Improving Communication and the Workplace with Meagan Pollock (A Chat with Cross-Functional Experts)

Communication challenges in engineering? Dianna Deeney interviews Dr. Meagan Pollock about improving communication and the workplace. They explore how improving communication within cross-functional teams involves active listening, continuous learning, and adapting communication styles to create a more inclusive and productive environment.

This interview is part of our series, “A Chat with Cross Functional Experts”.

About Meagan

Dr. Meagan Pollock began her career playing with light projection on tiny, microscopic mirrors as an engineer for Texas Instruments. Through her company, Engineer Inclusion and Engineered Organizations, she now utilizes metaphorical projectors and mirrors to shine a light on micro and macro social systems that, when adjusted, improve student and employee success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. A TEDx speaker, author, and a past recipient of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, Meagan holds a PhD in engineering education from Purdue University, an MS in electrical engineering from Texas Tech University, and a BS in computer science from Texas Woman’s University. As an engineer turned educator, Meagan focuses on helping others intentionally engineer inclusion® in education and the workforce.

Meagan and Dianna talk about

Diversity Drives Better Outcomes: Diverse teams consistently demonstrate improved results, leading to better design, products, and market success. However, Dr. Pollock’s driving motivation extends beyond the business case, emphasizing the ethical imperative to create environments where everyone feels valued and can contribute their best.

High-Performing Teams Prioritize Communication: Dr. Pollock cites research from Ron Friedman (Insight 80/Harvard Business Review) revealing that high-performing teams consistently engage in communication-driven practices like bonding, authenticity, appreciation, collaboration, and proactive conflict resolution.

Communication Styles are Shaped by Diverse Factors: Individual communication styles are influenced by personality, culture, upbringing, education, and lived experiences. Recognizing these differences is crucial for effective communication within diverse teams.

The Role of AI in Communication: While AI tools can aid in refining written communication, Dr. Pollock cautions that human awareness and skill are still essential to address the nuances of high-context vs. low-context communication styles.

Continuous Growth and Expansion: Dr. Pollock encourages professionals to actively seek out opportunities for continuous learning and exposure to diverse viewpoints through conferences, podcasts, social media, and interactions with individuals from different backgrounds.

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Myths of Product Development – Part 2

There are myths of product development that Quality can help with.

In the previous Part 1, we talked about how we cannot treat the product development process like a manufacturing process. But, there are ways we can apply Quality to the product development process without doing this. Quality can help with early concept development, to evaluate data, and to manage teamwork.

Listen to this Part 2 as we continue to unpack Harvard Business Review’s “The Six Myths of Product Development” by Stefan Thomke and Donald Reinersten. We review the final three of the six myths in the article, revealing the misconceptions around timing development cycles, getting things right the first time, and adding many features.

Discover how quality thinking and systems approaches not only enhances collaboration but also improves user experience from the ground up. By integrating insights from the concept phase, teams can make more informed and strategic decisions throughout the development lifecycle.

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Myths of Product Development – Part 1

There are myths of product development that Quality can help with.

How do we integrate quality with product development? Using quality tools and techniques early in the design phase can lead to more successful outcomes. But we cannot do it by treating the product development process like a manufacturing process.

Listen to this Part 1 as we unpack Harvard Business Review’s “The Six Myths of Product Development” by Stefan Thomke and Donald Reinersten. We review three of the six myths in the article, revealing the misconceptions around resource allocation, batch processing, and rigid development plans.

Join us as we review why treating a product development process like a manufacturing process is riddled with pitfalls. The reasons why it doesn’t work provides us understanding to what we CAN use quality tools and techniques to do to improve product development.

This is Part 1. Tune into the next episode for Part 2, where we will review the remaining three myths of product development.

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Engineering Careers: A Panel Discussion with ‘Brilliant!’ and ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’’

Join Steven Giako and Dianna Deeney in a panel discussion of central themes in the books Brilliant! Shuji Nakamura And the Revolution in Lighting Technology and How to Win Friends and Influence People.

How do these two books relate with one another, and what lessons can be learned by combining and contrasting their messages? How can the story in Brilliant! relate to the advice given in How to Win Friends and Influence People? What are potential lessons learned for engineers today who are leading in the edges of innovation?

The reviewers explore these two books together by combining common themes for discussion points and add their own experiences from their engineering careers. Their goals are to link literature to current-day challenges and for participants to:

• Gain different perspectives, both from literature and from the reviewers.
• Get inspired toward action: to try something new, read one of the books, or make new connections with others.
• Inspire others in their engineering work.

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Revolutionize Your Technical Presentations: Mastering the Assertion Evidence Model and the Six P’s Framework

Can the way you present technical information drastically impact decision-making? Absolutely. In our latest podcast episode, we explore transformative methods that can elevate your technical presentations to a whole new level. Instead of relying on lifeless bullet points, the assertion evidence model encourages you to make clear recommendations at the top of each slide, coupled with compelling graphical evidence. We also delve into the six P’s—Perspective, Problem, Principle, Proposal, Proof, and Process—that serve as the backbone for structuring your presentation. These elements not only enhance learning but also facilitate more informed and productive discussions within your team.

If the thought of presenting to your team makes you anxious, we’ve got you covered. We’ll share practical advice to boost your confidence and help you deliver your findings more effectively. By focusing on the value of your insights and using the six P’s framework, you’ll be well-equipped to engage your audience and convey crucial information. As we approach a busy season of deadlines and presentations, challenge yourself to adopt these methods for the benefit of your team.

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Prioritizing Customer Satisfaction in Product Design (the Kano Model)

How do you balance customer wants with project constraints? If your customer-facing teammates are saying our customers want this, that and the other thing, which ones do we prioritize over others?

Not all features are equal in the eyes of our customers. And not all features are value-added, either.

