Week 3 — Quick Revision

Start here Quiz in 10 minutes? Every key idea of Week 3 is on this page.

Why communicate: share your input · get credit for your work · raise issues · provide feedback (including confidential upward feedback on your manager).

Whom to communicate to: find the right person and process. Broken chair at “Wheelderness” → ask a colleague, use the ticketing system; don’t email the CEO.

Tone: always polite. - ✗ “We do not provide accommodation. See local newspapers.” → ✓ “We regret… we will share a few relevant contacts…” - ✗ “Don’t you know how to write in simple language?” → ✓ “I was unable to understand the message. I request you to please clarify…”

Length: be efficient. No build-up, no blaming, no preaching, no blunt orders. - ✓ “I need to register for the course, but missed the last date due to an official activity… please let me know the procedure for late registration.”

Emails: - Carefully decide the list of recipients; don’t copy every senior. Use escalation if needed. - Not social media: no emojis or loose abbreviations; complete sentences. - Well structured: greeting → situation → request → sign-off (name, roll number).

With your manager: stay formal; no personal comments; give clear reports of work done and projection of what’s next.

With your team: fiery messages ✗ (short-term only); clear expectations and deadlines ✓.

With a customer: “Be the service you would like to see.” Don’t argue to win; be clear and polite; you represent the organisation.

Summary: communication is about the message and about you; it affects your organisation and your career. But it can’t replace real work.

Outline: setting → constraints → connecting → illustrations → summary. Re-show the outline to mark progress.

Setting: serious activity · you are being evaluated · reporting a status · conveying an idea · an event that can be repeated · structure based on organisation or event · interactive · specific audience each time.

Constraints: audience (seniority and purpose) and duration (very important; be ready to give it in 2, 5, 10 or 20 minutes).

Connecting with your audience: - Repeat a summary slide from your previous presentation - Separate facts from opinions - Pause to enable decisions - Use familiar formats - Explain what is being shown and how to understand it - Special effects can be distracting - Don’t read from a slide — use a few key bullet points

Illustrations: | Type | Use for | |—|—| | Table | exact values (same decimal places, units) | | Graph | trends (label axes, units, caption) | | Photograph | realism; connects with all audiences | | Drawing | ideas not visible in photos; control complexity | | Schematic | layout of parts without complexity |

• Level of complexity: a drawing can hide unneeded detail (solar panels vs full telescope photo).
• Scale: scale of impact (−50 °C vs 0 °C vaccine storage) and scale of object (person beside wind turbine).

Always end with a summary.

Why writing matters: credit for your work · reference for later · shaping the policy of the organisation.

Why it is difficult: personal background (native language, read later and far away) · lack of knowledge of expectations · “poor” examples (novels hide the answer; reports must not).

Purpose: inform readers · persuade readers · do it efficiently.

Structure: | Part | Contents | |—|—| | Beginning | Title · Summary (key results on top) · Introduction (2–3 lines on why) | | Middle | Details and strategy: chronological, spatial, flow of variable | | Ending | Summary and future perspective |

Language: - Correct word (speed vs velocity; km vs km/h) - Avoid complexity (functionability → function; hitherto → until now; discretized → discrete) - Avoid ambiguity (“This is a symptom…” — this what?) - Be concise (at this point in time → now; at that point in time → then; in light of the fact → because) - Avoid arrogant phrases (“it is obvious”) - Define unusual terms and abbreviations