ECE361
Engineering Practice
Team Skills Communications
ECE 361 Session 3
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Team Skills - Communication
• Meetings Review
• Team Communication
• Project Notebook
• Memos
• Assignments
ECE 361 Session 3
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How to Run a Meeting
•
•
•
•
•
Plan – Why Meet?
Inform – Topics, People, & Data
Prepare – Agenda
Structure & Control – Order
Summarize & Record – Minutes
• These points are not optional!
ECE 361 Session 3
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Team Communications is Both
a Process and a Set of
Products
Issue Agenda!
Plan
1
Memos are usually the
product of action items
assigned at the meeting
Inform
1
Prepare
1
Structure
and
1 Control
1 Meeting Coordinator
or Team Leader
2 Secretary or
Recorder
ECE 361 Session 3
Issue Minutes!
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Stick to Agenda!
Summarize
and Record
1,2
Team Communications Can
Consist of Formal Documents
• In some cases, formal documentation is
required (ece361)
• Discover the applicable standards, and
modify as appropriate
• Get in the habit of using these skills
• Agendas, minutes, and memos are the
primary formal documentation types
(email adaptations as well)
ECE 361 Session 3
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Agenda
ECE 361 Session 3
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ROSE-HULMAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
ECE360 - Engineering Practice
AGENDA TEAM MEETING
Section 0x, Team y
April 1, 2000
2:30 PM, ECE Conference Room
TEAM ROLES:
Team Leader: C.P. Steinmetz
Time Keeper: M. Faraday
Recorder: G. Kirchhoff
Devil's Advocate: E.H. Armstrong
Issue Bin: J. Clerk Maxwell
Gate Keeper: J.R. Carson
2:30 - 2:32 pm
Rep:
Obj:
Proc:
Contact Before Work ..................................................................... (2 / 2 min)
C.P. Steinmetz
Provide time for people coming from class to arrive.
Casual conversation on a topic of mutual interest.
2:32 - 2:35 pm
Rep:
Obj:
Proc:
Review & Approve Minutes .......................................................... (3 / 5 min)
M. Faraday
Approve minutes of March 28 meeting.
Discussion can be deferred to the issue bin, if discussion is needed.
2:35 - 2:37 pm
Rep:
Obj:
Review & Approve Agenda ........................................................... (2 / 7 min)
C.P. Steinmetz
Present outline for meeting activities and obtain suggestions for
improvements.
2:37 - 2:40 pm
Rep:
Obj:
Proc:
Team Maintenance ....................................................................... (3 / 10 min)
C.P. Steinmetz
Review Plus-Deltas and suggest improvements in team procedures.
Guided discussion.
2:40 - 2:45 pm
Rep:
Obj:
Proc:
Business Matter ............................................................................ (5 / 15 min)
E.H. Armstrong
Reach a consensus on action item.
Guided discussion.
2:45 - 3:07 pm
Rep:
Obj:
Proc:
Problem of the Week .................................................................. (22 / 42 min)
J.R. Carson
Work together to solve the problem.
Guided discussion.
3:07 - 3:12 pm
Rep:
Obj:
Proc:
Issue Bin ........................................................................................ (5 / 47 min)
J. Clerk Maxwell
Review unresolved issues and plan agenda for next meeting.
Guided discussion and consensus.
ECE 361 Session 3
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This is a pretty formal
agenda layout, but the
basics are important
to note:
• Meeting title
• Team Name
• Date, time, location
• Attendees, roles
• Agenda topics and
order
• Could use a little
better definition of
what topics involve
sample available on web page
The agenda does no good
if it not issued in time or
has too little information
Minutes
MINUTES
Minutes are the record of what happened at the meeting:
• Thorough (nothing of import is omitted)
• Legible (normally retyped after meeting)
• Timely (made available for review ASAP)
• May be published…
ECE 361 Session 3
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ECE Curriculum Committee Meeting Minutes
6 October 1999, 3:25 pm
Present: F. Berry, B. Black (leader), E. Doering, B. Farbrother, D. Moore, and D. Voltmer
(recorder).
Dan Moore acted as timekeeper for Mark Yoder.
The previous minutes were approved with the word “be” moved from the end of the last complete
line on the page to the end of the next to last complete line.
The focus of the today’s discussion is “What small subset of our stated objectives can be measured
to improve the ECE program?” Bruce Black suggested that we identify objectives within specific
courses for measurements. He envisions that the measurements will be made by course coordinators
and instructors.
The committee agreed that items within objective D1 are essentially checkoffs through the design
sequence course requirements. Items within objective D2 can also be readily checked off from
course requirements.
A consensus was reached that evaluation of senior project reports should be one of our main efforts.
Development of a rubric was proposed. How do we get Gloria Rogers to get senior project reports
in the RosE-portfolio? Bruce Black will confer with Gloria on this matter. Establishment of a
procedure for regular review and assessment of reports is needed. Much discussion about
developing the rubric for report evaluation. We hope to get Pat Carlson to assist us (no one was
assigned to confer with her).
Fred Berry suggested that the most significant ECE curricular change over the last 5 years is the
establishment of the EC260/EC360/EC460-61 design sequence. Consequently, we should focus
ALL of our evaluation and assessment efforts upon this component of our curriculum. The two
most significant features of this sequence are the design and writing components of the student
work. The committee concurred with this suggestion.
Barry Farbrother advised the committee that within the near future he will seek a review session by
the committee of all the data collected to date to judge its appropriateness and completeness.
However, the list of
attendees and roles
are appropriate uses
of names.
An important use of
names in meeting
minutes is to record
action items – who is
to do what.
sample available on web page
The meeting adjourned at 4:15 pm.
Respectfully submitted, Dave Voltmer
ECE 361 Session 3
The use of names for
such purposes as
“Fred said this” is
discouraged.
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MEMORANDUM
A memo is the primary method of transmitting information in
a corporate or team setting. It is a means of providing a written
record of information for later use. Email is now often used as
a substitute for a memo – so care must be used in constructing
email messages
•
•
•
•
•
Informative
Concise, typically one page
Header
Message
Attachments if necessary
A more formal and lengthy document, the Inter-Office
Communication (IOC), is more of a technical report or
analysis issued in memo format
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Memo Header Directs Information
to Interested Parties
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
Recipient
Sender, initialed
Date of transmittal
Brief description of contents
Include “cc:” line after “To:” line to “carbon copy” the memo to
someone who only needs to be informed that the memo has
been sent and that the issue has been handed off
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Memo Body is Efficiently
Written
•Clear statement of purpose
•Informative
•Supporting material and logic
•Plain, direct, natural style
•Not verbose
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Memo Attachments Included
Only as Necessary
•Computer printouts
•Laboratory data
•Technical data & specifications
•Technical drawings
•Photographs
•Letters
Each of these document formats are discussed in the
ECE writing guidelines, available on the Technical Writing
Guide webpage.
ECE 361 Session 3
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ECE 361 Assignments
INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT – Continue maintaining your team
notebook
ECE 361 Session 3
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References:
[1] K Smith, Project Management and Teamwork, 2nd ed.,
McGraw-Hill, 2004
ECE 361 Session 3
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