An assessment of communication development needs based on target group requirements

Abstract

The need for the improvement of communication capabilities of engineers had been recognised by the engineers themselves and this effort had been built into the activities of most leading engineering institutions. The Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka (IESL) also had realised this need for quite a long period and had been implementing several activities to ensure the primary goal of enhancing communication capabilities of engineers.

It had been noted that there had been no study carried out to get an input from the target group to identify their own with the communication training needs. A questionnaire survey was carried out to identify the communication needs of the target group through self assessments. This paper presents the methodology adopted and the findings of a study which investigated the English communication needs of the IESL membership. The results of this survey indicate the most preferred training areas in communication skill development and the preferences in the mode and place of conducting such training programmes, from the point of view of the target group. Therefore the findings of this work could be utilised as a guideline to organise effective training in communication skill development.