Try as I could, I was unable to fold the solid metal hood in any fashion
without fear of permanently creasing it. (I later found out that “hood” means
convertible top). Never mind. I attempted to drill a hole from the cabin through the
passenger firewall at the approximate correct position “near” the voltage
regulator on the other side. Serious error — do not drill through a voltage regulator
and then insert a screw. The screw immediately becomes red, then orange, then yellow,
igniting the oil (I also learned that water is not effective for putting out oil fires),
resulting in no Boom Box, but the necessity of an entirely new wiring harness,
“Control Box’” and generator (a.k.a. “Windowless Yoke Dynamo”
— a good name for a rock band).
Some of our nation’s best scientists and engineers have a similar problem in
effective communication. You will recall that the Mars landing probe was destroyed on
landing because the landing gear “heard” only in metric units, but the
navigational computer program “talked” in English units (presumably MGA
Chaucerian dialect).
We at Rose are committed to preventing such costly errors by our graduates. A goal of our
Vision to be the Best campaign was to improve communication skills. Several years ago,
President Hulbert appointed a commission with a representative from each academic
department to develop an action plan to improve communication skills. Their
recommendations have been implemented across the curriculum. You can rest assured that
your son, daughter or friend will be more than adequately trained in communication skills
at Rose.
Our Department of Humanities and Social Sciences focuses heavily on communication skills.
Students are required to take nearly 20 percent of their studies in humanities and social
sciences, which is in fact the largest academic department on campus! Nearly all
humanities courses have a writing component and many are devoted entirely to improving
students’ communication skills.
At our very busy Learning Center (headed by Susan Smith), there are 22 professionally
trained peer tutors who assist students with their writing and presentation skills. This
not only benefits the students who visit the center, but it also provides an invaluable
opportunity for the tutors to develop stronger communication skills themselves.
Tarelle Osborn, a peer tutor, stated that “many times students come in with really
good ideas in a paper they have written, but they have a hard time organizing their ideas
so that they are easy for the reader or audience to follow. I think that this is one of
the hardest things for engineering students to learn — I enjoy the challenge of
helping these students.”
In addition, the Learning Center offers a variety of workshops each year focused on
enhancing career-related communication skills which emphasize critical elements to include
in a presentation as well as how to effectively integrate technology with oral
communication skills.
There even is a “Business and Dinner Etiquette” session emphasizing social and
office behavior, communication and conversation skills, and international customs. This is
a course I once failed. My wife Cindy and I were with friends at a very fancy restaurant
in Chicago. It was nationally renowned for its Beef Wellington. The chef visited our table
and remarked in somewhat broken English (Chaucerian?): “Have you ever had better Beef
Wellington before?” I did not hear the underlined word. (Please read the previous
sentence without the word “better” to see how ineffective communication can
create a faux pas.) I replied, “Of course, many times.” The chef then
indignantly remarked “Well, where?” My response, thinking that I would be
complimenting him for cooking better than my wife, was: “My wife made it once, but it
wasn’t very good.” I could not understand why the chef left our table in a huff.
Cindy was not very happy either.
 
|
