January 8, 2011 at 11:46 am
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Building Better Communication Skills
January 10, 2011 at 1:15 am
There is no doubt the communicaiton skills are basic requirement in any task we do. In adddition to that, Writing skills enahnces the understanding of writer, which inturn helps in communcatiing better
January 10, 2011 at 1:31 am
Thanks for a very basic, but extremely valuable article Steve.
I manage a group of DBA's from Oracle to Postgres etc...and find a lot of different writing styles and different approaches to communications from the team...
Replies to clients like (actual) "fixed!" and "done!" is unacceptable in any organization, and I found this is related to the DBA not having an idea how to communicate properly.
Thank you again.
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This thing is addressing problems that dont exist. Its solution-ism at its worst. We are dumbing down machines that are inherently superior. - Gilfoyle
January 10, 2011 at 4:26 am
At the risk of pointing out the obvious, submitting an article to SSC is also an excellent means of testing out one's writing skills, but with the added bonus of feedback from a wide community. Well worth contemplating.
Semper in excretia, suus solum profundum variat
January 10, 2011 at 6:45 am
Allow me to turn this around just a bit...
If your ability to communicate via the written word is not the problem, but rather, the ability to communicate effectively, face-to-face, and particularly under difficult circumstances, what recourse is there for someone who doesn't necessarily 'think on his feet' as well as the more successful types? An example would be dealing with an angry customer having a 'database down, server down' condition in a high-transaction-rate environment with multiple dependencies. Is there an organization that provides guidance in this area? One thing I have learned is that the industry 'big boys' feel like it's a have/have-not quality and won't bother with you, your IT skillset notwithstanding, if you don't have the requisite 'hostage negotiation skills'.
January 10, 2011 at 6:59 am
How about the other side of the written communications divide, reading? I've been writing for others for about 30 years now. When I started, I was writing only for other hobbyists that were primarily self-taught. They were already doing a lot of reading of often very technical and sometimes complex material. I didn't really have to think all that much about my writing.
As I moved further into an educational role, I had to modify my writing to suit the audience. In most cases, this new audience was more focused on learning how to perform tasks rather than learning enough about the technology to figure out how to perform those tasks. That meant using a more constrained vocabulary and a simpler writing style. I struggled with that, so I picked up some books on writing and took a couple of classes. For the first time I learned that I had to write at about a Grade 8 reading level. I found that a bit disturbing given the low drop-out rates.
More recent experience suggests that it's simply no longer possible for me to create written instructions. While it's certainly true that some of the fault lies with me, I'm now convinced that a large fraction of the population is sub-literate. That is, they have little ability to expand their vocabulary, great difficulty extracting meaning from the written word, and no tolerance for multi-paragraph texts like this one. The HR Manager says that her courses had her focus on Grade-5 reading level!
Is my experience unique? Do I just have a bad attitude? Well, that last one is easy 🙂
January 10, 2011 at 7:13 am
I think good written communication skills are important especially nowadays where email seems to be the primary means of doing so. There are also some subsets to that, such as communicating to other "technical" people (such as to other database professionals) and "non-technical" people. Each has its own unique challenges.
In the case of communicating to "technical" people, I agree that writing a blog or an SSC article could be beneficial. There's the possibly it could be a hindrance depending on the feedback one gets. It takes a lot of courage to put oneself out there for others to critique especially if you're naturally introverted or intimidated by the community intelligence out there. The "wrong" type of feedback could easily set one back.
I'm not exactly sure the best way to improve written communication with "non-technical" people. My thinking is that the key is being able to take the technical stuff you know and translate it into something they can understand. It most likely starts with learning how to verbally communicate between the two and applying those lessons to your writing.
January 10, 2011 at 7:41 am
I doubt that Twitter improves writing skills. It seems to do the opposite. The nature of Twitter encourages shortcuts and abbreviations that may not aid communication.
Communication occurs only when someone understands what is written. It is the writers duty to ensure that. The use of proper grammar and spelling is essential. Twitter discourages that. Effective writing skills take time to learn and time to use.
I fail miserably at grammar somwetimes but I really try to spell correctly. :hehe:
January 10, 2011 at 7:41 am
On the subject of communicating with users:
Instructions for general audiences are often a problem in this tech world. Just look at the instructions that come with even the simplest products.
