Engineering Communication Across Power Differences

In this episode, Dr. Jill Fennell sits down with Mike Tinskey, Professor of the Practice in Mechanical Engineering and Interim Associate Chair for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Georgia Tech, to talk about best practices for communication across power differences in different engineering contexts. 

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Show Notes and Timestamps

• 01:01 Intro to Topic and Guest
• 02:55 Defining Power Differences
• 07:53 Advice for new engineers regarding risk and consequences
• 09:56 The importance of Audience and Communicating Up in the workplace
• 13:46 Communicating to direct supervisors and asking questions without signaling incompetence
• 16:17 Communicating to Executives and how to present information effectively
• 19:45 Communicating upwards and clear signaling of informing versus requesting decisions
• 22:49 Students interacting with sponsors and advice for Capstone students
• 25:14 Lateral communications within power structures
• 28:56 Communicating with machinists and technicians and other specialised roles
• 30:50 Advice for how new engineers can demonstrate respect for experiential knowledge while also communicating their design goals
• 33:05 Advice for students as they navigate power differences for the first time
• 34:53 Importance of listening and receiving communication and the importance of engagement
• 39:20 Final advice for communicating across hierarchies

A transcript of this episode is available here. 

Episode Edited by Lee Hibbard.