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Please learn to write

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Re: Please learn to write

#51

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

mgkimsal wrote: post #41
edw519 wrote: post #23

Source of my problems: design issues 5% architecture constraints 5% language shortcomings 1% mental blocks 5% personal time management 4% personal energy 5% communication with others 75% I waste more time just trying to figure out what others are trying to say, sometimes in person and by voice, but mostly in writing. For most emails, I have to click "reply" or call back simply because what you're trying to tell me is…

Similarly, I tell people that I can count on one hand the number of times I've had a project fail (or nearly fail) because I or someone on the team couldn't open a database connection, or write to a file, or shrink an image, or what have you (it's happened, but very rarely, and usually because of some arcane weirdness or a truly incompetent person). Overwhelmingly, projects I've been involved in that failed or nearly…

I work for a large corporation that paid for my Masters in Software Engineering.

Despite that, the most important training I have received is from taking the in-house courses on subjects like Interviewing, making decisions, being effective, basic management skills, etc. The one thing they have all had in common was that they taught (and stressed) better communication skills.

Seemingly simple, "soft" stuff like learning how to listen better has been more useful in my day to day work as a programmer than a technical graduate degree. Go figure!

Re: Please learn to write

#53

Post by thisishugo »

MartinCron wrote: post #46
edw519 wrote: post #23

Source of my problems: design issues 5% architecture constraints 5% language shortcomings 1% mental blocks 5% personal time management 4% personal energy 5% communication with others 75% I waste more time just trying to figure out what others are trying to say, sometimes in person and by voice, but mostly in writing. For most emails, I have to click "reply" or call back simply because what you're trying to tell me is…

Did I just end that sentence with a preposition? A preposition is a perfectly acceptable thing to end a sentence with. Seriously. If you find yourself re-writing it as "with which to end a sentence" you're going to come across as stilted and awkward.

Unless writing for a scientific journal, or some other such formal setting, your goal of clear communication will be best served by using a casual, conversational style that resonates as closely as possible with how you would talk to your reader in person.

That means prepositions are very much something you can end a sentence with. And you can start one with a conjunctive too, if it feels right. The rules of grammar are more like the pirate code than an ISO standard - they're more what you might call guidelines, really.

Re: Please learn to write

#54

Post by grogs »

_delirium wrote: post #28
hkmurakami wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Making the online communications situation worse is the proliferation of "short" communication methods (ex: IM, Twitter, FB Status messages, etc.). Written communication is naturally more challenging than face to face verbal communication. These "short" communication modes make things worse, opening up all sorts of possibilities for misinterpretation and miscommunication. I felt so shackled by IM conversations, that…

I've tried both, and for coding-related stuff, I really dislike phone (or Skype), ranking it just about the worst possible option. I'd much rather IRC or IM, where at least we can exchange code and links and there's a bit of a scrollback buffer. Twitter and FB status messages I put in a different category, because it's difficult to have a proper conversation with them. It's pretty easy to have a proper conversation o…

At my last firm we could share our screen just by giving someone a hyperlink over IM. Sometimes this was really valuable... for coding issues or support issues. Skype has this too, people should use it more.

Re: Please learn to write

#55

Post by drbawb »

mgkimsal wrote: post #41
edw519 wrote: post #23

Source of my problems: design issues 5% architecture constraints 5% language shortcomings 1% mental blocks 5% personal time management 4% personal energy 5% communication with others 75% I waste more time just trying to figure out what others are trying to say, sometimes in person and by voice, but mostly in writing. For most emails, I have to click "reply" or call back simply because what you're trying to tell me is…

Similarly, I tell people that I can count on one hand the number of times I've had a project fail (or nearly fail) because I or someone on the team couldn't open a database connection, or write to a file, or shrink an image, or what have you (it's happened, but very rarely, and usually because of some arcane weirdness or a truly incompetent person). Overwhelmingly, projects I've been involved in that failed or nearly…

+1 on making assumptions.

It's a nasty habit that I've been trying to curb this year, with some effectiveness. Whenever I catch myself making an assumption, I either come up with other assumptions and weight them, or wait until I can get some clarity on the issue.