First there are pages and pages (literally) of warnings, cautions, etc. Don't put it in the rain, don't put batteries in fire, yada yada... nobody, NOBODY reads that, they just skip ahead (an example of a counteracting effect: by creating a requirement for so many warnings, many ridiculously obvious, we have created a climate where no one reads any warnings)
Then there is the complexity of the instructions. My non-smartphone has a 150 page manual. Automobiles come with 500-600 page manuals (not that many years ago the owners manual was a 64 page booklet and the service manual was 500 pages).
Some manuals are well written, but many just simply jump in and describe one feature after another in mind numbing succession.. and surprise... people do not read them. And when they get into trouble, they don't know where to begin. The best are written so that people can get started, at least, in 2 or 3 pages. If instructions do not meet that standard they have failed. Follow-up detail should be organized by what the user is trying to do, rather than some hierarchical menu structure. And as for 'trouble shooting' charts, I'm sure they are almost NEVER designed by support techs based on what actually goes wrong in statistically significant frequency in the real world. Instead they are just a nice neat list of useless information.
I think that a lot of instruction writers don't put themselves in the place of a user when planning or writing. Manuals that get right to the point of getting the job done, rather than discussing all the wonderful details of the product.
...
-- FORTRAN manual for Xerox Computers --
January 10, 2011 at 8:21 am
GWAk (1/10/2011)
Allow me to turn this around just a bit...If your ability to communicate via the written word is not the problem, but rather, the ability to communicate effectively, face-to-face, and particularly under difficult circumstances, what recourse is there for someone who doesn't necessarily 'think on his feet' as well as the more successful types? An example would be dealing with an angry customer having a 'database down, server down' condition in a high-transaction-rate environment with multiple dependencies. Is there an organization that provides guidance in this area? One thing I have learned is that the industry 'big boys' feel like it's a have/have-not quality and won't bother with you, your IT skillset notwithstanding, if you don't have the requisite 'hostage negotiation skills'.
I think if you can't think on your feet, then you are conservative in your answers, and learn to put people off for a minute so you can think, or you put them off for 10 minutes and get back to them.
Most people never deal with the "big boys" and if you do, you do need to be able to think fast and answer them. But if it's not something you do well, don't play to it. I don't give a lot of fast technical answers on my feet because it's not a strength. I have to "train" managers that I'll need a short time to study it and I'll write recommendations down and send them around.
There's a skill in "delaying", not dodging questions.
January 10, 2011 at 8:31 am
Re: Building better communication skills
I could not agree more! Verbal and written communication is often the deal maker when comparing two technicians with similar technical skill sets, or even when one might be slightly more advanced than the other. The good communicator makes the better overall impression.
My advice to get better? READ! Then, take your time and know your audience. Consider the key points you want to make, get to those points succinctly, and make sure to leave out the nonessential fluff that will cause someone to skip the paragraph. If written, reread your communication before hitting that send button! Finally, working on your written communication skills will invariably increase your verbal skills as well!
Nice topic Steve.
January 10, 2011 at 8:41 am
Steve- It's uncanny how similar that advice is to some I've received already from a personal intimate (my wife). Great minds think alike, I reckon.
In case anyone is curious, the topic of this item refers to the Microsoft PFE interview process and their 'Kobayashi Maru' scenario (with apologies for the geeky Star Trek reference), which I handled like someone bringing a gas can to a munitions plant fire. :crying: Steve's advice probably would have given me better results, even with the multiple dependencies I mentioned. But it's really hard to break out of a transactional break-fix mindset and deal with the reality, rather than the abstraction, of the torqued-off customer when everything is going wrong.
I'm trying to make a point of learning how to better handle a situation like this as my New Year's resolution. All things being equal, it should produce positive results in all interpersonal relations. But it's hard to do if your entire approach to relationships is to maintain correctness, accuracy and logic.
January 10, 2011 at 9:38 am
AMEN!
I am continually frustrated by those who inefficiently use verbal communication for everything. These are the people who can't get things done, forget to do things they agree to do, and tend to blame others for their mistakes.
I prefer written communication because there is a trail of who said what, and when someone tries to lay the blame elsewhere I can usually show it was not my error. Sometimes it is, but I try to double check everything against the written instructions, which leads to far fewer mistakes and omissions.
