“Professionally Speaking” Vicki Staton Dave Kohn Lockheed Martin Corporation.

“Professionally Speaking”

Vicki StatonDave Kohn

Lockheed Martin Corporation

Purpose Describe importance of verbal

communications in the professional environment

Discuss different engineering career paths and the importance of communications skills

Provide “real world” experiences Most of all, have an interactive

dialogue with you

Key Topics The impact of strong verbal

communication skills The relationship between presentation

skills and career progression Effective Presentation Fundamentals

Do’s and Don’ts A New Paradigm: The Oral Proposal

So…

What is your experience with presentations?

What issues would you like to discuss today?

Communications in the Professional World Strong verbal communications are an

essential skill in the business world As future technical and business

leaders, your success will depend greatly on how well you communicate

TCC is an opportunity to practice this skill in a relatively safe environment

Impact on Career Progression Question: Can you succeed technically

without these skills? Great technical skills, weak communications

skills Destined for “back room” engineering positions Will not advance up the technical career ladder

Great communications skills, less technical Very strong leaders if able to effectively leverage

technical team members Strong technical and communications skills

Rising Stars!!!

Three Major Career Tracks Pure Technical

Technical Management

Program Management

Technical Career Path Typically your first early career position Very hands on

Example: Writing object oriented Java software from an engineering software specification

Product development Will typically involve varying degrees of

technical leadership as experience grows Requires continued technical learning Career time period: First year to

retirement!

Technical Management Path Typically achieved after demonstrating

technical leadership on a team Less hands on but still close to the

technical details Must have excellent technical,

communication and people skills Typical Responsibilities:

Personnel management of a team (e.g. 5-20 engineers)

Technical, cost, budget responsibility for a product

Career time period: Year 4 to retirement

Program Management Path Typically achieved after demonstrating

technical leadership and management Less hands on but still close to the

technical details Must have excellent communication

skills business sense, leadership, and people skills

Typical Responsibilities: Primary customer interface Held accountable for ultimate program

success and resulting profit or loss Career time period: Year 7 to retirement

Which Path Pays More?

What’s your vote? Pure Technical Technical Management Program Management

Which Path Pays More? Base pay and incentives are based

on the market value of the job The key factor affecting the market

value of a job: supply and demand of your skill set

The same pay scale may apply for all three paths and is based on level of responsibility

Engineering Team Members

Lead Engineers

Chief Engineers (Medium/Small Programs)

Chief Technology

Officer

Technical Track Management Track

Chief Engineers(Major Programs)Research Fellows

Chief Executive

Officer

Line of Business Managers

Program Managers(Large Programs) Sr. Tech Managers

Program Managers (Medium/Small Programs)

Technical Managers

Compensation is Based on the Value of Position to the Company

Compensation is Based on the Value of Position to the Company

Common Career Path Discriminators

While key skills between the paths vary somewhat there are some common discriminators: Technical background Problem solving / calculated risk

taking Leadership Communication skills

Effective Presentation Fundamentals Preparation

What is your message? Who is your audience?

Peer engineer Mid-level internal manager Executive decision-maker Customer

Does the audience have any “quirks?” What presentation style will work best? How much time do you (really) have? Have you anticipated real-time impacts?

Effective Presentation Fundamentals Delivery

Personal appearance – first impressions really do last

Style Formal vs. informal Interactive vs. non-interactive Humor – yes or no?

Coverage of material – how low do you go? Being more than “one viewgraph deep” Consistent, compelling story

Controlling the presentation – beware the masked briefer in the audience

Handling Q&A – if you don’t know, take an action!

Effective Presentation Fundamentals Follow-up

Meeting minutes Timely action item closure Personal follow-up for critical items Informal feedback Lessons learned for next time

Common Mistakes Lack of preparation!! Level of detail issues

Information overload Insufficient detail

“Chartsmanship” issues Beware spell-checker tools! (Lockwood =

locoweed) Last minute changes

Arrogance vs. Confidence – “incumbent - itis”Failure to get the message acrossFailure to get the message across

Oral Proposals The new paradigm for the competitive

landscape Normally, technical / management / cost

WRITTEN volumes Oral Proposal Structure

Rigid chart counts and time constraints Fixed / mandated number of presenters Limited documentation Evaluation/Grading of charts and/or voice

track

Oral Proposals (cont’d) Unique Issues

Preparation Much more rigorous – LOTS of rehearsals! Video tapes – YUK! Selection of presenters critical

Choose wisely, if you’re lucky enough to have a choice

Consider Oral Team breadth and depth Orals coaches can be very helpful Charts may be more detailed

Oral Proposals (cont’d) Unique Issues (cont’d)

Delivery Consistency across team is critical

(format, style, content) No real-time interaction allowed

Follow-up via formal Q&A or “Pop Quiz”

Getting the Message Across

“Our world class SE approach is backed up with 25 years of heritage experience…”

“We have staffed this program with national experts from all over the world…”

“We have driven unique innovation into every aspect of our proposed design…”

Unsubstantiated claims… How will this apply to my job?

$$$ - Will they really be available?

Why haven’t you been doing that all along?

What You Said What They Heard

Summary /Wrap-up Your technical and presentation skills will

greatly influence your career progression Preparation is KEY!

Know your audience Do your homework Be the subject matter expert Know the constraints (time, equipment, etc.) Anticipate real-time changes Practice, practice, practice!

Presentations and verbal skills are becoming more important, not less as one might expect with electronic communication

If this is a weak skill, look for opportunities to PRACTICE!!