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Don’t Commit This Cardinal Sin of Delegation Like I Almost Did (Until My Son Helped Me Avoid It)

November 29, 2022 By EMI

I had a long day of coaching, training, and podcasting and I was looking forward to unwinding at home that evening, believe it or not, by getting out and doing some yard work. Immediately after dinner, I told my wife and three kids, “I am going outside to mow the lawn.”

I changed into my yard work outfit, put my headphones in, fired up some Alan Jackson and started with some tree clipping. I was deep into it, sweating hard, and feeling very productive.

Then, my wife sent my 10-year-old son out to help me. I immediately felt a sinking feeling in my stomach…

“Now what,” I thought to myself. “I have to stop what I’m doing to get him involved? I am being so productive right now, this is going to really set me back.”

So, I ignored my son for a while. He went into the garage and fumbled with the weight set. Finally, it hit me. At the Engineering Management Institute, I spend a lot of my time coaching and training engineers on how to be more productive by delegating effectively. The biggest barrier that engineers and other professionals have when it comes to delegating is holding on to the tasks for too long. They take on the mentality of, “It will take me longer to show him or her how to do it. It will be faster if I just do it myself.”

You can get away with that mentality for a little while in your career, but if you really want to develop professionally and climb the ranks in your firm, you will have to let go of that philosophy and rigorously delegate every task that you shouldn’t be doing.

Breaking Through Common Communication Barriers

November 28, 2022 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Gina Covarrubias

This article highlights three common communication barriers that might be holding you back. Learn what you can do to break through these barriers and form newfound connections through improved communication!

1. “I’m Afraid to Speak Up”

The work environment can be intimidating, rampant with older, more experienced folks who seem to know what they’re doing.

For those of you afraid to speak your mind or openly make suggestions, consider the following.

Speaking up is not always about being right. Sometimes it can be, but other times, speaking up can be about expressing ideas or unique thoughts that are worthy of being shared in the name of creating an open dialogue.

Your ideas and beliefs deserve consideration as a valued member of an organization. In fact, you get paid to share your ideas and perspectives. While silence may feel less risky and more comfortable, you could fail ahead of time by remaining speechless.

How to Stand Out in High-Stakes Meetings

November 22, 2022 By EMI

This is a guest blog post by Dr. Angelique Adams

High-stakes meetings are meetings where you want to impress people. You know that this kind of meeting is a great opportunity to get your ideas heard and possibly dazzle leaders with your brilliance.

The problem is when you get to the meeting, you choke!

You are nervous that you are going to say the wrong thing and that people are going to think you are stupid. Or, you are worried that you might inadvertently make a colleague look bad. You might have trouble following along in the meeting because they may be referring to terms, locations, or people that aren’t familiar to you.

What started out as an exciting opportunity, morphs into you spending the meeting thinking, “What should I say, and when should I say it?” Eventually, about halfway through the meeting, you start saying to yourself, “Oh my goodness, I am going to miss this opportunity”!

Sound familiar?

You’re not alone. Fortunately, there is an easy fix — if you’re willing to change your mindset.

Engineers Leave Companies When Their Career Paths Are Unclear

November 15, 2022 By EMI

Hiring and training new employees is one of your biggest expenses, and it is costing you a lot more than money. In this post, I would like to provide strategies for improving your firm’s retention rate, regardless of how good (or bad) it may be.

The Cost to Replace a Highly Trained Employee Can Exceed 200% of Their Annual Salary.

Many engineering companies are aware of this expense, yet they hold back on investing in initiatives that can reduce this expense by greatly improving retention and also making it easier to recruit when the time comes.

At EMI, we have surveyed and provided career coaching to thousands of engineers, and they continue to tell us that the most important thing to them in their careers is the opportunity to grow. Therefore, before anything else, including salary increases and promotions to new positions, you should consider how you can provide your employees with growth opportunities. That should be your number one focus.

One great way to do this is to chart out clear career paths for your staff. People really like to see the full length of the career paths they are traveling on as opposed to just the next one-hundred feet.

According to Willis Towers Watson, 76% of employees who fall into the “high-retention-risk” category are itching to leave because they have nowhere else to go on their current organization’s career ladder.

So, give then somewhere to go and offer professional training and development to help them get there.

Two Engineering Firms That Are Getting This Right

How to Delegate Tasks Effectively (And Why You Should Do It)

November 14, 2022 By EMI

This is a guest blog post by Pamela A. Scott

This piece is on delegation, why you should do it, and how to do it right. First, though, check out how to do it badly.

My husband and adult daughter were both working from home, as was I. I kept hearing them shout from the other room: “Is the internet down?” “Why does the web keep crashing?” “What’s wrong with our wireless?”

Then the suggestions started coming in.

“You (me) should call ACME and tell them their service sucks.”

“My friend found a different jiggambob that speeded up his service. You (me) should call him.”

“I think it would work better if you (me) turned the refrigerator upside down.”

I was on deadline; I didn’t have time for their problems. That’s when I actually said the following. I can’t believe I said it, but I did.

