Blog

How to Discover Your Work Style and Personal Value

September 28, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Kyle K. Cheerangie, P.E.

Engineering requires deep and focused thought. There are two primary engineering positions: the Engineer and the Engineering Manager. Each requires a unique work style.

The main performance environment of the Engineer is at their desk in solitude. Engineers, the technical staff, typically require silence in order to focus on their work. The main performance environment of the Engineering Manager is in the group. Engineering Managers, the group leaders, must thrive in leading a group to accomplish the work.

Although their working environments and work types are different, each professional must understand their personal work style.

There Are Several Factors That Make up Your Personal Work Style:

Providing Stellar Client Service: Engage Holistically

September 21, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Mike Burns, PE, PgMP, DBIA

As we commence a discussion about client service, I find myself reflecting on my first Engineering Management Institute (EMI) blog, “Think Big, Be Mindful.” Serving our clients and growing market share should create synergies with our individual goals and personal lives. Again, allowing us to evolve our vision as intentions, setting direction — not prescribing a destination. In this instance, we are going to set intentions by broadening our client perspective. This broader perspective allows us to avoid boundaries that might erode our individual and collective paths to success.

I thoroughly enjoy considering and discussing the complex programs and projects that AEC professionals serve. Like many of you, this enjoyment has allowed me to grow from technical roles into leadership positions with increasing business development (BD) responsibilities, realizing along the way that I am not a natural salesperson. Yet, I benefit from and continue to enjoy working with exceptional marketing, BD, and operations colleagues, who help me to refine my approach to winning work and providing stellar client services. Along the way, one of these wonderful colleagues introduced me to Heidi Gardner’s book.

Mrs. Gardner’s extended title necessitates a deeper read: “Smart Collaboration: How Professionals and Their Firms Succeed by Breaking Down Silos.” I would not suggest taking on silos as a path toward exceptional client services. However, I wholeheartedly support her guidance, which promotes zippered relationships, allowing us to avoid cross-selling gaps as we orchestrate collaborative selling objectives. Silos emerge for reasons that we need to understand, especially where Wall Street-driven performance metrics and commercialization of our products create onerous metrics for hit rates, profit, loss, and utilization. We must explore ways to incrementally feed these metrics, concurrently exposing colleagues whose breadth of knowledge and desire to grow create mutually beneficial opportunities — opportunities where our collective experiences provide a premium experience for our clients.

Like any dynamic problem, the complexities associated with artfully incentivizing internal and external clients necessitate an elegant approach. I believe that sustained stellar client services starts with a people-centric program management approach, marrying a comprehensive stakeholder assessment with dynamic communication loops throughout the project delivery lifecycle.

Step 1: Understanding and supporting your internal and external clients

Not-So-Obvious Customers

September 14, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Manny De La Cruz

Way before I decided to go back to school, I worked. I worked a lot and mostly in jobs that required customer service. I did door-to-door sales, telemarketing, and finally food service. I enjoyed being a server. I was good at it and always had cash in my pocket. I had two goals at that time: pay rent and have fun with the rest.

Through these jobs, I learned about customer service and in those days, how the customer was always right. I won’t claim to have been a poster child for great customer service, since on several occasions the human in me and all that was going on would catch up and a customer might get the short end of the stick. Customer service is something that has become synonymous with hospitality and entertainment. It is easy to spot bad customer service at a drive-through or a check-out line, when you are trying to ring up your own groceries only to be met with an error and no associate around to help you (we have kind of lowered the bar, folks). But what does this have to do with engineering?

Funny you should ask. If you are in an engineering role in outside sales, consulting, or contract engineering, perhaps your customers are pretty obvious. But what about in other engineering roles, like plant support, manufacturing, or research? Perhaps those customers are not as obvious. In reality, regardless of where you work, more than likely there are some internal customers who are relying on your service, and not being aware of who they are could cost you dearly.

