JOURNAL COMMENT

The value of clear communication in an increasingly complex world

As a reader of the SAIMM Journal, you might well know that the mining and metallurgical engineering industry is one of the most complex and intricate of human endeavours. This edition's excellent set of papers particularly demonstrates that successful enterprises routinely collaborate across disciplines. Advanced technical research and development stakeholders need to interact with economic and business entities while also considering environmental sustainability, social ethics, and corporate governance. In addition to this, the industry has become truly global, with experts from a broad array of cultural and social backgrounds, sharing knowledge via the written word.

Therefore, one of the most critical skills in our industry is the ability to clearly communicate difficult concepts between different fields of expertise. When communication is done well, it can be agile and effective with minimal oversight, even in challenging time-critical workflows; without it, misunderstandings and wasted effort are the order of the day. One way to ensure that this communication is done well, is through the use of plain language principles.

The drive to adopt plain language principles is gathering momentum in many areas where large and diverse teams execute highly cross-disciplinary projects (one example is https://www.plainlanguage.gov/guidelines/). Plain language aims to improve clarity and reduce ambiguity. In particular, it can aid with the communication of information out of pockets of expertise where domain-specific jargon and terminology often obscure the core ideas. Perhaps it's time we looked at it for our world?

Q.G. Reynolds

Pyrometallurgy Division, Mintek

Process Engineering Department, Stellenbosch University