Constituencies, Communication, and Civil Engineers

by Dennis Randolph, (M.ASCE), Managing Director; Calhoun County Road Commission, Calhoun County, MI,



Part of: Civil Engineering for the Community

Abstract:

Go to work for a local government and the first impression you have is, there are many people in the game. Advice, suggestions, opinions, guesses, and sometimes even threats come from every direction. The diverse and sometimes covert nature of this information makes it harder to understand than any technical data set you will ever come across. Furthermore, the way you respond to this information has the potential to cause more problems than anything you may ever construct. Thus the key to your success is really dependent on how well you communicate. This is so true that civil engineers should really think of themselves as communication engineers, because the crux of our work is working with ideas flowing back and forth between people.

Subject Headings: Professional development | Local government

 

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