How can electrical engineers improve communication with other departments?

Some colleagues and stakeholders need information and updates every day. Some just want a general understanding of progress. It's your job to understand clearly the report and context accordingly.

Improving communication between electrical engineers and other departments involves fostering mutual understanding, using clear language, establishing effective channels, and cultivating collaborative relationships. By employing these strategies, engineers can enhance communication and contribute more effectively to cross-departmental initiatives within their organization. 1. Understand Departmental Needs and Objectives 2. Use Clear and Simple Language 3. Develop Interpersonal Skills 4. Establish Effective Communication Channels 5. Foster Relationships and Collaboration 6. Provide Context and Explain Impact 7. Seek Feedback and Adapt 8. Training and Development

Electrical engineers can enhance cross-departmental dialogue by first understanding the unique context and needs of their audience, tailoring communication to be clear, engaging, and appropriately detailed. This involves not only adapting language and materials to suit various technical levels but also actively listening and collaborating to ensure that all perspectives are considered and integrated into electrical solutions. This approach fosters mutual understanding and cooperation across different departments.

Electrical Engineering is usually a part of the bigger picture. 1. Cooperation with ME is crucial. So exporting and reviewing, and reviewing mechanical outlines, and thermal parameters with ME is a must. Also grounding and EMI comes to mind. 2. SW and System Engineers need to know about interfaces and timing, which affect algorithms and performance. 3. Manufacturing needs to know how to assemble and test the product. So, they need to be in a loop, they need to build it. 4. The whole team needs to know the requirements and goals which also define the schedule and procurement. 5. Everything should be presented in the simplest possible way to give all stakeholders a realistic picture without unnecessary minutia.

Knowing your audience can increase the interest of the audience towards your presentation. Everyone should accept the agenda and it can only be possible if you select the audience with their interests. On the other hand you can use your content and activities so that you can engage audience.

Use a language understandable by everyone, clearly dissect the problem and segmentize helps a lot. Richard Feynmann used to say that one should be able to explain complex ideas into simple terms.

Use Clear,Concise, Concrete, Correct, Cohernet, Complete, Courteous in your communication, It will increase Calrity in communication so that every department will receive clear and detailed information.

Keep it simple, try to explain in simple words what you want to say, with examples from the real world. Not everyone knows what you mean, they often have different backgrounds or don't have an engineering background at all. I used to communicate often with the purchasing people and I realized I have to keep calm and try to keep things simple, it's nobody's fault we don't speak the same language and in the end the problem must be solved one way or another.

- Lead with a one-sentence summary of your main point or requested action to focus the message. - Address anticipated questions or concerns early with factual clarification and context-setting. Concise, tailored communication considers audience context and needs first, before technical specifics.

Some meetings can be bogged down by unnecessary jargon and terms which, while are relevant to the subject content can be not understood by some team members due to their expertise not being in the mention subject matter. I believe clear, concise bullet points in plain terms are the best way and you can then if needs be expand using more technical terms but explaining them as you go along in order to not lose your target audience and maintaining interest and relevance in the subject content.

Increase your listening power and always use an adaptive approach. Do not hesitate to ask questions, stay on the topic and agenda, It will reduce time.

In general, Engineers are good listeners. They are keeping attention to details. Effective listening to a certain question is providing a half solution. As a result, listening is more important to understand the problem. To increase your listening, try to keep focus, keep eye contact with speaker, use body language to indicate that you are receiving the information correctly, keep comfortable distance between you and the speaker, and ask questions. Asking questions are considered a feedback loop between the sender and receiver. In addition, when the question is asked, it will provide an indication of receiver’s understanding. It is advisable to pay attention by listening and asking questions that indicates digested information.

- Ask open-ended questions that elicit perspectives beyond just yes/no answers. For example, "What are your thoughts on...?" - Structure complex questions as a series of simpler, logically connected queries to prevent information overload. Cultivating two-way dialogue through patience, clarity and engagement builds partnerships critical for problem solving.

While I believe some engineers are open to feedback, there are some which can be resistant to change or opinions due to them being confident in the subject of their expert field. This can I think be avoided by asking questions in the beginning in a general manner, gleaning expert feedback from the engineers and all the team which you don’t possess, and then this could lead to new ideas and avenues to explore which were not apparent to begin with.

Keep an open mind. Don't lock yourself into a specific idea or design and try to convince everyone that it's the best course of action. Instead, really listen to what other people say, even if it seems wrong or irrelevant. Your design should be the best fit to the circumstances and demands of the project, not a showcase for your ego. That having been said, when someone suggests the unfeasible, risky or unsuitable, take the time to explain the reasons why you should not pursue that course of action. Don't dismiss it with a hand waive.

Remember you are all a team and you work for common projects and objectives. Share your knowledge and listen what other people say, because you will always learn something new.

Use Interationist View in conflict management that says it is a positive force to increase team performance. The best solution is "Brain Storming" and "Discussion".

In my experience, feedback is the key to develop your skills and your relationship with others. This way, you see how other people see you, what you might do wrong and correct some things. You will become a better professional and a better person. But remember, whenever giving or receiving feedback, try to be objective and communicate it in a constructive manner, don't hurt people and don't feel hurt.

Be wary of the trap of over-engineering. Simpler is often better. Be mindful of the entire process you are contributing to, how your part may affect the rest of the project, device or infrastructure you are working on. Be sure to understand exactly what is required and listen to everyone's input. Don't get stuck on an idea, but be willing to modify or even redesign to accommodate the needs of the project and the people who are going to be using your design.

Improving communication between electric engineers and other departments is vital. Regular Meetings: Hold frequent meetings to discuss progress and challenges. Interdisciplinary Workshops: Arrange workshops to explain technical work to non-engineers. Language Bridge: Avoid jargon and translate complex terms. Feedback Loop: Create a feedback system for other departments to provide input. Empathy: Understand other departments' needs and concerns. Tech Demos: Showcase projects through demonstrations. Mentoring: Pair engineers with non-engineers for mentorship. Cultural Sensitivity: Be mindful of cultural differences. Celebrate Success: Acknowledge and celebrate achievements together. ?? #EngineeringHarmony

It has been my experience that engineers if all disciplines tend to write the worst user manuals. This is an extension of the communication process between engineers and users or customers, reflecting the main problem, assumption of knowledge by the engineers. We have to keep in mind that the user or customer is not required to have an engineering degree to operate or understand what we design or build for them. Make your designs user-friendly and your instruction comprehensive. Don't skip on anything that may seem obvious to you, as it may not be obvious to everyone.