Three recent IE graduates returned to campus this spring to visit the Senior Design class. They were ready to be grilled about their jobs. But Scott Sherris, BIE 1999; Ryan Ogden, BIE 1995; and Erin Chandler, BIE 1999, did not come to talk about industrial engineering. They came to discuss communication skills. The graduating seniors, soon to face their own first day on the job, listened eagerly as the trio discussed the lessons, mistakes, and successes they learned the hard way — on the job.

Today's industrial engineers are required to be savvy communicators. The fast-paced world of technology makes it more efficient to complete many tasks, but it also brings young graduates under closer scrutiny from their bosses, peers, and clients. A practicing engineer needs to be more familiar with e-mail and PowerPoint programs than with slide rules.

ISyE is responding to this new environment with an integrated communications program, designed to help undergraduates incorporate strong presentation and communications skills directly into their assignments. This workplace communications initiative is woven into the projects of the Senior Design course, promoting and polishing the reports students must deliver to the class and their clients.

It is all part of a greater effort led by Dr. Judith Norback, director of Workplace and Academic Communication, with the help of Dr. Joel Sokol, Dr. Faiz Al-Khayyal, and Dr. Paul Griffin. Dr. Norback joined ISyE with a mission to prepare students for the written, oral, and interpersonal communication skills they need to advance in the information age. With funding from two prominent alumni, Mel Hall, BIE 1967, and Hayne McCondichie, BIE 1952, MSIE 1953, Norback is conducting research and designing curriculum that will eventually touch ISyE students during all four years of their undergraduate education. In addition, Norback and Peter McGuire of Tech's School of Language, Communication, and Culture were recently funded by the National Science Foundation to bring workplace communication into technical communication, another course required for ISyE students.

For now, the Senior Design students are the primary beneficiaries, and they are very happy about it. Most wish they had even more experience with the techniques; others lament the lack of a public speaking course within the program.

Maxine Gardner will graduate in December 2003, just days after she receives her commission in the U.S. Navy. At that point she will either report to a ship or begin flight school. Either way, there is little room for miscommunication. "My goal is to go into management, and I will have people below me," says Gardner. "Communication is very important when you are working with others. You have to be able to convey your ideas, and you have to get the facts to them. It's very important to know what they are thinking so there are not any misperceptions."

Norback's communication program is more than good grammar and public speaking skills. After all, this is Georgia Tech. Today's IEs need a wide range of skills, and Norback is taking the scientific approach toward her subject. Language and presentation are essential, as are videotaping and critiquing student presentations. Norback is going farther, visiting the workplace, interviewing employers, and building a database of information that will be available to all students and alumni. Inside her web-based collection are sample reports, memos, business plans, letters, updates, and a host of other documents that may confront a young IE.

"Integrating workplace data into the instruction results in higher content validity," says Norback. "We teach students what we claim to teach them: workplace communication skills. Many students are required to transfer their learning from the classroom to the workplace. The communication instruction does not require transfer, because it reflects the setting in which the students will apply their enhanced skills."

"The thing that sets us [ISyE] apart is that we don't assume that we know what is needed in the workplace," she continues. "We ask the experts, those IE grads who are working: 'What are the most important things you write and create on your job?' Then we ask them about the purpose, the audience, the exact steps they are taking to create the different materials." One of her interview subjects explained that he found out who was going to be at each meeting and interviewed them as to their expectations. By researching and preparing information, and placing it within the notes section of a PowerPoint presentation, he can anticipate and answer most questions.

Learning to read and interpret physical expressions is another challenge for successful communicators: using eye contact, avoiding distracting gestures, transitioning topics smoothly, responding to evidence of dissatisfaction. "There are times when an IE has to work with people on the line and explain change," says Norback, "So they have to read where there is dissatisfaction — a frown, or a questionable look — and meet that head on." Daydreaming is another side effect of poor communication, says Norback. "We've taught students how to bring audience members back and grab their attention so that they stay with you."

Students are particularly interested when recent graduates relate their experiences in the workplace. Scott Sherris co-oped with UPS before being hired full time. "Part of my job is to bring our company kicking and screaming into a new era of communications," he says. "Now, we get too much information, and we get it immediately. We don't have a long time to deal with it before new information comes in. We are able to make changes that we never could before, so it makes the job of an IE bigger — it is more time-based and a little less analytical, I think."

Ryan Ogden enjoyed his stint as a panel member, although returning to campus in a suit was slightly rattling. He plans to work further with Dr. Norback on the communication program. "I remember my first month or so on the job, figuring things out on my own," he says. "There was no basis as to what to expect from professionalism, conducting meetings — and communication is a major part of that."

Hayne McCondichie, a former newspaper editor and one of the alumni who invested in the project, is pleased at the progress being made on workplace communication within ISyE. "There is nothing more valuable in the world than good communication skills," he said. "If I had to criticize my Georgia Tech education, that's what was missing."

Not anymore.



• Summer 2003 Engineering Enterprise Table of Contents
• Engineering Enterprise Home Page



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