Technical Communication: The Importance Of Technical Communication

Writing is perhaps the most important way a human being can convey his thoughts, ideas and experiences. Surely, it is one of the most effective and long lasting forms of communication. Why, you would ask, is writing being mentioned in the context of engineering. Surely, engineers and engineering students need to concern themselves with acquiring and practicing technical knowledge. However, committing to technical knowledge alone would be a self-limiting decision.

While beginning to work as an engineer you will realize that your job requires you to write proposals, specifications, reports, conference papers, letters and electronic messages. Writing is perhaps the most important way in which information is conveyed to managers, fellow engineers,

Of course, they knew technical knowledge would be important; but they never realized technical communication in general, and writing in particular would be so crucial to their success. People who cannot communicate well often find themselves wondering why they did not get the job or why they were passed over for promotions.

Today, effective technical communication is more important than ever. We live in an age in which whole industries are built around the development, retention and application of information. The ability to communicate effectively is crucial if you plan to survive and succeed. Yet, managers regularly report that college graduates do not have adequate communication skills. Fortunately, you can teach yourself to write and speak effectively in the technical workplace. The ability to communicate effectively is not something people are born with. With a little effort, anyone can learn to write and speak

• Your performance evaluations will often be based on the documents that you wrote or helped produce.

• Your colleagues will judge your abilities by the effectiveness of your documents or presentations.

• Your company’s clients will judge the quality of your entire company by the quality of your documents and the presentations you make to them.

A lot of good ideas never see the light of day because the engineers who have them are unable to communicate their ideas. Therefore, if you want to advance beyond just being a number cruncher, then you need to be able to communicate effectively; and that includes acquiring at least a minimal proficiency in writing.

If you want to work semi-independently or if you want to supervise other people, the ability to communicate is critical. In fact, if you talk about leadership skills, communication skills is always consistently at the top of the list. If you can’t communicate with the people that you’re trying to direct or lead, then they won’t know what to