Engineering news
If you find yourself rewriting other people’s work, reviewing poor quality documents, or taking too long to sign off reports, an upcoming IMechE training course could be for you. Designed to support managers and technical experts, Reviewing Engineering Documents (5 September) will teach you the skills needed to improve the quality and consistency of work produced in your department, while significantly reducing the time spent on reviewing.
Jean Billingsley, who has 25 years’ experience in engineering and project management and has held senior management positions at Rolls-Royce and Alstom, is one of the course tutors. Here, she gives four useful tips for efficiently reviewing engineering documents.
Get everyone on the same page
You're putting the reviewer in a difficult position when the first they see of a document is when someone says “Can you sign this off, please?” I’ve seen this, and it’s not the ideal place to start.
The reviewer should be involved at the beginning of the process, so everyone is on the same page about what document has been created and what it needs to contain, to minimise any rework.
Communicate clearly
Another issue I've seen is where people say things like “Can you just have a look at this for me?” What do you mean by “have a look at it”? Are you asking me to review it? Are you asking me to edit it, or proofread it?
You need to be clear with what you are asking people to do, so you don’t end up with people thinking that somebody else has done what should have been part of their job, or vice versa.
We have very clever engineers working on a lot of engineering documents. For people who are competent with technical work, learning these skills to review documents should be a quite straightforward top-up to their skillset.
Focus on what matters
There are some things that we really should be focusing on, like information control. Do you understand the importance of your role, and the significance of your findings? Does it actually come across?
You can’t lose sight of the big point – if someone gets to the end of a report and asks “So what?”, it has failed to communicate what it needs to say.
I've seen audit style reports that just say, in a very bland tone, that there were findings – you think “Yes, but are these three minor nonconformances, or do we need to shut the plant down right now?”
Keep feedback positive and constructive
When we do the course, we get the delegates to review a document and then give feedback as though they were giving the feedback to the author. They practice how to give feedback in a positive way, recognising what's good, and then what could be improved, so that the author is learning from the experience and still feels ownership.
I’m interested in the psychology of it – if you say to somebody “I think that’s a great report, and it needs a bit more work”, people will be more receptive than when you say “I think that’s a great report, but it needs more work.”
Usually, most of the document is good, so you shouldn't start with the 2% of things that need changing. Keep things in perspective, and recognise the positives.
IMechE’s Reviewing Engineering Documents course runs in London on 5 September and Coventry on 9 December. Find out more and book on the IMechE training page.
Want the best engineering stories delivered straight to your inbox? The Professional Engineering newsletter gives you vital updates on the most cutting-edge engineering and exciting new job opportunities. To sign up, click here.
Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily represent the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.