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First Job: Interview - Communications (2)

本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛Recently, someone here asked how to answer this interview question: how do you explain technical ideas to a non-technical audience? My answer: avoid jargons, avoid abbreviations, emphasize key points, downplay details, sacrifice accuracy, use examples from the domain of your audience.

Last few days, I thought about the case some more, especially about "downplay details and sacrifice accuracy". I asked myself: why is this necessary and is it the right thing to do? The result of my thinking is a principle in communications which is universally applicable, beyond "explaining technical ideas to a non-technical audience".

The key here is the needs of the audience. Our goal is not to be accurate, or to be truthful, or to be bound by details. Rather, our goal is to satisfy the needs of the audience. Different audience may have different needs. A guy who's only mildly curious would be annoyed if we give him too much details. A guy who only needs enough information to make a decision wouldn't have patience to listen to our lecture. A guy who just needs a simple answer would be frustrated at our explanation and could reach a wrong answer on his own, ignoring our message.

If my neighbor the plumber asks me what a programmer does, I may say that it's just like him programming the VCR. If a banker asks me the same question, I might use the example of a bank machine. I could say that the simple act of withdrawing money from a bank machine requires a lot of work behind the scenes. All these work have to be programmed by a programmer. If someone on Rolia asks me the same question, I'd ask her to describe the steps she has to take in the morning from getting up to going to work. Then I'd tell her that she just did what a programmer would do at work every day.

My neighbor the plumber probably asked me the question out of curiosity, so it's a bad idea to burden him with a complicated answer. The banker may be trying to understand his IT staff, so a detailed somewhat accurate answer makes sense. The Rolian may want to become a programmer, a hands-on session gets the point across.

My first job was working as a programmer for a small company in Toronto. The big boss would often drop in to ask me how it's going. Each time, I would describe in detail what I'd been doing and the problems I had. If I was stuck, I'd explain to him why I was stuck. Sometimes I would talk to him about my ideas in detail: why I don't like some guy's code; how I'd like to redesign the user interface; etc. My boss would often cut me off and ran out. Most of the time, he didn't seem to be listening. And he'd turn cold when I talked about problems. Slowly I realized that he's not interested in what I was doing at all. He just wants to know everything is OK. From then on, every time he dropped in, I'd say everything is great. I'd tell him the good things I've done if he's still listening. No details. No problems unless I solved them already. I stopped talking to him about my ideas - I'd just implement them. Both of us were happier: I was no longer disappointed at his inattention and he was no longer bored at my details or annoyed at my problems.

A while ago, someone on Rolia asked a question regarding TN visa. Most Canadian programmers work in the United States under a TN visa. The requirements are simple: a job offer as a "Systems Analyst"; certain level of education; relevant experience. I've never heard of anyone refused a visa and there's zero implication for the employer. What do you say when the employer asks if you're legally qualified to work in the US or if you require sponsorship? I was asked the question at least once. I told the guy, without hesitation, that I'm legally qualified and I don't need sponsorship. I never even bothered to check if TN visa requires sponsorship in the legal sense. To me, the need of the employer is not to learn about TN visa. Rather, he just wants to know if I break the law by working for him and if he is implicated in any way by hiring me. The answer is no to both. My reply is totally appropriate in satisfying this need, even though it may not be accurate. The alternative is to teach him about TN. And most likely, he wouldn't be interested in learning. And he could decide in a matter of seconds that hiring me is troublesome and he'd want nothing to do with it.

Once a manager in a consulting company asked two programmers why they'd have a meeting again with clients since they just met them a couple of days ago. One programmer said because his stuff doesn't work in client's environment but works on his machine. The manager wasn't convinced. Then the programmer said he's using JBoss but the client uses WebLogic. The manager was still not convinced. Then the second programmer said that they had many questions in the first meeting but the guy from the client wasn't able to answer them clearly. So this time the client is sending a more senior guy. Now the manager was convinced. The need of the manager is to ensure that his programmers appear competent to clients. Having two meetings in three days seems fishy. The first programmer's answer may have reinforced his suspicion. The second programmer reassured him that the problem was on the client's side.

