Communication Breakdown

G+ Polls are really very useful for a quick; if not terribly scientific, survey and I recently asked "How do you typically share solution designs?" on the IT Pros community given the variety I see from day to day.



That presentations are top and models are bottom is sadly unsurprising. I'm in two minds over documents and wikis as effective forms of communication - the former quickly gathers dust though at least provide a snapshot of what was intended at one point in time, the latter decays rapidly into a confusing contradiction of opinions in which the truth is a long lost fairy-tale.

But the really surprising thing for me was the number of votes for whiteboard + photos + email (and/or some online post). We all do it and it's a excellent way to frame a discussion and share ideas. Does it really end there though? Personally I need to take the output of these sessions and work it into something more cohesive and focused which often yields insights which were not uncovered during the rabbit hole exercise that whiteboarding can become.

Truth be said, I still hunger for a good model and the liberating constraints of UML. Unfortunately it seems I need to both improve my PowerPoint and drawing skills instead.