Effective Interpersonal and Team Communication Skills for Engineers

Presents key principles of communication that support clear exchanges in a technical context and help engineers learn effective communication skills

Effective communication is a necessity for engineers. Even minor on-the-job misunderstandings can cost time, money, or worse. Yet even though recent studies show that improved communication makes for better engineers, the ability to speak clearly and listen carefully have historically been considered "soft skills" and are not typically or explicitly addressed in engineering programs.

Working from basic units called microskills, Effective Interpersonal and Team Communication Skills for Engineers shows readers, one step at a time, how to engage, listen, manage conflict, and influence others with highly constructive, repeatable communication exchanges.

This career-enhancing handbook:

• Presents communication skills for both technical issues and social situations in an engineering context
• Breaks skills down to elemental usage forms as microskills
• Includes plenty of practice exercises, case studies, and self-assessment tools
• Helps develop higher-level skills for more complex situations, such as dealing with confrontation and conflict negotiation
• Features a direct, user-friendly, practice-oriented format

Effective Interpersonal and Team Communication Skills for Engineers is a must-have guide for professionals and an important supplement for engineering programs at all levels.

CLIFFORD A. WHITCOMB, PhD, CSEP, is Professor and Chair of the Systems Engineering Department at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California. He has over thirty years' leadership experience in teaching, research, and implementation of system engineering and product development for government and industry. His current research involves the development and assessment of executable architectures for combatant ship, unmanned vehicle, and information technology systems and systems of systems.

LESLIE E. WHITCOMB, MSc, is an educator and facilitator with twenty-five years' experience in education and counseling. She has developed curricula for and implemented practice of multicultural microskills counseling and education practices in a diversity of settings.