An effective communicator identifies the need of his audience and tailors his message to that needs.

--------- to be continued

(see link for previous articles)更多精彩文章及讨论,请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net
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  • 工作学习 / 事业与工作 / First Job: Interview - Communications (2)
    • Bravo wincity! The bumble Buddha is your fan. Your crtical thinking skill - on top of admirable command of English - is very impressive. It's a bit wasteful that you stay a techie - should try something beyond, such as, eh..., how about Buddhism? :-)
      • 谢谢如来。有一阵老把你当成孙猴子,每次都说,这猴子怎么突然说人话了?
        • Actually cca the monkey monk (after his Journey to the West;-) demonstrates good wisdom from time to time - although people may not always appreciate.
          • 猴子是个好同志。只是觉得他偏于negative,跟齐天大圣绝然相反。
    • 这位同学潜意识里喜欢和女ID对话呀。
      • Notwithstanding your baseless conclusion -- what's wrong with that even if it were true?
        • 平常心,好奇问一下,谁是女匚口?
        • 这位同学潜意识里面很喜欢当领导啊。还好不是baldless, 现在比较怕这个。
          • baldless 有什么不好?
            • 大汗, 要好好向你们学英文乐。baldness
      • 这位同学,没有调查就没有发言权啊。与女ID对话的例子,是事实,不是潜意识。
        • 哦,我已经被定论了说话喜欢想当然。准备保持这个传统了。
    • 嗯写的不错英文非常棒
      • 谢谢老猫。还是你的英文好。
        • 相互吹捧. Both above average Rolians'.
          • 向你学习。have a nice day!
          • 不好意思。我的英文是基于我看的那些teenagers的小说,上不了台面。红卫兵的英文更书面化,更professional.
            • 难怪我的英文进步不大,原来我儿子还没到teenager呀,原来我们看的书太简单了。
              • Percy jackson is good
    • Thanks for sharing!! These are great writings and experience. Keep going
    • I would increase your salary/rate 1 cent, so you'll get $15.01/hr starting first week of June.
    • Kudos! Looking forward to the next one.
    • 看你的英文我还得查字典,说得好,以后向你多学习。
      • 我英文用词基本上是准确的。如果里面有单词你不懂,查出来也好。
    • 还是看中文舒服,碰到长篇大论的英文一般没兴趣看不下去。
      • 关于工作上的事用英文讲有它的好处
        • 这个同意,但是对我来说,国人之间交流怎么都讲不出英文来。如果有老外在,那大家都是英文,如果只有国人在,无论谈论什么都是中文,比如我多伦多帮我做项目的(都是中国人),我在美国和他们电话交流项目,只要没有老外在身边,全部讲中文,当然有夹杂一些英文术语。
          毕竟英文是中国人第二语言,无论如何,很难讲出其中细微之间的语感。

          其实对于别的老外,如果是英语是第二语言,也是有这种情况。我一个项目,有俄罗斯程序员参与,项目的一个赞助人是俄罗斯人,我们远程开会(多伦多,美国和俄罗斯),一般是英文,但是他们如果要讨论比较复杂逻辑和算法,两个俄罗斯人之间用英文交流就似乎有点问题,然后他们就会说,对不起,我们用俄语交流一下,然后哇啦哇啦一通,然后再跟大家解释一下他们的交流结果。我是项目负责人,我不反对他们这样做,因为这有利于项目之间的准确的快速的交流。