“Bring me solutions, not problems,” I barked.

How Can You Show Your Company That You’re Ready to Be an Engineering Manager?

November 1, 2022 By EMI

I received this question recently from a young engineer, and it’s one that many young engineers struggle with. They feel like they are ready to move into an engineering manager position, whether that be managing projects or people, but they don’t know how to show their companies they are ready.

I am going to offer some of my thoughts on this topic here in this article, but I would also ask you to please leave a comment at the bottom of this post with any thoughts, experiences, or advice on the topic that you can share.

Since I am an engineer, and I always think in frameworks, I would like to offer a two-step approach to answering this question.

Step 1: Practice Makes Perfect

4 Simple Steps to High-Performing Engineering Teams for Engineering Managers

October 31, 2022 By EMI

This is a guest post by Zachary White

High-performing engineering teams are not the smartest.

They are not the most experienced.

The best engineering teams are exactly that… TEAMS. It’s not about IQ, but EQ (emotional and social intelligence). It’s less about brain-power and more about heart-power.

Brains and experience surely help, but if you can’t get along and communicate well together then you’re stuck.

On top of that, engineering management is difficult because you are almost always a player-coach. You have a team to manage, AND you have a full-time job of your own on top of that. You’re in meetings with the people above you, and in meetings with the people below you.

Nobody said it was easy.

The truth is that leading a high performance team is simple. Not easy, but simple.

Let me share four steps you must work through with every engineer on your team, starting with yourself, to improve the EQ and performance of your organization. This is just the tip of the iceberg, but it will make a huge impact.

5 Tips for Maintaining a Healthy Culture at Engineering Firms

October 24, 2022 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Leanna Michniuk

For engineering firms, a healthy culture that continues to evolve and adapt is the driving force for long-term company success. Positive work culture is linked to improved employee engagement, increased productivity, and higher profit margins. Simply put, happy employees equal happy clients and happy pockets.

Wait — clients, too? Yes! Client churn is directly tied to employee churn. Did you know it can be anywhere from five to 25 times more expensive to gain a new customer than retain an existing one? By making a concerted effort to focus on your employees, you’re in turn strengthening client relationships and retention. Clients may sign on for your engineering firm’s reputation or the strategy you propose to tackle their work, but the reason they stay goes beyond that. Clients like to know that their business and needs are fully understood. Consistency is key to building this trusting relationship between your staff and clients. If a client is constantly being shifted to a new team or staffer, it will always feel like a new firm to them.

How to Create a Positive Work Environment

A Message from Pearl Jam: Before You Become an Engineering Manager, Understand What Comes Along with the Title

October 20, 2022 By EMI

“All the things that others want for me, can’t buy what I want because it’s free.”

This a line from a song entitled “Corduroy” by the popular band Pearl Jam, led by famous vocalist Eddie Vedder.

There has been much debate about the meaning of the song, but interviews with Vedder, as well as the lyrics, suggest that the song is describing the pressures of fame.

It’s been said that the song is specifically about Vedder’s ability (or struggle) to cope with all the attention fame has brought him and also about others taking advantage of his fame for their own personal gain.

For example, the line at the top of this article about all the things that others want indicates frustration, because he’s financially wealthy and can have any material item that he wants. But he can’t buy what he really wants — anonymity — which is free.

Engineering Management Is Highly Coveted

I have talked to, interviewed, and provided management coaching and training to thousands of engineers over the past 10 years. When I ask engineers what their primary career goals are, the answer I get 90% of the time is, “I’d like to become an engineering manager, principal, partner, or owner of my firm.”

When I ask the follow-up question, “Why,” the answers vary greatly, but the initial answer is that same one 90% of the time: “I want to go from engineer to manager and beyond.”

Like all rock stars out there wants to become famous, all engineers (or most) want to become managers and powerful leaders in their firms and industries.

Three 3-Minute Articles to Discuss with Your Project Team to Create a Lifetime of Positive Change

October 17, 2022 By EMI

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, that’s why you should do different activities that provide opportunities for a positive change. And here is an excellent example to do with your team…

This is a guest post by Steve Armstrong.

What you can do with this: You can print, read, share, and discuss it.

How to use this material and start a positive change:

Discuss. Remind. Encourage.
That’s my recommended approach to helping people commit and develop towards positive change.
I recommend reading and discussing the first three articles with your team and repeat weekly.
Each can be read in less than three minutes and discussed in 10 to 15 minutes.

How to prepare:

Share one of the articles with your team and schedule a time for discussion.
Or share the guide with your department leaders and have them facilitate smaller discussions.
Ask everyone to read the discussion article.
Ask them to make notes on anything they find valuable or disagree with. If you prefer, give them some questions about the material for ideas and ask them to provide some advanced thought.
On your own, read the article, make your notes, and answer the questions you intend to ask or give.
Give some quick thought to any likely objections or challenges to the material you can anticipate from your group. (Who might ask what and how do you want to respond?)
Introduce your upcoming discussions in person or by email. Feel free to use the following as a suggested script to edit to fit your style: