This report contains literature review on the importance of effective communication in the engineering profession.
The role of effective communication in the engineering profession
Communication is the process through which information and ideas are transferred from one person to another through a medium. This could be oral communication through means such as the telephone and face to face communication. It could be non verbal where it involves the transmission of information through letter writing, facial expressions and even body language among others. Effective communication occurs when the sender sends the message and it’s transmitted and received as it was originally designed upon which the recipient of the message understands it without any misunderstandings or distortions occurring. Effective communication is thus an important part of the everyday life of a human being whether a student or not.
The art of communicating effectively is thus an area that should not be neglected or down played by anybody. Based on experiences in the past, students in the engineering profession did not see the need of developing and acquiring effective communication skills. Emphasis was only laid on the perfection of the mathematical and technical skills that are paramount in this field of work. Graduates of this course later found themselves encountering difficulties in communicating effectively with other persons both at the professional and personal level. According to Swaffield, & Guske (2011), this created the need to institute measures aimed at ensuring that communication skills are taught even to engineering students as it is a skill that every individual should strive to attain so as to facilitate the develop of healthy and balanced working relationships while at the same time ensuring that the goals of organization communication are realized without fail.
The history of communication skills in schools of engineering
Each profession in the world has a required standard of expected qualifications that any person wishing to work in that field is expected to meet. In the engineering field for instance, the traditional education approach has been seen to lay emphasis on the acquisition of technical and mathematical skills. This approach in particular disregarded the importance of communication in the life of an engineer. As a result of this traditional based education approach, the graduates of the system were seen to only possess the required technical based qualifications with few being able to express or communicate their ideas and expectations effectively. It was seen that students who wished to take engineering courses at the higher education levels such as engineering ensured that they worked hard and excelled in the relevant mathematics and science areas as entry requirements into this field required but paid no attention to communication skills.
According to Albert et al (2008), it was observed that few of these students understood or even recognized the importance of communication in their lives as well as in their careers. Most did could not even communicate effectively. With the increasing technological changes that are realized on a day to day basis, the technical skills that the engineering profession emphasized to their students is increasingly being overridden and replaced by highly efficient machines that are specifically designed to increase the efficiency of operations in firms. This created the need to institute reforms in the engineering field in particular despite the resistances that the reformers encountered from the people who valued the traditional education approach.
Communication and the global world
Butcher (2013) in the career journal found that communication skills, leadership capabilities, team work abilities are among the most valued skills in any career field. This creates the need to emphasize the importance of acquiring and developing effective communication skills in ones’ life. It was seen for example that with the increased globalization, employers’ top requirements and expectations are that every person wishing to be recruited as an employee in any firm possess excellent communication skills as well as have team work abilities. It was also realized that engineers could not totally excel in their respective career fields without possessing good communication skills. This is because even in their line of duty, they would be expected to interact with a variety of people be it clients and potential customers, potential employers or even their fellow employees. This emphasized the need to adopt a different approach in the teaching of engineering education.
According to Riemer (2002) the current level of modernization and globalization has made it possible for people to seek and acquire employment in different countries thus emphasizing this need. In the engineering profession in particular, a person wishing to be recruited in a firm is expected to be fully capable of expressing himself during interviews. According to Railton, (1984) the communication skills of such a person are expected to match his technical skills such that he is able to communicate to his potential employers his career goals and objectives as well as how he expects to match his skills to the requirements of the organization. Without having effective communication skills, this is made impossible and thus even with high technical competencies; such engineers find themselves irrelevant in the job market and thus cannot be employed.
With the rapidly changing work environment, there has been increased emphasis on the need to develop and adopt a team work based approach in the work situation. This is aimed at fostering the unity and enhancing relations among between the top level management, middle level management and other employees in the organization. This cannot be realized if the employees of the organization do not possess effective communication skills or even if they do not recognize the need to enhance and develop such skills.
In the engineering profession in particular, engineers are expected to translate their skills into practical working solutions. In the event that there is a problem that such an engineer is expected to solve, such a person should be able to effectively communicate his views to other employees within the team that is working on solving the particular problem. The person is expected to be able to convince the other individuals in the team of the need to adopt his particular line of thought. This would not be attainable in the event that the person does not possess effective communication skills and as a result, the overall efficiency of the team would be lowered hence that of the organization in particular.
Similarly, in their line of work particularly those individuals working for a multi-national corporation, there would be instances where the individual in the engineering profession is expected to interact with other professionals either within the same working field or from different fields. In such a case, the communication skills of the engineer in question would be put to test as it would be expected that such an individual be capable of effectively communicating the message he is expected to convey without distorting it. In such a case, his communication skills would dictate whether his colleagues are able to understand and relate to whether the person is successful in representing his organization in such a position.
On the same line of thought, such engineers when sent on official duty to the organization branches in other countries would be expected to demonstrate a high level of efficiency and technical competence. In this case, such people would be required to interact with people of a different cultural heritage and thus are required to have good communication skills. Such an engineer would be expected to learn and adapt to the particular environment through the use of non-verbal cues such as body language and facial expressions so as to be able to communicate and relate effectively with the people of that heritage. In this case, the possession of good communication skills would prove effective in breaking down potential cultural and language barriers that may exist among the individuals in question. This is emphasizes the important role played by communication in the different lives of individuals and in particular the engineering profession.
In other instances, engineers would find themselves in a position where they are expected to communicate and explain existing differences between the products and machines they are engaged in designing and manufacturing as well as explaining how such machines function. In this case also, the communication skills of the engineer in particular are put to test as he is expected to make the appropriate communication and clarification regarding these issues while at the same time ensuring that the nature of the language that he uses is not too complex as a result of being filled with jargons that the basic consumers cannot understand. Such a person is expected to communicate the original message effectively thus ensuring that the objectives of such communication are realized. Davies, (2001).
Importance of effective communication in engineering
The current world situation has made it possible for people in different professions to take leadership positions within an organization. The basic requirement has been that such a person possess and demonstrate high leadership qualities thus be capable of effectively managing a particular department within the specific organization or the organization as a whole. In the case of an engineer in such a managerial position, he is expected to possess good communication skills to enable him communicate his ideas and other organization requirements as different situations may dictate.
In this case, individuals who lack such good communication skills cannot be put in such leadership positions as they cannot effectively play the leadership role. This is because such a person is expected to have the ability to listen to the different issues raised by people within the organization or department he works in with a view to offering effective solutions and recommendations on the issues raised. This would not be possible if such a person was not acquainted with the relevant communication skills. Mishra, (2011).
Such a person is also expected to lead and address people with whom he works with. For instance, such a manager would be expected to address other managers and the board of directors of the company he works for on the changes in the departments as well as explain the progress of different projects within the organization. This requires possession of effective communication skills and thus such a role would not be played effectively in the absence of good communication skills.
In other instances, qualified engineers also enroll as lecturers in engineering colleges and other institutions of higher learning and thus are expected to possess good communication skills to enable them teach and communicate effectively with their students. In such a case, the person is expected to have the knowledge on effective teaching methods and how in other instances he may increase and improve the understanding of his students on the different areas that are expected to be taught in the course of the studies. This would not possible if the particular engineer wishing to take a teaching career did not possess good communication skills.
In addition, the work situation requires that employees develop and maintain healthy working relationships among themselves and other stakeholders of the organization including customers. This requires that such employees possess good communication skills aimed at making the entire work place conducive. Vincler, & Vincler, (1996). This ensures that working relationships are built on mutual respect and trust and that people are able to work together for the common good of the organization in particular. This facilitates cooperation among individuals in the organization thus enhancing the realization and attainment of the organization goals and objectives.
According to Riemer (2001), the acquisition and possession of effective communication in the engineering profession is extremely necessary so as to ensure that an individual remains relevant in the job market. In the engineering field for instance, an individual is expected to compete effectively with other qualified experts in the field and this creates the need for the development of communication skills. This enables the person in particular to express himself fully during interviews and other situations thus enabling the individual create a good reputation in the job market. This avoids the situation where a potential employer fails to hire a particular individual to lack of the relevant analytical and team work skills that are essential in any particular line of work.
