In today's workplace, employers expect their employees to communicate with supervisors, peers, and others in the organization through formal reports and presentations, as well as impromptu meetings and on the floor explanations. These impromptu meetings and on the floor explanations often begin with the common phrase "you got a minute." Research has shown that communication is an important skill for engineers and the lack of preparation has been illustrated in the literature. Through conversations with employers, recent graduates, and returning coop students, the author has learned that many graduating students are not ready for these "you got a minute" moments. Returning co-op students are sometimes surprised that they were asked to summarize a report as they submitted their work to their supervisor. This was a surprise to the author on his first co-op. Employers have expressed a concern over the lack of clarity, confidence, and sometimes professionalism shown by new hires. Through discussions with practicing engineers, it has become clear that for some engineers the informal oral presentation of information is a common occurrence in day to day activities. Some examples include (a) informing operators of new procedures after emergency modifications or changes to machines and operating procedures (b) giving supervisors a quick explanation of current project status and (c) being brought into a meeting to give the engineering perspective. Preparing students for these "you got a minute" moments is often not addressed in the undergraduate curriculum. Either through tradition or to comply with ABET standards, industrial engineering programs include formal written reports and presentations as part of their curriculum. Although these formal presentations and written reports are commonly used by practicing industrial engineers, they do not prepare students for this other vital communication skill.
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