Hello!
Working as a software engineer has recently made me think again about communication and technical ability. I wanted to put those thoughts into words and organize my own perspective.
Table of Contents
Open Table of Contents
Communicating with Colleagues Who Share the Same Goal
I work as an engineer at a company that develops its own products. The business and engineering sides of my workplace have a flat relationship, and we work toward the same goals every day in an effort to maximize the value we create.
That makes communication with our business colleagues essential. Engineers need to collaborate while thinking beyond engineering alone.
Good communication does not mean forcing engineering’s preferences onto everyone else. We need to understand what our colleagues are trying to accomplish and work out how to align it with our shared destination. That requires speaking in terms they understand and maintaining a willingness to meet each other halfway.
The same is true among engineers. People do not all have the same skills, background, experience, or age, yet they still need to act as teammates with a common objective. Engineers therefore need the same care and patience when communicating with one another as they do when working with the business side.
Is Technical Ability Enough?
Technical ability is fundamental for an engineer, and I agree with that strongly. If we cannot use our skills to produce results, we are not fulfilling the role. We are expected to deliver engineering outcomes.
But I do not believe technical ability alone is enough. Communication is always necessary if we want to maximize the results of a team or organization.
Start with a Proper Greeting
Even as engineers, we should remember the basics of interacting with people. I want to keep the importance of a proper greeting in mind for myself as well.
Whether a new member joins the team, I begin a project with someone I have never met, or I meet people from another company through work or an event, I want to greet them properly and communicate with an open mind.
What About After-Work Social Events?
I generally have a positive view of social gatherings with coworkers.
Today, many people prefer to treat work purely as a place to earn money, keep work and private life separate, or simply decline company gatherings. In my experience, that tendency may be especially strong among engineers.
Still, spending a modest amount of money to build a degree of trust can be a remarkably good investment. Some may argue that engineers make their living through technical ability and should not need anything else.
In practice, though, we may spend our days working with systems, but the people doing the work are human. Creating value as a team or organization is impossible without relationships between those people. Humans are emotional creatures. However strongly we advocate a purely results-based evaluation system, complete objectivity is more ideal than reality.
Personal preference inevitably introduces bias. Studying behavioral economics makes it clear how often our decisions are unconsciously skewed.
Sharing something of who we are outside work can have a positive effect, however small. It may make others more receptive to the results we deliver or increase the chance that we are trusted with an important project.
Of course, nobody needs to attend every event or drink alcohol, and there is no obligation to stay for a second venue. I simply think that occasionally joining such a gathering can be one useful, proactive way to communicate.
Engineers also tend to gather with other engineers, but spending time with colleagues from the business side can be valuable. You will meet all kinds of people, and that itself can be educational. Even once every six months may be worth trying.
Closing Thoughts
Those are some of the ideas that have been on my mind recently.
There is a common perception that younger generations dislike these events, which may make managers hesitant to invite people at all. Personally, I am happy to be invited.
I would never pressure someone who truly does not want to attend. I only hope this offers another perspective worth considering.