Manager and Development

I. MANAGER AND DEVELOPMENT

Management is universal in the modern industrial world. Every organization requires the
making of decisions, the coordinating of activities, handling of people, and the evaluation of
performance directed toward group objectives. Numerous managerial activities have their own
particular approach to specific types of problems and are discussed under such headings as farm
management, management of health and delivery systems, college management, government
management, marketing management, production or operation management and others.

MANAGEMENT SKILLS REQUIRED AT VARIOUS LEVELS

Among the types of organizations, the engineer will have a slim chance of becoming the
general manager or president of level one, unless of course, he owns the firm. The engineer
manager may be assigned to head a small engineering unit of the firm, but there will not be too
many firms which will have this unit.

In level two firms, the engineer may be assigned to head the engineering division. The
need for management skills will now be felt by the engineer manager.

Level three firms provide the biggest opportunity for an engineer to become the president
or general manager. In this case, the engineer manager cannot function effectively without
adequate management skills.

A. WHAT IS ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT?

Engineering management refers to the activity combining “technical knowledge with the
ability to organize and coordinate worker power, materials, machinery, and money”.

When the engineer is assigned to supervise the work of even a few people, he is already
engaged in the first phase of engineering management. His main responsibility is to lead his group
into producing a certain output consistent with the required specifications.

The top position an engineer manager may hope to occupy is the general managership or
presidency of any firm, large or small. As he scales the management ladder, he finds that the
higher he goes up, the less technical activities he performs, and the more management tasks he
accepts. In this case, it is but proper that the management functions taught in pure management
courses be well understood by the engineer manager.

B. ORIGIN OF MODERN MANAGEMENT

From traditional approach to scientific approach and then Scientific Management to

Modern phase; methodology, principles and approaches have reached its current stage. Taylor,
the originator of scientific management brought a revolution in the twentieth century by introducing
scientific aspects of formulating patterns and disciplines within project management.

Scientific management emphasizes on profit maximization by utilizing the workers through

controlled mechanism, training, monetary incentives under managers, however it has been
scrutinized and criticized highly for its short-term focus on profit, treating workers as a machine-like
form which eventually argued to result negative performance in the long run. Therefore, a drift
towards behavioral study emerged and social factors have been included to address the
challenges which Taylor’s method neglected.

This paper through an extensive literature review showed that, the advancement of
technology and globalization stimulated the modern management approach to adjust and
complement the scientific management by supplementing the human factor and their contributions
within an organization rather than substituting the traditional approach. Therefore, together with

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productive activities and completion of defined tasks, a successful modern day project
management model highly values employee contribution and feedbacks at all level.

C. ENGINEER AS MANAGER

 Function of An Engineering Manager

 Research - where the engineers Is engaged in the process of learning about nature and
codifying this knowledge into usable theories

 Design and Development – where the engineer undertakes the activity of turning a
product concept to a finished physical item.

 Testing – where the engineer works in a unit where new products or part are tested for
work ability.

 Manufacturing – where the engineer is directly in charge of production personnel or

assumes responsibility for the product.

 Construction – this is where the construction engineer is either directly in charge of the
construction personnel or may have responsibility for the quality of the construction
process.

 Sales – where the engineer assists the company’s customers to meet their needs,
especially those that require technical expertise.

 Consulting – where the engineer works as consultant of any individual or organization

requiring his services.

 Government – where the engineer may find employment in the government performing
any of the various tasks in regulating, monitoring, and controlling the activities of various
institutions, public or private

 Teaching – where the engineer gets employment in a school and is assigned as a teacher
of engineering courses.

 Management – where the engineer is assigned to manage groups of people performing

specific tasks

 Skills of An Engineer Manager

 Effective communicator. A highly valuable skill in most industries, effective

communication can make or break a project. The best project managers are adept at
various forms of communication, knowing the most effective means for their teams.

 Good listener. Talented project managers understand that in addition to communicating

well, they must also listen well. A key component of efficient engineering project
management is being tuned-in to what’s going on with your team. Additionally, the
project manager may be responsible for keeping client or consultant communications
and expectations in check.

 Applicable experience. The best project managers have had direct experience in the
field. Not only does this help them grasp the workflow in a more tangible way, but it also
helps them understand the potential problems more quickly. Additionally, depending on
the engineering project, an experienced project manager will be better equipped for the
unique challenges of the industry.

