Engineering Communication Skills

𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬. 𝐌𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬. A techie in a hoodie can build the product but can they communicate its value ? Last week, I had the opportunity to train the brilliant team at Gemini Solutions Pvt Ltd and our core focus was one skill that is no longer optional in the tech world: 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 Because here’s the truth The era of “Let the engineers code quietly while someone else talks to the client” is over. Today: Everyone is client-facing Everyone influences outcomes Everyone needs to articulate, align, and collaborate Why Communication is now a Core Tech Skill Studies show: 🔹 86% 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 & 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 (𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦) Communication is no longer a “soft skill”. It’s a power skill. A business differentiator. Even the Best Tech Companies Got It Wrong (Before They Got It Right) Case Study 1 — Google The early Google engineering culture prioritized IQ over EQ. Teams were brilliant but worked in silos. Communication was “minimal but efficient”… until efficiency started costing them innovation, speed, and morale. ✅ Fix: Project Aristotle introduced structured communication rituals — clarity in meetings, psychological safety, and BLUF-style concise updates. Result? Team performance surged. If global tech giants needed to fix this… 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐠𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬-𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬? The 3 Powerful Tools We Practiced at Gemini Solutions : Here are the same principles the team walked out with — ready to apply: 𝐁𝐋𝐔𝐅 (𝐁𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐦 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐔𝐩 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭): Say the most important thing first. No long build-up. 𝐒𝐂𝐐𝐀 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤: A structured way to explain ideas clearly: Situation →Complication → Question → Action (Removes ambiguity. Builds clarity. Saves 30–40% meeting time.) 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲: Instead of “Sorry for the delay”, try “Thank you for your patience — here’s what I’ve done to resolve it.” Small shift. Huge impact on trust. The Need of the Hour for Tech Talent Communication today means the ability to: • express an idea clearly • understand client needs • collaborate across functions • agree, disagree — respectfully • persuade, influence & lead Coding builds the product. Communication gets it funded, adopted & scaled. What is your biggest challenge in communication? #communication

Soft costs (e.g. ‘our solution will save your team five hours a week!) aren’t nearly as persuasive as you think. An executive will think: “I’m paying them to spend their time working on that problem whether it’s there or not.” For soft costs to be convincing, you need to have validated a better way for those employees to spend their time. Weak example: “We can save your engineers five hours a week if they no longer need to worry about database maintenance. That’s $500k a year of savings, which is 2.5x more than our solution costs.” The executive will think: “Part of my fixed cost (salary) is to pay them to maintain the database. I pay them the same, even if they aren’t working on that anymore. I still pay that $500k of salary, and now I’m adding $200k more for a new product.” Better example: “We learned from your VP of Eng that if your engineering team had an extra five hours per week to focus on [new product], you’d be able to launch one month early. Your VP of Product estimates the revenue impact of the early launch to be $2 million.” Take your business case from, “we’ll save your team time” to “you’ll accomplish x and generate $$$ with the time saved” and watch your win rate increase.

When I assess team dynamics, I never ask “what’s your communication process?” Instead, I ask:   - Who gets to disagree here? - Who offers the ‘obvious’ idea? - Who names the elephant in the room? - And who pushes things forward when no one’s ready? These aren’t personality traits but team conversation roles. And David Kantor’s research shows that high-performing teams cycle through 4 roles in real-time conversations: 1. Initiator - proposes direction 2. Supporter - builds on the idea 3. Challenger - tests assumptions 4. Observer - brings perspective But here’s what’s not obvious: These roles are not titles, archetypes, or fixed styles. They’re functions and they only show up when the team culture allows them. And that’s where 🧠 team psychological safety comes in. When it's high: - The Challenger dares to disagree without fear of judgment - The Observer can name what others avoid without being dismissed - The Supporter feels safe amplifying ideas, not just agreeing - And the Initiator doesn’t dominate out of silence, but lead within dialogue Because effective team communication isn’t about being present in the room and talking. It’s about ensuring the right mix of roles (!) shows up at the right time. P.S.: Which of these roles is missing (or overused) in your team? 📊 Studies: Kantor, 2012; Edmondson, 1999.

