Your Reliability Engineering Professional Development Site
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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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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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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Most technical professionals find themselves bogged down by inefficient presentation preparation methods that result in information overload and diluted messaging. We need a better way. Presenting effectively to non-technical professionals is critical for conveying strategic visions, securing stakeholder buy-in, and driving decision-making. Improving the presentation development process results in increased productivity, cost savings, effective communication, and better work-life balance. This article explores ways to streamline the development of better business presentations.
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FINESSE is a fishbone (cause and effect) diagram, a mnemonic, and a mental model. FINESSE stands for Frame, Illustrate, Noise Reduction, Empathy, Structure, Synergy, and Ethics. The FINESSE fishbone diagram is peer-reviewed and battle-tested. Most importantly, it works.
As applied to effective communication, systems thinking is the cornerstone of FINESSE.
A system is a collection of interrelated or interacting parts, each of which can affect the behavior or outcomes of the whole. One defining property of a system is that it provides a function that none of the parts can accomplish by themselves. The corollary is that a system is not the sum of the parts but the product of their interactions. [Read more…]
The bottom line is reliability engineers must balance honesty and transparency with the pressure to meet business and customer expectations. The second E in the FINESSE fishbone diagram stands for Ethics. Three types of ethics are virtue, consequential, and duty-based. The most important aspect is understanding your ethical framework as you make decisions and communicate to others as a trusted advisor. These three tips will help you improve.
Reliability engineers, systems engineers, and other technically trained professionals often support big decisions. Big decisions involve high levels of complexity and uncertainty, Decision makers are driven to seek the advice of an inner circle. Team dynamics overpower individual preferences. The second S in the FINESSE fishbone diagram stands for Synergy. These three tips and a three-minute video will help you improve Synergy.
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Reliability engineers and other technical professionals are challenged when communicating their work to senior management. The FINESSE fishbone diagram provides a system-thinking, cause-and-effect approach for communicating in the face of complexity and uncertainty. The first S in the FINESSE fishbone diagram stands for Structure. These three tips and a three-minute video will help you improve the structure of your presentations and reports.
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Reliability engineers are challenged to effectively communicate their technical information to senior managers and the public. The FINESSE fishbone diagram is a proven, systems-based approach for meeting the communications challenge. The first E in the FINESSE fishbone diagram stands for Empathy. These are four tips to help you improve your empathy and empathetic listening.
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The N in the FINESSE fishbone diagram stands for Noise reduction. Cause-and-effect relationships and systems thinking are essential aspects of any communication system. We normally think of noise in four forms – the way people mentally process information, the types of forums where we present, visual and auditory effects, and communication channels. These three tips and a video clip provide focused examples.
Few technical professionals fully leverage the editing tools or consistently apply the techniques to Google, Adobe, Microsoft, or social media applications. From word count to spoken words to readability, this article touches on key approaches to making your reports and presentations more concise.
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Technically trained professionals often get wrapped up in things like visualization, which distracts us from our mission. Our mission is to provide information to decision makers, and technical professionals are trusted advisors. So, most of our graphics, visuals, and videos should be informational. The I in FINESSE stands for Illustrate. Illustrate includes all the visuals, graphics, videos, and other media used in technical reports and presentations. These three tips and a short video provide focused examples.
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The F in the FINESSE fishbone diagram stands for Frame. Effective communication requires systems thinking. That’s the good news for most technical professionals – you do not need to be perfect but only need the cause-and-effect bones of FINESSE to work together. These are three tips to help you develop the frame.
Focusing on your greatest fear is an alternative way to frame a problem. Framing the problem is also the first step in effective communication using the FINESSE approach for problems with high levels of complexity and uncertainty. [Read more…]
In the upcoming months, look for an article on each of the seven bones of the FINESSE fishbone diagram. I’ll provide three insights and a three-minute video on each bone. You’ll see the cause-and-effect relationships and why communication is a system just like any other type of physical system. The series is a good introduction for those unfamiliar with FINESSE and a refresher for those who are.
A system is a collection of interrelated or interacting parts, each of which can affect the behavior or outcomes of the whole. One defining property of a system is that it provides a function that none of the parts can accomplish by themselves. The corollary is that a system is not the sum of the parts but the product of their interactions.
A communication system is the same as any other system. The good news for technical professionals is that you do not have the best-looking, most eloquent, or smartest person in the room to be an effective communicator. You just need to trust the system.
Assessing critical infrastructure and facilities is essential for maintaining performance as systems age. Mid-level engineers are frequently tasked with leading a reliability assessment with limited training. The good news is that you don’t need to be a subject matter expert to be successful. But you do need a structured collaboration approach and a mental model to help you through the tough spots. Success rises and falls based on the quality of the facilitation. [Read more…]