Importance of Communication Skills for Civil Engineers

This assignment delves into the significance of effective communication skills for civil engineers. It emphasizes the importance of listening, questioning, and providing feedback in fostering successful collaborations with stakeholders, resolving conflicts, and ensuring smooth project execution. The essay explores how these communication skills contribute to building trust, enhancing information exchange, and minimizing misunderstandings within the complex environment of civil engineering projects.

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY ON IMPORTANCE OF
COMMUNICATION SKILLS

The complex skill of communicating is one which is unquestionably a requisite for
organizations and individuals alike to operate, even on the most fundamental level in the socially
dependent world, where the exchange of words/ideas/thoughts between parties is needed to
achieve anything. Some sub-skills under this class are necessary for any workplace field or
discipline. Specifically, within the domain of civil engineering, widespread application of the
three main interpersonal communication abilities of listening, questioning and feedback is
imperative for successful and efficient functionality within the working environment. A key
ingredient within an engineering workplace is honest and open interaction and in absence of
these three skills, the objective is hard to accomplish.
Communication demands conscious listening and is pertinent to civil engineering
settings, which is the reason comprehending its significance has relevance to civil engineers and
their colleagues. While listening is a crucial skill, having a major role in the communication
process, it gets relatively less attention in comparison to other, perhaps situationally less critical
skills. Such oblivious nature is startling, considering the focus on this skills in books of different
disciplines. Some even argue that individuals spend nearly half of their communicative day
listening (Cameron and Devitt, 2016). McCarthy, Trace and O'Donovan, (2014) posit that
listening is different from hearing because the latter is an indeliberate physiological perception of
sound. On the contrary, listening entails voluntary cognitive engagement, wherein the attentive
reception of the listener ensures that message is assessed, understood and retained. Lolli (2013)
adds that listening involves selective differentiation of sounds within the environment. Effective
listening (EL), conversely, is not just passive reception of some sound but entails behavioural
interaction with the person who is speaking. This needs a relaxed and clear state of mind. The
listener must give complete attention to the assessment and retention of the message. EL needs to
the voluntary interpretation of both visual and audio stimuli for obtaining clarification of an idea
conveyed from an external source. EL advocates the sense of a listener’s willingness to engage,
commitment and receptivity, facilitating more productive interactions, higher collaborative
success and relational content (Janasz et al., 2014).
Questioning entails a person asking another person with the intention of obtaining
clarification or desired information in situations like briefings, negotiations, propositions,
presentations, and interviews. Effective questioning (EQ) skills demand awareness and
sensitivity of the interpersonal and situational setting of the interchange, which is utilized to

decide suitable question types. Such context-specific questions differ based on the nature of the
anticipated response, situational settings, cultural factors and social mood. Moreover, EQ skills
are required when asking about the concerns and expectations of stakeholders; inquiring task
details and constraints like resources and time to achieve the planned outcomes. Petrovici and
Dobrescu, (2014) assert that questioning could be a strong soft skill for obtaining insights into
the unsaid and enriches the conversation. Generally inquiring is rewarding and not essentially
combative. Nonetheless, it is fathomed, that human nature entails seeking out limited group
confrontations when encouraged by the sense of a challenge, which results in an increased
competency. This supports the theory that asking gives the control of the exchange to the
questioner plus is a significant negotiation strategy. Tangentially asking questions could be used
to signify to the recipient their message was listened to and gives the opportunity for airing
difference in opinions (Janasz et al., 2014).
Feedback is an integral element of interpersonal communication and adds to improved
harmonized outcomes. The ability to provide, get and request for feedback is a critical skill to
possess. Providing feedback immensely helps those with whom a person works. By obtaining
feedback, people can learn about what others think of them as it is not uncommon to find that a
person’s behaviour is differently interpreted than planned. Asking for feedback demonstrates a
person’s commitment to improvement and the dedication to perform well. Interpersonal feedback
comprises of the ‘suggestion, critique and support given’ between entities as a response to their
analysis of each other’s behaviour and performance (Baker et al., 2013). Feedback is
communicated through written or oral messages. It is also expressed and interpreted via non-
verbal means like body language, gestures and facial expressions. Lai and McDowall (2014)
posit that the efficiency of feedback is dependent on its specificity, accuracy, solution-centric
emphasis, fairness and formality. The circular framework of feedback suggests that if employed
rightly it can rectify performance, inform people about changes, commend and reward
employees, and result in better things. In more general terms, it helps in aligning performance
with overall missions and objectives of the project or the organization.
Civil Engineers (CE) have a considerable role in the society by means of their designs,
development and construction of infrastructure. They need awareness to the social,
environmental and cultural settings in which they function. Obtaining germane information is
key to the efficiency of the process of construction because the inability to handle the

stakeholders’ concerns is likely to result in delays. It is highly crucial to consult relevant
stakeholders at the beginning of the process of designing so that unwarranted setbacks can be
avoided. Setbacks happened due to conflicts of interest with important stakeholder groups
comprising the clients, government authorities, public, environmental groups and colleagues.
Moreover, interpersonal communication happens all through the construction process, hence, it is
beneficial for CEs to use listening, feedback and questioning abilities while dealing with these
groups. Using EL enhances relations with stakeholders. It promotes harmonized productivity by
encouraging mutual rapport and trust, enhances information exchange, and minimizes errors
because of misunderstanding. It is also expedient in de-escalating heated arguments and
negotiations. A CE displaying EL enables their co-workers to voice their opinions and concerns,
thereby channelizing energies in the correct direction. EL fosters the chance for stakeholders to
re-assess their concerns and reach coherent solutions. CEs embodying EL are respected by their
associates, promoting further collaboration and mutual understanding.
Conversely, the ability to question is a strong negotiation tactic which also encourages
collaboration, conflict resolution, amicable exchanges and mutual understanding. A questioning
culture promotes a diverse set of meaningful outcomes which increases the efficacy of CEs. The
intuitive types are known to be more open to multi-layered solutions and tend to be more
cooperative. Such personality type coupled with social cohesion is useful in civil engineering
settings due to the CE’s curiosity and balanced consideration for both actualities and possibilities
(Sarapaivanich and Patterson, 2015). This also translates into theory as, by questioning, the
questioner is mentioning something; perhaps that they do not completely fathom, they want the
speaker to better explain themselves or they are being oratorical for effect.
Evaluative feedback given to the CEs includes important information about the important
behaviour improvement and professional development. On the other hand, provided feedback
enables the CE to look beyond assumptions to better comprehend themselves and how others
perceive them. Feedback is a highly advantageous tool for CEs because it is employed to
enhance services for both existing and future clients. By being attentive to the feedback, CEs
would be in a better position to augment client confidence and the credibility and repute of their
company. Client confidence will enhance when they see that the CE is taking in the feedback,
evaluating it against standards and making changes wherever possible. As a CE it is important to
ensure that they take every chance to get both informal and formal feedback.

References
Baker, A., Perreault, D., Reid, A., & Blanchard, C. M. (2013). Feedback and organizations:
Feedback is good, feedback-friendly culture is better. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie
Canadienne, 54(4), 260.
Janasz, S., Crossman, J., Campbell, N. and Power, M., (2014). Interpersonal skills in
organizations. McGraw-Hill Education.
Petrovici, A. and Dobrescu, T., (2014).The role of emotional intelligence in building
interpersonal communication skills. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 116,
pp.1405-1410.
Sarapaivanich, N. and Patterson, P.G., (2015). The role of interpersonal communication in
developing small-medium size enterprise (SME) client loyalty toward an audit
firm. International Small Business Journal, 33(8), pp.882-900.