Tactic 2 for influencing stakeholders from Jules Walter: Frame your message from their POV (not yours) It’s more effective to speak their language and demonstrate how your proposal will help them reach their goals, not yours. Stakeholders are focused on their own problems and are more receptive to proposals that address what’s already top of mind for them. A few years ago, when I was leading Monetization at Slack, we began to encounter diminishing returns in our product iterations, and we needed to take a bigger swing to re-ignite revenue growth. To do that, I spearheaded a controversial project to experiment with a new approach to free-to-paid conversion. The CEO, Stewart Butterfield, had strong reservations about the project. I knew from his previous statements that he didn’t want the company to be thinking about ways to extract value from users, but rather ways to create value for them. We had scheduled a review with the CEO and a few of his VPs to discuss the proposal. Since he was intensely user-driven, I framed the entire proposal around the benefits it would have for users (the CEO’s POV) rather than emphasizing the revenue impact of the project (our team’s goal). I started the meeting by anchoring the proposal on user-centric insights that we shared in a deck: - “About 10% of purchases of Slack’s paid version happen from users in their first day on Slack.” - “Paid users find more value and retain better. Yet we make it hard for people to discover that Slack has a paid version that’s more helpful.” - “How do we help new teams experience the full version of Slack from the start?” Once we framed the issue with this user-centric lens, the CEO was more open to our proposal and let us try a couple of experiments in this new direction. This user-centric framing also got the cross-functional team more excited and set an aspirational North Star with clear guardrails, which then enabled various teammates to contribute productively to the project. After we tested two iterations of our monetization experiment, we landed on a version that resulted in a significant increase in revenue for Slack (a 20% increase in teams paying for Slack) and we used what we learned to shift Slack’s monetization strategy into a new, more successful direction. Full set of tactics here: https://lnkd.in/gezP2EDw

I was Wrong about Influence. Early in my career, I believed influence in a decision-making meeting was the direct outcome of a strong artifact presented and the ensuing discussion. However, with more leadership experience, I have come to realize that while these are important, there is something far more important at play. Influence, for a given decision, largely happens outside of and before decision-making meetings. Here's my 3 step approach you can follow to maximize your influence: (#3 is often missed yet most important) 1. Obsess over Knowing your Audience Why: Understanding your audience in-depth allows you to tailor your communication, approach and positioning. How: ↳ Research their backgrounds, how they think, what their goals are etc. ↳ Attend other meetings where they are present to learn about their priorities, how they think and what questions they ask. Take note of the topics that energize them or cause concern. ↳ Engage with others who frequently interact with them to gain additional insights. Ask about their preferences, hot buttons, and any subtle cues that could be useful in understanding their perspective. 2. Tailor your Communication Why: This ensures that your message is not just heard but also understood and valued. How: ↳ Seek inspiration from existing artifacts and pickup queues on terminologies, context and background on the give topic. ↳ Reflect on their goals and priorities, and integrate these elements into your communication. For instance, if they prioritize efficiency, highlight how your proposal enhances productivity. ↳Ask yourself "So what?" or "Why should they care" as a litmus test for relatability of your proposal. 3. Pre-socialize for support Why: It allows you to refine your approach, address potential objections, and build a coalition of support (ahead of and during the meeting). How: ↳ Schedule informal discussions or small group meetings with key stakeholders or their team members to discuss your idea(s). A casual coffee or a brief virtual call can be effective. Lead with curiosity vs. an intent to respond. ↳ Ask targeted questions to gather feedback and gauge reactions to your ideas. Examples: What are your initial thoughts on this draft proposal? What challenges do you foresee with this approach? How does this align with our current priorities? ↳ Acknowledge, incorporate and highlight the insights from these pre-meetings into the main meeting, treating them as an integral part of the decision-making process. What would you add? PS: BONUS - Following these steps also expands your understanding of the business and your internal network - both of which make you more effective. --- Follow me, tap the (🔔) Omar Halabieh for daily Leadership and Career posts.