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 Intuition. As an intangible skill, intuition is hard to pinpoint. However, it is nonetheless

an essential skill for an engineering project manager. Good intuition takes an incredible
amount of knowledge and experience and is thus highly valuable.

 Persistent. Project management is no walk in the park. One must be persistent and
capable of confronting issues as they rise, if not before. Being able to push through
tough times with the ultimate goal in mind is more than essential; it’s required.

 Smart delegator. A project manager must know their team and understand each
person’s capability. That being said, smart delegation is needed to optimize the team’s
success.

 Prioritizer. With so many moving parts, it can be easy to focus on the little things.
Unfortunately, that can cause the big picture to fall apart. A good project manager
understands this and is able to prioritize accordingly.

 Problem-solver. Being a great problem-solver in engineering almost goes without

saying. This stands true for an engineering project manager as well.

 Able to know their team. It all comes down to knowing the team and understanding
how they work together. A project manager must have the team management skills and
perceptive abilities to keep their team purring like a well-oiled machine.

 The individuals on that team. The team aspect boils down to the individuals that make
up the team. A good engineering project manager takes a little bit of time to get to know
the individual.

 Qualifications of An Engineers

Basically job applicants should have a Bachelor’s Degree in the field of engineering,
engineering manager should have good interpersonal skills, decision making skills and job seeker
must have good written skills.

 Detail-Driven - Engineers work in matters of detail everyday, so it is important that

engineers are absolutely thorough in their work and 100% accurate. There is no room for
assumptions or sloppy attention to detail in engineering projects. It is critical that the work
is analyzed and inspected all-around for any possible error. The safety of the public and
the workers rest in the detailed work of the engineer.

 Understanding of Math - Every engineer will need to have a strong background in math
and physics. Math is an integral part of engineering and will be instrumental in developing
and producing quality structures to be approved by inspectors. Math is an important
problem solving skill and is a must-know in the field.

 Works Well With Others - While technical skills are absolutely vital for an engineer to be
hired, personality and people skills also play an influential role in the final decision of a
hire. An engineer will need to know how to work well with others, persuasively
communicate at times, and effectively collaborate ideas with others for the development of
projects. Engineers need to be able to form good relationships with coworkers in order to
create an environment of openness and collaboration. An engineer will need to be
comfortable guiding a project's direction and influencing others of the vision of the project.

 Strong Analysis Skills - The ability to analyze a situation for what it is or may become,
and to predict potential threats or issues is absolutely necessary to be a competent
engineer. Competent engineers have the ability to analyze a situation for what it is or may

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become and predict potential threats or issues. They also have the skills to assess a
situation as a whole and create solutions to prevent erroneous problems to save time,
money and error.

 Proactive - Another attribute of successful engineers is the ability to take initiative for a
task without being assigned. Proactiveness moves projects in the right direction to produce
prompt and reliable results. The ability to be proactive creates leadership opportunities not
afforded to those who merely do the bare minimum of what is required.

 Communication Skills - Effective communication is an essential quality for engineers

because they will need to coordinate projects and help others understand the construction
process. While technical and math skills are absolutely necessary, the ability to
communicate and work well with others is also vitally important. Engineers need to be able
to communicate their message and vision effectively, listen to the needs of others and
work together to find a solution.

 Accountability - Every ounce of work and detail needs to be accounted for. The ability to
communicate clearly what has been accomplished and what else needs to be done is
important in the construction process. There needs to be an individual initiative to complete
projects on time, or to let others know far in advance when help may be needed.

 Continual Learning - A desire to continue learning and keep up-to-date on the latest
technologies and knowledges available will keep an engineer’s skills sharp and refined. It
is important to have a knowledge of the latest news, practices, and technologies to be
competitive in the field. An individual who is willing to work a little harder to keep on the
cutting edge of engineering will be much more successful than those who think that their
education will always be enough.

 Good Problem Solver - On the job there will situations that will arise that require a
creative mind to problem solve. The ability to think outside of the box and to provide quick,
efficient solutions is an invaluable skill to have an engineer. Problem solving skills allow for
projects to move forward without interruption and to be completed within the scheduled
time.

 Asks Lots of Questions - The ability to produce quality work requires a sound
understanding of practices, techniques, and field knowledge. The ability to ask the right
questions to find out the right information is a skill that helps many engineers be more
successful in their tasks. Those who are comfortable asking questions are able to succeed
at a much higher rate than those who do not.

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