Our organization, like most, is far understaffed and overworked. If I have to play phone tag with everyone I would get about 20% of the work done that I currently do. By using email and other forms of written communication, in addition to phone and other verbal, I am able to work on more than one thing at a time almost all day long. I task switch almost as much as my processor!
To the point of needing better writing skills, I see people who write in upper case, lower case with no punctuation, incomplete sentences, and many other things. A lot of these end up in trade publications, white papers and other things we rely on. One particular issue I saw was a newspaper that had an article where the headline was misspelled, and the same word was misspelled three different ways in the article. If we can't take the time to run a spell check, or even a grammer check, we can't expect others to understand what we wrote.
I went to college after having worked for quite a while. My writing skills (and others) were not very good. I took extra course work to ensure I have the abilities I need to succeed in the workplace. If you aren't very good at something, you need to spend time improving your skills in that area.
Dave
January 10, 2011 at 9:53 am
Ron Porter (1/10/2011)
How about the other side of the written communications divide, reading? I've been writing for others for about 30 years now. When I started, I was writing only for other hobbyists that were primarily self-taught. They were already doing a lot of reading of often very technical and sometimes complex material. I didn't really have to think all that much about my writing.As I moved further into an educational role, I had to modify my writing to suit the audience. In most cases, this new audience was more focused on learning how to perform tasks rather than learning enough about the technology to figure out how to perform those tasks. That meant using a more constrained vocabulary and a simpler writing style. I struggled with that, so I picked up some books on writing and took a couple of classes. For the first time I learned that I had to write at about a Grade 8 reading level. I found that a bit disturbing given the low drop-out rates.
More recent experience suggests that it's simply no longer possible for me to create written instructions. While it's certainly true that some of the fault lies with me, I'm now convinced that a large fraction of the population is sub-literate. That is, they have little ability to expand their vocabulary, great difficulty extracting meaning from the written word, and no tolerance for multi-paragraph texts like this one. The HR Manager says that her courses had her focus on Grade-5 reading level!
Is my experience unique? Do I just have a bad attitude? Well, that last one is easy 🙂
Unique? Not at all. I have heard complaints about me using "big words" and being overly verbose in my writing.
Huh?
Since when is being educated a deficit? My writing is college level. I have a son who is in 5th grade whose lexile score is in the 1200's. Yet HR managers feel 5th grade level (Lexile 500-600) is acceptable?
Dave
January 10, 2011 at 10:05 am
djackson 22568 (1/10/2011)
Ron Porter (1/10/2011)
How about the other side of the written communications divide, reading? I've been writing for others for about 30 years now. When I started, I was writing only for other hobbyists that were primarily self-taught. They were already doing a lot of reading of often very technical and sometimes complex material. I didn't really have to think all that much about my writing.As I moved further into an educational role, I had to modify my writing to suit the audience. In most cases, this new audience was more focused on learning how to perform tasks rather than learning enough about the technology to figure out how to perform those tasks. That meant using a more constrained vocabulary and a simpler writing style. I struggled with that, so I picked up some books on writing and took a couple of classes. For the first time I learned that I had to write at about a Grade 8 reading level. I found that a bit disturbing given the low drop-out rates.
More recent experience suggests that it's simply no longer possible for me to create written instructions. While it's certainly true that some of the fault lies with me, I'm now convinced that a large fraction of the population is sub-literate. That is, they have little ability to expand their vocabulary, great difficulty extracting meaning from the written word, and no tolerance for multi-paragraph texts like this one. The HR Manager says that her courses had her focus on Grade-5 reading level!
Is my experience unique? Do I just have a bad attitude? Well, that last one is easy 🙂
Unique? Not at all. I have heard complaints about me using "big words" and being overly verbose in my writing.
Huh?
Since when is being educated a deficit? My writing is college level. I have a son who is in 5th grade whose lexile score is in the 1200's. Yet HR managers feel 5th grade level (Lexile 500-600) is acceptable?
I don't know whether to be glad or sad that this experience is not unique to me.
In my case, the HR manager was just as disturbed as I was by the problem. But if that's the way it is... well, I don't know how to deal with it.
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