I watched a team miss a $250,000 opportunity because of a simple communication breakdown As a team dynamic coach working with organizations across industries, I've seen this scenario play out countless times. Recently, a client was struggling to meet client expectations. They had talented individuals, strong expertise, and a clear strategy. Yet something wasn't clicking. After observing their interactions, the issue became clear: they weren't speaking the same language. Their director was focused on timelines and results, communicating in direct, no-nonsense terms. The creative lead communicated through possibilities and relationship-building, often skipping details. Their data analyst shared concerns in complex reports few took time to understand while the client liaison concentrated on maintaining harmony. Different communication styles. Different priorities. All valuable, but completely misaligned. ✅✅ Understanding these four distinct communication styles is transformative for any team: 1. Controllers: Direct, decisive, and results-oriented. They value efficiency and bottom-line impact 2. Promoters: Enthusiastic, imaginative, and people-focused. They thrive on possibilities and building relationships 3. Analyzers: Methodical, detail-oriented, and data-driven. They seek precision and logical solutions, and prefer to thoroughly evaluate before deciding 4. Supporters: Empathetic, patient, and team-focused. They prioritize group harmony and ensuring everyone feels valued. They often ask "How does everyone feel about this approach?" What transformed this team wasn't a new project management system or restructuring. It was awareness of these styles. When I helped them recognize and adapt to these patterns, something remarkable happened. 🌟🌟 The director started providing context behind deadlines. The creative lead documented specific action items. The analyst delivered insights in more accessible formats. The liaison created space for constructive challenges. 🌟🌟 Within weeks, their efficiency improved by 30%. Client feedback turned overwhelmingly positive. And they secured a contract renewal worth three times their previous agreement. This pattern repeats across every successful team I work with. The differentiator isn't talent or resources – it's communication awareness. Understanding your natural style and recognizing others' preferences creates the foundation for exceptional teamwork and professional growth. What's your natural communication style? Sign up for my newsletter for weekly insights on elevating your communication effectiveness: https://www.lift-ex.com/ #communication #team #performance #professionaldevelopment #leadership #cassandracoach

Most engineers spend years trying to get a seat at the table. Then they finally get it and make the same mistake immediately. They show up and act like builders in a room full of decision makers. Here's what that looks like in practice and how to fix it: Step 1. Stop bringing answers. Start bringing perspectives. - Builders come to meetings with solutions already decided - Decision makers come with a point of view and an open question - "Here's what I'd recommend and here's what I'm still uncertain about" is more powerful than "here's the answer" - Certainty closes conversations. Perspective opens them Step 2. Read the room before you read the data - Engineers default to leading with numbers and technical evidence - At the decision-making level, context and timing matter as much as accuracy - Before speaking, ask yourself who in the room has skin in this decision - The most technically correct answer delivered at the wrong moment loses every time Step 3. Stop defending your work. Start advancing the mission. - The instinct to protect your model, your code, your approach is natural - At the table it becomes a liability - When your idea gets challenged, your job is not to win the argument - Your job is to find the best path forward, even if it isn't yours Step 4. Learn to sit with ambiguity out loud - Builders are trained to solve before they speak - Decision makers are expected to think in public - Saying "I don't have a clear answer yet, but here's how I'd approach finding one" builds more trust than silence - The table rewards engineers who can reason visibly, not just deliver quietly Step 5. Shift your metric from output to influence - Stop measuring your contribution by what you shipped - Start measuring it by what changed because you were in the room - Did the direction shift? Did the team avoid a costly mistake? Did someone make a better decision because of your input? - That is the scorecard that gets you invited back Getting a seat at the table is hard. Keeping it requires a completely different operating system. If you're navigating this transition right now, this is exactly the work I do with engineers. Follow me and let's build that together.

