Your Reliability Engineering Professional Development Site
This series focuses on the approaches and tools to communicate more effectively with senior decision-makers and peer professionals. We’ll cover Framing the problem, Illustrations, Noise reduction, Empathy, Structure, Synergy, and Ethics – plus some pointers on how to be a more effective facilitator.
You get a few raised eyebrows when you claim to be Communicating with FINESSE. Well, at least you do if the person on the other end does not understand that FINESSE stands for something. Or if they do not understand what a fishbone diagram is. Here’s a short review of the origins of FINESSE and how the FINESSE fishbone diagram powers the communication of reliability engineers.
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Communicating effectively is essential when big decisions are at hand, especially for reliability professionals presenting to senior management or boards. However, most of us do not receive formal training or have tailored strategies for big, high-stakes presentations. This guide offers three practical solutions to enhance your presentation skills.
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As reliability professionals, we’ve all had moments where our message falls flat, a misunderstanding occurs, or a simple conversation gets bogged down. It’s usually due to one of the big three barriers to effective communication: language, accessibility, and generational differences. The seven cause-and-effect factors (the “bones” of FINESSE) are designed to overcome all three barriers. However, it’s important to understand the context of each of the three barriers. Here’s a quick look at each one.
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It takes months or years of presentations to make a big decision. The relationships of interacting parts and people will change. Some uncertainties will become more certain, while others will emerge. Ethics are the way we make decisions and, therefore, are the one thing that propels us through our journey. The FINESSE fishbone diagram provides the seven essential elements for effective communication for big decisions. Playing on the theme of a fish, a fish’s tail fin provides it with propulsion. Let’s explore the tail fin of the FINESSE fishbone diagram.
Communicating related to big decisions is a long game. Many presentations involving uncertainties and changing information will be made over months if not years. The FINESSE fishbone diagram provides the seven essential elements for effective communication for big decisions. Playing on the theme of a fish, a fish’s bottom fin provides it with stability. Let’s explore the bottom fin of the FINESSE fishbone diagram.
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Big decisions require months or years to make, which makes communication associated with them a long game. The FINESSE fishbone diagram provides the seven essential elements for effective communication for big decisions. Playing on the theme of a fish, a fish’s top fin provides it with direction. Let’s explore the top fin of the FINESSE fishbone diagram.
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The four-part series of communication tips on “How to Ask Better Questions.” The primary audience is technical professionals who serve as facilitators of team collaboration. However, the approaches and techniques apply to just about anyone. This series summary of helpful tips and insight, including a brief description and a link to each article.
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Asking questions as a technical facilitator is a nuanced and deliberate process. All facilitators guide participants through solutions that are created, understood, and accepted by all. The “by all” part makes the role especially challenging and one that transcends a single session. Asking questions as a reliability facilitator contrasts with persuasion or manipulation, where narratives and emotions carry the day. The long game approach requires empathy, patience, consistency, and an in-depth understanding of context.
“Being a great facilitator requires commitment to your participants.”
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Technical facilitators should avoid provoking others when asking questions to maintain respect, productive effective communication, and create professional relationships. However, there are situations where provocative questions can be effective. For technically trained professionals, the balance lies in knowing when to use respectful inquiry to foster collaboration and when to employ pointed questions to drive necessary change and innovation. The bottom line is to ask powerful questions. This article discusses how to avoid provoking others when asking questions.
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“I can’t believe you asked him if he married a trophy wife,” my colleague stated. “Even more, I can’t believe he answered it without getting mad. Or that he told you so much about his first marriage and himself.”
“Well, the key was that I kept the questions short and followed where he took the conversation,” I replied. “On its own, the trophy wife is a bit over the top. But in the larger context, it flowed with everything he described and his comfort in discussing it with me.”
Effective communication is important in all relationships. The opening story was among business colleagues after a professional association meeting. While it is a bit personal, it reminds us that asking good questions – including in business environments – is personal.
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The urge to ask questions can sometimes feel redundant, especially when you already have the answers. When you’re on the verge of holding back a question you already know the answer to, pause and consider your motives. As a facilitator, what impact are you aiming for? Are you looking to guide the group toward understanding, or are you merely asserting dominance with your knowledge? Assessing the significance of arriving at a predetermined answer versus fostering an environment of collaboration and openness is essential.
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Project managers are challenged by creating, implementing, and maintaining workflows, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and standard instructions. The same applies to maintenance and reliability professionals who develop preventative maintenance (PMs) and job plans. Knowing the difference between each type is the first step. Then, the number of steps in each of these often depends on the audience’s experience, the task’s complexity, and preference. It’s most important for project managers to find the sweet spot.
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Reliability professionals are trusted advisors. Being a trusted advisor to a person making the biggest career decision is an enormous job—as is making a good, big decision. Where most advisors lose the “trust” in “trusted advisor” is when they mix the roles of “advisor” with “decision maker.” Advisors and analysts must first be true to their data and information. How that information is used is not something you control. These are three reasons a reliability professional should not care about the decision.
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A mid-level reliability engineer was disgusted, “Can you believe they didn’t ask me a single question? I knew they wouldn’t understand.” I have heard it so often that it inspired me to create the FINESSE fishbone diagram®. Improving our communication skills makes us better reliability professionals and respected trusted advisors. However, you will know an ineffective communicator by what they say. These are ten things you might hear an ineffective reliability professional say about senior management.
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A professional colleague recently asked me how much technical knowledge someone should have before giving a presentation to senior management. My two-part answer was, “Twenty-five percent of what they know, and soft skills are as important as the facts they know.” Here’s six ways soft skills matter for engineers, technologists, and reliability professionals.
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