I find that I have a nasty habit of giving a "voice" to a textual conversation. I'll start reading it as if the other person is happy, or angry. Then I'll continue down that path.

Recently it got to a point where I was seriously convinced that every text a friend was sending me was an angry quip. Every fiber of my being was slowly filling up with anger and resentment. When in fact they weren't angry at all, they were just short on time and words. I was getting upset over an imagined (assumed) problem.

I felt incredibly silly, and that is what made me decide to stop making assumptions in my communications.

Re: Please learn to write

#56

Post by chernevik »

edw519 wrote: post #23

Source of my problems: design issues 5% architecture constraints 5% language shortcomings 1% mental blocks 5% personal time management 4% personal energy 5% communication with others 75% I waste more time just trying to figure out what others are trying to say, sometimes in person and by voice, but mostly in writing. For most emails, I have to click "reply" or call back simply because what you're trying to tell me is…

"This is a rule up with which I cannot put." Winston Churchill

Re: Please learn to write

#57

Post by drbawb »

_delirium wrote: post #28
hkmurakami wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Making the online communications situation worse is the proliferation of "short" communication methods (ex: IM, Twitter, FB Status messages, etc.). Written communication is naturally more challenging than face to face verbal communication. These "short" communication modes make things worse, opening up all sorts of possibilities for misinterpretation and miscommunication. I felt so shackled by IM conversations, that…

I've tried both, and for coding-related stuff, I really dislike phone (or Skype), ranking it just about the worst possible option. I'd much rather IRC or IM, where at least we can exchange code and links and there's a bit of a scrollback buffer. Twitter and FB status messages I put in a different category, because it's difficult to have a proper conversation with them. It's pretty easy to have a proper conversation o…

TBH I find myself enjoying TeamSpeak quite a bit.

I've set up a private server and it's really nice. First of all you can record voice conversations. Secondly it offers chat between users and between channels.

I find that voice communication is really effective, but having the ability to say "Hold on, let me send you this link!" is also crucial.

Re: Please learn to write

#58

Post by _delirium »

hkmurakami wrote: post #38
_delirium wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've tried both, and for coding-related stuff, I really dislike phone (or Skype), ranking it just about the worst possible option. I'd much rather IRC or IM, where at least we can exchange code and links and there's a bit of a scrollback buffer. Twitter and FB status messages I put in a different category, because it's difficult to have a proper conversation with them. It's pretty easy to have a proper conversation o…

I hadn't considered the coding situation, but you're right: coding is something where you need a visual reference to make sure that you're both on the right page. But what about this compromise: Skype voice conversation + skype text-chat for showing each other code snippets.

That can work better than just Skype, but I guess I don't generally see the benefit. As long as all parties are chat-fluent (I've worked with some people who aren't, and then it can be painful, like IMing with my parents), I find IRC discussions better than Skype. Especially true if three or four people are participating; conference calls are much harder to demultiplex, at least for me, with all this time wasted on people accidentally speaking over other people, asking for something to be repeated, etc., etc. And with text, you can grep the logs, too!

Re: Please learn to write

#59

Post by mark-r »

edw519 wrote: post #23

Source of my problems: design issues 5% architecture constraints 5% language shortcomings 1% mental blocks 5% personal time management 4% personal energy 5% communication with others 75% I waste more time just trying to figure out what others are trying to say, sometimes in person and by voice, but mostly in writing. For most emails, I have to click "reply" or call back simply because what you're trying to tell me is…

This is exactly why Jeff Atwood was wrong. If you can solve your own problem instead of having to communicate it to someone else, you've taken away 75% of the impediment to a solution.

Re: Please learn to write

#60

Post by knighthacker »

Duff wrote: post #6
_b8r0 wrote: post #2

Being able to write well appears to be a shockingly lacking skill in my industry (pentesting and forensics). It's a really rare talent when you find someone that is capable of writing a good report in appropriate plain business English. Having that skill is intensely valuable, as I'm sure it is in other areas of IT. How big a role does being able to write well play in your part of the world?

Good writers move up the organizational and/or salary ladder. Good technicians or engineers who cannot communicate end up making the guy who translates whatever they are doing to the customer or management look good.

True. Effective communication is just as important as writing good and maintainable code in my opinion.
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