Among students of engineering, the development and acquisition of effective communication skills gives the student a competitive edge against other individuals either from within or in a different profession. This is because the teaching curriculum will be oriented towards imparting both technical and mathematical skills as well as training them on the requirements of the job market as explained by Bhatt et al (2006). This ensures that even when they leave these academic institutions, these graduates are able to secure jobs in the different engineering fields alongside maintaining those jobs due to their highly qualified state. Thus teachers, parents and other stake holders should emphasize on the need of good communication skills particularly in the engineering profession. This will ensure that the notion that people wishing to work in the engineering field need not have good communication skills is eliminated. It also ensures that a complete change of the teaching mechanisms and the course contents are revised to ensure that they match the expected standards.
Addressing the communication needs of the graduates of the engineering profession
According to Adams (2001), it was realized that with majority of companies adopting team work at the work place, some section of the employees particularly graduates in the engineering profession did not see the need of training to equip them with team building skills. As a result, there has been a shift in the education orientation towards producing graduates who are all round and balanced as explained by Ivanova, (2012).
This is to ensure that the graduates of the system are not only technically competent but have the social development skills required for them to excel in the work place. Team work has therefore been ranked as the most important skill that undergraduate students should attain in the course of their study. This has been done through the formation of groups to tackle assignments given in class among other things.
In addition the course content of the engineering students at the university and college level has continually been revised with a view to ensuring that it fully addresses the needs of the industry as regards the qualifications of engineering students. As part of the revised course, students are continually being examined about their attitudes as regards teamwork and also their ability to relate with people from different sections such as those taking different courses within the same school.
Recommendation and Conclusion
It is therefore seen that possessing effective communication skills in not only necessary but paramount to individuals in any profession. This is evidenced by the changing attitudes among institutions offering engineering courses as well as potential employers in the industry who require that graduates of the engineering schools be both technically competent and have socially desirable skills to enable them relate well with other individuals in the work place. As a result engineers should strive to attain the expected changing demands of the profession to ensure that they are not only hired but promoted due to the possession of these excellent communication skills.
References
Riemer, M. J. (January 01, 2001). English and Communication Skills for the Global Engineer. Global Journal of Engineering Education, 6, 1, 91-100.
Swaffield, B. C., & Guske, I. (2011). Global encounters: Pedagogical paradigms and educational practices. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars.
Riemer, Marc. (2002). English and communication skills for the global engineer. (UNESCO International Centre for Engineering Education.) UNESCO International Centre for Engineering Education.
Bhatt, Jay, Genis, Vladimir, & Roberts, Joshua C. (n.d.). Library experience for applied engineering technology students. (Bhatt, Jay, Genis, Vladimir and Roberts, Joshua. (2006). Library Experience for Applied Engineering Technology Students. In Proceedings American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition, Chicago, Illinois (US).) American Society for Engineering Education
Ivanova, M. (January 01, 2012). Social Competencies Identification for Realization of Successful Engineering Practice. Interactive Technology and Smart Education, 9, 4, 217-229.
Railton, D. (1984). Approaches towards technical communication skills training in British higher education, with particular reference to engineering. Birmingham, UK: Language Studies Unit, Dept. of Modern Languages, University of Aston in Birmingham.
Lakshminarayanan, K. R., & Murugavel, T. (2008). Communication skills for engineers. Chennai: Scitech Publications (India
Mishra, S., & Muralikrishna, C. (2011). Communication skills for engineers. New Delhi: Dorling Kindersley (India.
Vincler, J. E., & Vincler, N. H. (1996). Engineering your writing success: How engineers can master effective on-the-job communication skills. Belmont, Calif: Professional Publications.
Davies, J. W., & Davies, J. W. (2001). Communication skills: A guide for engineering and applied science students. Harlow, England: Prentice Hall
