Effective Communication Skills for Scientific and Techinical Professionals

by Harry E. Chambers

Book Overview

Flatter, more collaborative organizational structures, combined with the pressure to translate innovative ideas into action quickly, are increasing the need by technical professionals-such as computer programmers, design specialists, engineers, and R&D scientists-to expand their repertoire of communication and managerial skills. In this highly accessible and practical book, Harry Chambers offers a wealth of strategies and tactics for building these...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0738202878
• ISBN13: 9780738202877
• Release Date: December 2000
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Easy read, good info

I found this book to flow well, giving a lot of good tips on how to conduct better communications in a business/commercial environment. The layout is fairly simple to navigate, and sections that are uninteresting can easily be skipped. For those with more constrained time schedules, the book contains notes in most sections that give highlights of the main points that are made. Reading just these notes would give a pretty good review of the material, or exposure that may or may not make a lasting impression. There are quite a few lists and tables that sum up the "need-to-know" points, so I think that reviewing material after reading the full text should be an easy task. I highly recommend this text for anyone that has never been taught effective listening skills, and also recommend the book for anyone else that feels even a slight motivation to improve their inter-personal communication skills.

Lots of advice for every day use

This book explains the difficulties in the communication among technical persons as well as between technical and non-technical persons. From my own experience I know that talking to technical experts can be very painful. At times they just shout at you and don't listen to what you say. They think that their expertise gives them the right to treat everyone else bad. The best chapter in this book is chapter 4 "giving and receiving criticism". In the past I had difficulties to convey my critical comments to technical experts and software developer. As they are very proud of their own work you need to take a lot of care not hurt them. The best way is to explicity state what they have done good before you say what they could do better to even improve their work. I am sure that I can apply these tipps in my work place This book ist must-read for everyone in a technical environment and for everyone dealing with technical experts.

Job Success is Often Contingent Upon Social Skills

It is estimated that 85% of job success is contingent upon social skills. Harry E. Chambers' book, Effective Communication Skills for Scientific and Technical Professionals, has illuminated the very essence of social skills that managers need in order to lead well. This book absolutely captures very specific skills that are necessary for technical and scientific professionals to lead well.It is a fact that individual technical and scientific professionals have great intelligence. But without social intelligence, an intellectually gifted leader may fail. An organization usually cannot reach its highest potential when its individuals work in conflict and without interdependence. Mr. Chamber's book is THE book to buy for its specific, insightful, and pertinent information to assist technical managers in gaining a much higher level of leadership competence.

STP Book

In the past, I always believed I was a good communicator, yet many times I would get a "look" from others that told me they were not with me. So, I purchased the Communication Skills for Scientific and Technical People. Since I am a computer programmer and frequently find myself in situations that need very clear instruction this book fit right into my needs. It was great! What I learned cannot be counted in monetary value and I know that I will continue to use the techniques in my everyday enounters with my peers as well as on a personal level. Thank you Mr. Chambers for your insight and direction.

Even rocket scientists have to communicate clearly

While dealing with scientific and technical professionals (STPs, he labels them) during his management career, Harry Chambers recognized that many of his colleagues were not able to share their expertise clearly enough, whether they were writing and speaking to their counterparts, or whether they were addressing people beyond their areas. So he wrote this book as a guideline for the STPs. I applaud Chambers' writing style--competent enough to please an educated audience, yet folksy enough to illustrate that stuffiness isn't required for explaining complicated ideas. The book underscores the widely accepted observation that people who get promoted because of their expertise may score very poorly when they try to manage a team. To equip STPs for management, Chambers offers advice about how to relate well to your boss, develop listening skills, serve customers, direct meetings, give and receive critism, and other vital topics. As a former university faculty member, I vote for placing this book in every campus library, and making it required reading for those pursuing the B.S. degree. To STPs who have their degrees already, I suggest that Effective Communication Skills for Scientific and Technical Professionals merits your close study. Although Chambers admits that "becoming a highly skilled communicator is not easy," this book makes the assignment easier.