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Auriga is committed to being the international leader in designing and manufacturing innovative RF/microwave solutions. At Auriga, we push the limits of science and technology to surpass the performance goals of our customers.
Auriga is led by a team of entrepreneurs whose vision and expertise have transformed start-up companies into multi-million-dollar corporations.
President's Corner: Speaking with the Same Terminology Helps a Lot! - Part I
Several months ago in one of our engineering meetings, an engineer stated, “…but there is still an issue.” Hearing that, I reacted to the possibility that we would miss a promised commitment date.
At Auriga, since we pride ourselves on “doing what we say we will do.,” I asked if there were any resources needed to meet the commitment. The engineer responded, “No, it’s no big deal; nothing to worry about.” Hmmm… the “sender” and “receiver” of the message had totally different thoughts. That was just one example of our communications issues.
Words like issue, problem, concern, challenge were being used indiscriminately throughout the Company, all with best of intent. But a “problem” to one person was a “no big deal” to another. An “issue,” for example, could simply be the need to decide if 4 or 6 screws were needed to secure the top of a module or it could mean that the PA efficiency was way too low. A big difference in criticality! You can see where this could cause confusion or, worse, alarm.
It actually was an easy problem to fix, but it did take a while to understand that we had a communication problem. Then, one engineer took the bull by the horns and proposed some terminology that he thought would be helpful. After some quick back-and-forth massaging, we had a set of terminology we now live with…and it helps…a lot! It wasn’t rocket science.
Below is Auriga’s Degree-of-Difficulty terminology; it is simple and it has already made communication so much easier:
- Challenge: A problem/concern with one or more potential solutions and a high likelihood of being solved, i.e., low risk
- Issue: A problem/concern with no known solution, but one likely exists, i.e., moderate risk
- Critical Issue: A problem/concern with no known potential solution, and there is doubt that one exists, i.e., high risk
- Show-stopper: A problem/concern with no possible or practical solution
Years (too many) of experience have taught me that clear communication is paramount, especially in a fast-moving, growing company. But even at any size, having clear, agreed upon terminology is just one step to much improved communications. Regular reinforcement and always setting the right example, is required.
A couple of months later, we implemented additional, simple terminology regarding Importance; it has helped greatly. I’ll discuss that in a later President’s Corner.