By Amy Jagaczewski
This summer, I had the rare opportunity to tour a Level 12 Air Traffic Control (ATC) Center – a facility that manages the highest volume of air traffic in the country. One thing that stuck with me was the difference between the “glamorous” control towers and the centers that quietly and humbly handle the heavy and often chaotic workload. Towers manage takeoffs and landings – the visible, cinematic side of aviation. Centers, on the other hand, guide every plane in the air, every minute of every day. Each controller works their sector with total focus, managing constant communication, often in 45-minute rotations on and off the console.
What does this have to do with communication in the AEC Industry? Everything.
Air traffic controllers are a special breed: highly technical, disciplined, and calm under pressure. When they issue direction to a pilot, there is no debate or discussion. Pilots do not ask why; they act. The hierarchy is absolute because safety depends on it.
AEC professionals operate in an entirely different environment. We are also technical, decisive, and under pressure, but our work depends on collaboration, not command. Every project brings together people with different perspectives, opinions, and definitions of quality. We communicate across disciplines, organizations, and personalities, often in environments where deadlines are tight, stakes are high, and priorities compete.
That is why communication skills matter so much in this industry. From constructing a clear email to delivering a polished presentation, the ability to create a shared understanding, navigate friction, build trust, and find alignment even when opinions clash is an often overlooked “soft skill” that doesn’t always come naturally to professionals in this space.
That belief was at the heart of the Presentation and Communications Training we recently completed with one of our clients. Over the course of two months, we met with their entire team—leadership, engineers, and support staff—to unpack how communication is threaded throughout every aspect of their work: internal presentations, client meetings, project kickoffs, shortlist interviews, and those tense, in-the-field moments when pressure runs high.
Each session blended teaching with practical exercises rooted in the team’s real experiences. Participants practiced structuring technical information for non-technical audiences, reframing contentious questions in a client interview, and de-escalating challenging field discussions. The result was a learning environment that felt more like a lab than a lecture, where people could test ideas, make mistakes, and build confidence.
Our facilitation team brought three distinct perspectives. Danielle Leheny, an expert in corporate and crisis communications, introduced communications fundamentals and tools for staying calm and focused in high-pressure conversations. Lindsey Mathieu drew on 25 years in AEC marketing communications to interject real-world examples and walk participants through preparing for (and managing through) unpredictable interview scenarios. And I shared my own lessons from ten years in structural engineering and quality management, the side of the industry where communication breakdowns can literally stop construction.
Similar to air traffic controllers, we all operate under pressure. But conversely, our work requires us to engage, explain, and persuade. Communication in AEC isn’t about control—it’s about connection. Because when people truly understand one another across functions, titles, and temperaments, projects run smoother, relationships last longer, and the industry feels a little less adversarial for everyone involved.