President’s Notebook
MASTER APEGA
Beyond the Buzzwords and Jargon – Creating Clear Communication and Careful Listening BY JANE TINK, P.ENG., FEC, FGC (HON.) APEGA President
At our Annual General Meeting, I spoke about how much I have enjoyed the opportunity to meet our Members and Permit Holders and how I look forward to meeting many more of them over the coming year. I consider this in- teraction to be an integral part of improving our engage- ment with our membership and other stakeholders. A large part of that engagement depends on how truly effective the communication is between our Asso- ciation and its stakeholders. Engagement and communi-
self-regulation. They are equally important for Members and Permit Holders in their professional practices. When I speak to new Professional Members at Member Induction Ceremonies, I reiterate the necessity, as Professional Engineers and Professional Geosci- entists, to communicate honestly with all stakeholders in a manner that people understand. After all, this is our obligation to our clients, our employers, and all the stakeholders in our projects, including the public. When we stamp our work, that stamp, that symbol,
cation are closely related, both relying heavily on the willing- ness, honesty, and clarity of everyone involved. I have found that each party in a conversation usually believes they are speaking clearly. They’re using their own typical language, complete with their own buzzwords, acronyms, and
ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATION ARE NOT ONLY IMPORTANT FOR THE ASSOCIATION AND THE FUTURE OF SELF-REGULATION. THEY ARE EQUALLY IMPORTANT FOR MEMBERS AND PERMIT HOLDERS IN THEIR PROFESSIONAL PRACTICES.
communicates to anyone who uses or reviews the work that it was performed by a licensed Professional Member and that it can be relied upon to be accurate — that it can be trusted! We must always re- member that it isn’t only the
terminology. The other party is listening with their own filters and language. The question then becomes, “Is either side truly being heard?” The Association’s consultations with Members on our legislative review involved many different forms of communication, including in-person sessions, webinars, surveys, and written material. The reports that came out of these interactions and the feedback APEGA collected are covered in what are called We’re Listening reports, thus signifying that the Association has heard what Members have communicated. I encourage you to read the reports. We believe that we have been listening, but only you, our Members, can verify whether you were truly heard. Engagement and communication, however, are not only important for the Association and the future of
work we stamp and sign but all the work we perform that should achieve this high level of quality and care. Any work done by others that we accept and potentially incorporate into our work needs to be reviewed and checked like we had done it ourselves. We are taking professional responsibility and accepting liability. This should not be done lightly, because we must not violate the public trust we work so hard to earn and maintain. Although most of us, if not all of us, would prefer to deal with the technical aspects of our work — the numbers, the calculations, the test results, the maps — we must, in fact, be able to explain both the benefits and the drawbacks of the work we do to all the stakeholders associated with the project. Some of these stakeholders may be technical experts like ourselves, but others may have little to no technical background.
4 | PEG SUMMER 2017
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker