In the world engineering, the world of numbers, it is not a coincidence that engineers are often at a loss for words. In today’s virtual world however, it is becoming apparent that numbers alone will not suffice.
When I began my career twenty eight years ago, I rarely wrote a single letter. That duty was reserved for my boss, who simply didn’t trust a young engineer’s ability to string along enough words to generate a cohesive thought. My communication with the client consisted of face to face meetings or phone calls, both of which left nothing to the imagination. Tone was inherent, never implied. There was no choice, our language and personality came clearly through on the phone. Tone was unmistakable in person, where body language was visibly evident and left little room for interpretation. As I developed and evolved as an engineer I began to write reports, letters and instructions. I was taught to be precise and to be logical in wording and tone, to take my time. Arriving at that point in my career took years.
In today’s virtual world, everything is at light speed and little care is taken to consider how and what is being written. Today’s technology is such that one can design, engineer even build a structure without ever having to meet any of the team members in person or even talk to them. An entire project could conceivably be completed from its inception to its conclusion without as much as a phone call. It can all be done via e-mail. The written word has taken on a much different role in our profession.
The Y generation engineers would rather text a message on their cell phones than actually make the call. They would rather e-mail, tweet, chat-on-line or Google information than speak to a real person. The problem is that all these forms have become more like Morse code, where the communication occurs in short bursts lacking clarity or depth. Little thought is given to using the right words or orchestrating them to convey the right meaning.
What they fail to realize is that this is still a people oriented profession. The cohesiveness of a design team, the level of communication throughout a project, between the architect, engineers, owners, and contractors, remains the single most important aspect of a successful project. Communication and the exchange of ideas in the course of a project don’t have to happen quickly, they have to happen with forethought.
As I look ahead, I don’t necessarily see things changing and we will soon be doing more talking to a person’s image on our computer screens than the real live version of them. The personal touch, the human aspect of our profession, is at risk of being eradicated. That may work well for most engineers, people of numbers, logical thinkers. But I for one still prefer to pick up the phone or walk down the hall before I tweet it.
Posted by Jesus Sierra, S.E.