If your mind goes blank when it matters most, your promotion goes with it. One of the questions that my engineering clients ask me the most is: “How do I speak on my feet when someone important puts me on the spot?” They fear rambling and losing credibility. Watching senior people’s eyes glaze over, knowing you have lost them. Then Doug jumps in, summarises their idea, and everyone thanks HIM for the brilliant point. Here’s how to speak to stop your seniors from looking to Doug for answers: The PREP Framework  ❌ Without PREP: "Well, I mean, there are a lot of factors to consider, and I think if we look at the market research, which is still ongoing, but promising, we could potentially see some benefits in terms of positioning,though it's hard to quantify exactly..." (Everyone has mentally left the room) P – Point (State your main idea) “This project solves a key problem no one else has tackled yet.” R - Reason (Explain why it matters) “It cuts down manual work and makes operations safer and faster.” E- Example (Bring in data or a story) “In our pilot, we saved 40 hours a week and reduced errors by 25%.” P - Payoff (Focus on what your seniors care about, eg business value) This improves efficiency by 20% and frees up $1.2M in capacity we can reinvest elsewhere.” Important tip: Start practising PREP in low-stakes conversations first. Here’s how: 1. Put (non-confidential) details of your project in AI 2. Ask it for the 5 difficult questions your SVP may ask  3. Write down your answer without AI (this step matters!) 4. Check answers with AI. 5. Practice until it feels natural Save the infographic below and test it in your next meeting. The engineers I coach use PREP to turn awkward silences into “drop mike” moments. It even includes an AI prompt to help you practise real executive questions before they catch you off guard.

Silence is deadlier than bugs in IT. So here's my 5-part framework to keep clients happy. In IT, people think the biggest sin is missing a deadline. It’s not. It’s disappearing. No update. No email. No, "this might take longer than planned." Silence turns small delays into big problems. • It breeds assumptions • Assumptions turn into frustration • Frustration kills trust I’ve seen projects slip by two months, and the client still walked away happy. Not because the work was perfect. But because every week, they knew exactly what was going on. And people in IT know problems happen. • Servers crash • Timelines shift • Code breaks But communication is the difference between a frustrated client and a loyal one. And silence kills faster than any missed deadline ever will. Now, if you want my communication framework, here's what I recommend to people: 1// Set Communication Expectations Upfront • Define channels: 2–3 preferred methods (email for formal updates, Slack for quick questions, weekly calls for big discussions) • Set response times: “Emails within 24 hours, urgent issues within 4 hours” • Create update schedules: Weekly reports, bi-weekly demos, or milestone check-ins, but make it consistent 2// Be Proactive In Communication • Update before you’re asked, even “everything’s on track” matters • Flag problems early: “This might take an extra day because of X” • Explain the “why” behind updates and changes 3// Translate Technical into Human • Avoid jargon overload • Use analogies: “Like traffic on a highway - too many requests are slowing it down” • Focus on impact: “Making the app load 50% faster for your users” 4// Build Trust Through Transparency • Own the problems: “Here’s what went wrong and here’s our fix” • Provide realistic timelines, under-promise, over-deliver • Show your work: Screenshots, videos, or live demos 5// Listen as Much as You Talk • Ask clarifying questions • Acknowledge concerns • Adapt your style to the client And beyond this, here's what else I recommend you can do: a) This Week: • Define communication channels and response times • Create a simple weekly update template (3 bullet points) • Choose a project management tool with client visibility b) This Month: • Share client communication guidelines with your team • Practice explaining services without jargon • Set up automated project updates c) This Quarter: • Survey clients on communication preferences • Train your team on best practices • Build protocols into onboarding Ultimately, the best IT founders don’t just build great products. They build great relationships. And relationships are built on great communication. Start treating communication as seriously as you treat your code. Your clients will notice the difference. --- ✍ Tell me below: When was the last time proactive communication saved you from a client blow-up?