          当然有许多人爱用英文写东西,这是很好的,只是不适合我,当然也一些别的人,毕竟看英文不如看中文舒服,特别那个语感,英文和中文会不一样。
      • 码汉字太痛苦。我写了多篇找工的文章,非要用汉字,恐怕我一篇也写不完。这几天对王医生杀人,我有不少话要说,真想说,犹豫了几次,写了三次,都没有成。另外很多话,很多词,英语我会说,汉语却找不到合适的。比如communications,应该是交流或沟通吧,但觉得都不够达意。
        • 听, 读, 写已经不再是俺的障碍, 但是说这一项感到很痛苦, 很难表达到位, 有时侯甚至不知道怎么表达, 好的工作机会也因为这个而无缘, 兵哥哥有什么招? 俺想用礼拜六或是礼拜天找个地方专门练习说英文, 但是至今未果
          • 你要和老外多交流,找机会认识老外,而却那个老外要很喜欢说话,那你口语就会提高很快。其实不要太在意自己英文怎样,老外其实都会明白我们说的。就好象中国人和老外交流中文,老外讲的再差,通过语言表情一般都能明白的。
            另外找工作问题也不全是英文在里面,还有运气问题。
            • 俺整天面对的是印度人, 现在俺操一口标准印度腔英文, 呵呵
          • 你表达不到位,说明你对单词的理解不到位。比如frustrating,你如果认为它是沮丧或泄气,那你很多该用这个词的时候都想不到去用。要想单词到位,唯一的方法是多读多听。看了一百个用frustrating的例子,你就能体会到沮丧或泄气没能表达出的意思。
            • 俺主要的问题是, 阐述和解释具体技术问题很痛苦, 觉得英文很不够用
              • 没PP没真相。来个例子?假如你做web service,给大伙讲讲?几句话,不要太长。不想在这儿讲,给俺PM也行。
        • Ipad 有了手写板之后写中文再不费劲!
          • 难道你就没有什么字忘记怎么写了吗? LOL
            • 用拼音打字,很快的,比如Google拼音。中文发音一般不会忘记,但是很少有手写机会,有些字会忘记,比如买菜时,要手写一些要买的东西,有时会忘掉某些汉字怎么写,那就随便胡乱划一下,自己知道就行了。
              • 我就是用的goole拼音,还是象蜗牛似的。加上本人普通话有些音发的不对,比如z和zh,in和ing,etc,很frustrating(by the way,这个frustrating,汉语里就没有好的对应词)。
                • 中文对语感表达还是比英文强多了(英文比中文更严谨),除非你已经用英文进行日常思维了,否则中文肯定有词能表达很细微的语感的不同。看个人职场经验的文章,我个人觉得是要获得一个感觉和处事的方式和态度,因为很难复制一个相同的场景,
                  这样中文文章似乎更能表达清楚那种只可意会,不可言传的东西。
            • 我中文写的还是不错的。有了手写板,我还能享受一下写中文的乐趣。
          • 打倒iPad!打倒Apple!
        • 你看communications,在中文里可以用交流或沟通,我觉得那个都达意啊,如果正式点,就用交流,如果想要随意点就用沟通。当然如果你觉得你日常生活中已经用英文在思考问题了,那英文就是你的第一语言了,当然你用英文发表看法比较自然了。
          • 交流沟通,都是大词,有促膝而谈的感觉。communications,包揽万象。一举手,一投足,一个眼神,都是communication。”吃过了吗“?”“没“,是communication。”打倒蒋介石,解放全中国!”, 是communication。我还可以说很多,只是码汉字太辛苦。
            • 看来是你的问题。可别跟我说汉字的表达力不如英语啊,砖头满天飞。。。
              • As I said before: let's keep our differences. Both of us will be happier.
      • 同意老猫,事业版用英文写,有好处。常看到有同志在这里看到中文,要问英文怎么讲,说明这里谈的,最终还是要用英文去实现。你没兴趣,说明你没有必要。对有需要的同志,看英文或许比看中文更有用,虽然要花多一些时间。我的文章,虽然长,但一篇一个观点,长的都是例子。
        • 不是没必要看,确实是没兴趣看下去,一般我一打开题目,如果是长篇大论的英文,我一般就关掉了,肯定也错过不少好文章和好经验,这只是个人行为和习惯,我只是将实际情况说出来而已,希望不会对你和别的读者造成不便,总之自己觉得那种方式好,就继续自己的方式。
          • I actually agree with your point that Chinese is much easier to read for us Chinese. I'm not arguing against you at all.
          • 这个我也理解。不过 toad 的英文文章还是绝对值得看的。
      • 这个看了,绝对对你提高英语大有帮助:-)。
    • Very very good article. I read and loved all the articles you've posted. Thanks for sharing.