Technical Coordination in Engineering Practice

Abstract

An empirical ethnographic survey of engineers using interviews and field observations in Australia provides evidence that coordinating technical work of other people by gaining their willing cooperation is a major aspect of engineering practice. Technical coordination in the context of this study means working with and influencing other people so they conscientiously perform necessary work to a mutually agreed schedule. While coordination seems to be non‐technical, analysis provides evidence supporting the critical importance of technical expertise. Coordination usually involves one‐on‐one relationships with superiors, clients, peers, subordinates, and outsiders. Coordinating the work of other people seems to be important from the start of an engineering career. Engineering education only provides limited informal coordination skill development and current accreditation criteria may not reflect this aspect of engineering. This paper suggests ways in which students can learn coordination, and describes some of the author's experiences in applying this research.

Social and Technical Dimensions of Engineering Identity

“…From his ethnographic study of early career engineers, for instance, Trevelyan supports this sentiment by noting that "technical coordination," or "working with and influencing other people so they conscientiously performing some necessary work in accordance with a mutually agreed schedule" (p. 191), was identified as the most prominent skill required in his studies of engineering practice. 17 His later work characterizes engineering as a "combined human performance, in which expertise is distributed among the participants and emerges from their social interactions" (p. 176) 18 Consistent with these findings, Brunhaver et al conclude that "[i]n addition to doing technical work, young engineers are responsible for non-technical tasks that require significant social interaction, such as managing projects and coordinating the work of other people." 19 This conclusion is supported by data from a large-scale, interview-based study of both young engineers and longitudinally tracked engineering students 19 .…”

Comparing Organizational Structures: Two Case Studies of Engineering Companies

“…Situated cognition emphasizes that the knowledge to complete a design project is constantly developed on the whole team through interactions with people and tools [12] . Trevelyan has explained engineering design as the process of technical coordination [6] . Technical coordination ensures that all parts of design come together, but also highlights that design work is a social process that needs relationships and interactions between people to succeed.…”

“…These are the some of the most important aspects to completing a design project. This social process of technical coordination is something that should not only be taught to engineering students, but also emphasized as critical components in the design process [6] . Engineers are often focused on the technical aspects of a design project and forget that design occurs through social interactions.…”

“…Furthermore, we have demonstrated that engineering design is a truly social process. This idea of design as a social process has been discussed prior, such in the work of Bucciarelli and Trevelyan [5,6] . Design work gets done though constant negotiations between people as well as the combined cognitive power of a team along with all of their resources [7] .…”

Development of Perceptions of Technical and Ethical Expertise In Teams Over Time

“…Scholarship increasingly focuses on the need to integrate the two together in our understanding of design and engineering more generally, rather than reifying the "socio-technical divide." 2,3 In part, this requires increasing the recognition that these two aspects of design work are often in competition, but they are both important in shaping the everyday work of design. Indeed, a more thorough investigation into the team processes that comprise design work could help to illuminate the interaction between these two priorities, while also satisfying the call by Borrego et al (2013)4 to better incorporate literature on team effectiveness and functioning from other literature.…”