In this episode, we delve into how to prioritize customer wants using the powerful Kano Model, a tool that maps customer satisfaction against the implementation of product features.

You’ll learn how to differentiate between essential and non-essential features, ensuring that your design truly resonates with your customers. This episode walks through the intricacies of the Kano Model’s two-by-two matrix and the different satisfaction levels represented by various lines and curves.

Too complex? We break it down. Prioritize your features based on their impact to the customer using their voice. Then, consider how well you want to implement that in your design using the Kano Model.

Get ready for practical tips and proven strategies to enhance your product’s value while managing cost, time, and design trade-offs. This episode is an introduction to the Kano Model for design.

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Maximizing Meeting Value and Participation

Our team is saying “No” to our co-work session.

We want to have a working meeting with them to get important information and make decisions. Since they declined, now we are missing an important viewpoint and source of design inputs! Plus, it could prove disastrous, later, when we have a pass/go decision on our concept designs.

In this week’s episode we talk about ways to overcome this challenge, beyond typical schedule availability. Tune in as we uncover practical strategies that make co-working sessions truly valuable which will help us in maximizing meeting value and participation.

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Data Visualization Tips to Improve Analysis Skills

Can visualizing your data be the game-changer you’ve been missing?

Discover why plotting isn’t just a step in data analysis, but a crucial practice that can reveal uniformity, natural variations, and even potential flaws in your test methods. Learn about the importance of recognizing multiple failure modes and how to avoid common pitfalls such as mishandling outliers and making incorrect assumptions. This episode is packed with actionable advice to enhance your decision-making process.

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Effective Team Meetings: From Chaos to Cohesion

In today’s fast-paced and highly competitive environment, team meetings can often feel like a necessary evil. They can be messy, complicated, and sometimes a complete waste of time. However, in this episode, we reveal how to turn these often-chaotic gatherings into cohesive, productive, and efficient sessions.

One of the primary focuses of this episode is the application of Six Sigma, continuous improvement, product development, and project management strategies to team meetings. The podcast discusses how successful facilitators utilize similar techniques to transform the way ideas are generated, examined, and prioritized. By breaking down the process into discovery, examination, and prioritization phases, team meetings can become a fertile ground for creativity and actionable decisions.

In addition to these methodologies, the podcast provides real-life scenarios to illustrate how these techniques can be applied. For instance, it discusses how to break down an FMEA into manageable parts and conduct separate meetings for each part. This ensures that each aspect of the FMEA is thoroughly examined and that the team can focus on specific issues without being overwhelmed by the entire process.

Overall, this podcast episode provides a comprehensive guide on how to transform team meetings. By focusing on discovery, examination, and prioritization, and utilizing tools like affinity diagrams, tree diagrams, and fishbone diagrams, teams can ensure that their meetings are productive, collaborative, and efficient. The episode also emphasizes the importance of staying organized and breaking down complex issues into manageable parts, ensuring that every team member’s input is valued and that actionable decisions are made.

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Unraveling QA, QC, Quality Assistance, and Quality 4.0

I’m sure you’ve heard it before:

Quality is everyone’s responsibility.

You’ve also heard the terms “quality assurance” and “quality control”. Have you heard of “quality assistance” or “Quality 4.0?

What’s the difference between all of these terms, especially with quality assurance and quality control, the two oldest terms in the list?

As a designer, how are you supposed to interact with these terms? If quality is everyone’s responsibility, then what are yousupposed to do for quality assurance and quality control? Are there different ways you’re supporting each of these ideas inhow you design?

How does quality assistance and Quality 4.0 fit into the design picture?

Let’s explore some official definitions, the changes in quality that led to the quality assistance and Quality 4.0 terms and givesome context of quality with respect to design.

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Simplifying Probabilities for Better Decision Making

Ever find yourself stuck trying to gauge the likelihood of an event?

What if you could transform your approach to probability assignments with just one simple trick?

On this episode of Quality During Design, we talk about simplifying probabilities for better decision making. We uncover a method to assign probabilities and occurrence ratings during preliminary assessments.

We share a technique that involves breaking down an event into smaller, more manageable parts, helping you understand and analyze it better. This method makes it easier to assign likelihoods because it provides better understanding of the event, clearer context, and consideration of what may drive things to happen.

Then, we relate these parts to conditional probabilities. We offer example explanations and practical applications to help you grasp conditional probabilities.

Plus, for those looking for additional resources, we have a cheat sheet that can further simplify these concepts for you. Not a subscriber yet? Visit qualityduringdesign.com to sign up and start receiving valuable insights directly in your inbox.

Join us to learn how these techniques can simplify probabilities, improve your assessments, and boost your team’s decision-making.

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From Solo to Collaboration: Lessons from Nobel Laureate Shuji Nakamura and Dale Carnegie

Are you harnessing the power of collaboration in your professional life? What could Shuji Nakamura, the Nobel Prize-winning engineer behind the blue LED, teach you about teamwork and career growth? Discover how transitioning from an independent researcher to a collaborative leader can elevate your professional journey.

Join me, Dianna Deeney, as I share insights from a recent event co-hosted for the IEEE Philadelphia Professional Communication Society. We’ll uncover valuable lessons from the books “Brilliant!” by Bob Johnstone and Dale Carnegie’s classic “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” both of which spotlight the transformative power of teamwork and communication.

Learn about Shuji Nakamura’s career evolution and find out how his story parallels many of our own professional paths. I’ll also dive into my personal shift from solitary work to embracing collaboration in quality engineering. By leveraging quality tools for better communication and idea sharing within cross-functional teams, you too can drive more successful engineering and design projects. This episode is packed with actionable advice and inspiring anecdotes to help you thrive in your professional life.

Don’t miss out on knowing THE baseline approach that can lead to collaboration success!

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