Hi Daniel,
Great question! Communication is so important.
Even before COVID, I was working from home a couple days a week and, even if in the office, my boss was located 200 miles away - so I was pretty much always remote! I find that it is important to be specific in your communication. If someone else gives you a vague response, ask for clarification. Often times I will respond with, "Just to clarify, you said ---, correct?"
Earlier this year I transitioned into a project management position and now I have other people working on projects for me. From a manager's point of view, I have 2 tips:
1. If you find yourself getting stuck in a particular task, please reach out and ask for help! Especially when everyone is working remotely, it's easy for a PM to think that everything is going well. I would rather have someone reach out to me for help than waste half a day trying to figure something out on their own.
2. It's great to get status updates as you complete smaller tasks on a project. If you are in an entry level position or are working on something less familiar to you, then it can be a good idea to let the PM know that you have completed a task. Then they have the option of taking a quick glance at an early stage, and possibly catching an error early on.
3. If you have a lot of questions, consider compiling them into a single email - or maybe schedule a phone call to discuss them. Your supervisor likely has work to complete as well, so getting email after email with small questions can be a bit distracting. You can also consider sending your supervisor a list of assumptions for a particular task if you are concerned about whether you are setting things up correctly.
Ultimately, you might want to ask your supervisor if they have a preferred communication system. They might want you to check in more or less often.
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Kelly Farabee P.E., P.T.O.E., M.ASCE
Project Manager
President, ASCE Savannah Branch
Savannah, GA
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Original Message:
Sent: 09-17-2020 11:58 AM
From: Chad Morrison
Subject: Effective Communication with Supervisors
Ask questions! You are not a bother to your supervisor, you are working under them as a responsible charge. However, there are somethings you need to check before you ask your question:
- Can you get an answer from google faster and is the question common knowledge? Will a peer know off hand first?
- Did you keep your college textbooks? If it's something you are expected to know from college, go back to your books and notes first.
- Can you condense your questions into one that is specific to moving ahead with your work?
- Prepare a possible answer or solution for the supervisor to consider.
If you feel that you are still being a bother, rephrase your question to your supervisor: "Do you have a source, example, or additional data available that you can refer to in your work?" This way you are not asking for anything, only a resource to figure it out on your own.
Supervisors value initiative! That doesn't mean don't feel free to ask questions, just spend sometime formulating them.
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Chad Morrison P.E., M.ASCE
Professional Engineer
Greenville RI
Original Message:
Sent: 09-16-2020 06:33 PM
From: Daniel Bressler
Subject: Effective Communication with Supervisors
As a young engineer, communication and asking questions are highly prioritized. Often times when approaching my supervisor and coworkers I feel that I am bothering them or that I caught them unprepared (even if they insist I am not).
Now that many companies have moved to work online communication is more important than ever.
I wanted to know if entry/associate professionals can share what methods they use to effectively communicate?
Can the supervisors and managers share what steps junior engineers, like myself, can help take to communicate more effectively?
Looking forward to hearing from everyone!
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Daniel Bressler EIT, A.M.ASCE
Junior Engineer
Brooklyn NY
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