Here Are Five Things To Consider When Thinking About the Not-So-Obvious Internal Customers You Work For:

Meet Luis Duque, EIT, A.M. ASCE, SEI – Co-Host of This Week in Civil Engineering (TWiCE)

September 10, 2020 By EMI

The Engineering Management Institute is thrilled to announce that Luis Duque, EIT, A.M. ASCE, SEI, a Bridge Engineer at Foothills Bridge Co and host of the Engineering our Future Podcast, will serve as one of the co-hosts of EMI’s new podcast – This Week in Civil Engineering (TWiCE). TWiCE will be a short weekly show published to provide civil engineering professionals with the most important industry updates. The first episode will publish on 9/17 and Luis’s first episode will publish on 10/08.

Joined by his knowledgeable and experienced co-hosts, they will dive into topics that will include, but are not limited to:

• The latest news in the world of civil engineering, national and international,
• Information on government funding as it becomes available for civil related projects,
• Technical information related to new products that might improve project performance,
• Professional development tips for individuals and firms.

Luis believes that TWiCE will fill the need of having a dedicated space for civil engineering news that people can tune in weekly and listen to in a condensed format, allowing them to stay up to date on technical news in the field. He wanted to become the co-host of TWiCE as he enjoys podcasting and believes that the goal and mission of EMI aligns with what he is doing in his career and personal life.

Remember Who You Work For

September 7, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Mickey Addison, MSCE, PMP

When someone asks a leader who they work for, the best answer is “I work for my team.” That’s obviously not a complete answer, but it speaks to a mindset. Leadership is service, and leaders who approach their roles with that mindset are more likely to be successful. It’s not the complete answer, of course, so to that end, let’s spend some time thinking about respect. Leaders must demonstrate respect, require it in the team, and be able to move our organizations forward in a rapidly changing world.

Everyone Deserves Respect

Meet Danny Luu MEng (Hons) CEng MICE: Co-Host of This Week in Civil Engineering (TWiCE)

September 2, 2020 By EMI

The Engineering Management Institute is thrilled to announce that Danny Luu MEng (Hons) CEng MICE, a Chartered Civil Engineer from London and the founder of  Civil Engineering Mentor will serve as one of the co-hosts of our new show – This Week in Civil Engineering (TWiCE). TWiCE will be a short weekly show published to provide civil engineering professionals with the most important industry updates. The first episode will publish on 9/17 and Danny’s first episode will be publishing on 10/01.

Joined by his knowledgeable and experienced co-hosts, they will dive into topics that will include, but are not limited to:

Danny believes that it’s important to put your ego aside and work as a team, as teamwork makes the dream work, and that you should think positive and make good use of your time.

Which Engineering Course Is Right for You?

August 31, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by John McGill

Engineering is a vast subject and has lots of types of courses to choose from; it may be tough to pick the course that suits you well. In order to decide, one should try and determine what one is passionate about. In some sense, it has to be established by means of different approaches to various engineering themes. Usually, it happens during the college years, when one is to gain basic knowledge about engineer branches and qualifications.

Also, it can happen that one, being involved in one engineering subject, is interested in another one that he or she doesn’t have in a curriculum. As follows, aspiring to gain knowledge in the latter one, a graduate might ask himself, “who will do my engineering homework while I will immerse in another engineering subject.” In order to make the process faster and make one sure that he or she take an appropriate course, the question of which engineering course is right is further to be analyzed.

Electrical Engineering Qualification

Meet Geoff Smith, PE, LEED AP: Co-Host of This Week in Civil Engineering (TWiCE)

August 25, 2020 By EMI

The Engineering Management Institute is thrilled to announce that Geoff Smith, PE, LEED AP, a practicing engineer and associate at Silman will serve as one of the co-hosts of our new show – This Week in Civil Engineering (TWiCE). TWiCE will be a short weekly show published to provide civil engineering professionals with the most important industry updates. The first episode will publish on 9/17 and Geoff will be the host of the episode publishing on 9/24.

Joined by his knowledgeable and experienced co-hosts, they will dive into topics that will include, but are not limited to:

Geoff believes that it is important to just be yourself, as being you is something that no-one else can do. In his own words, his goal as co-host of this show is that:

“TWiCE will help busy civil engineering professionals stay up to date with technical news in just 10-15 minutes each week.”

Winning With Impact: How to Stand Out in the Workplace, Marketplace, and Recruiting Space

August 24, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Peter C. Atherton, P.E.

Whether newer to the workforce or with 20 or more years’ experience, so many of us are:

Feeling the weight of burnout and disengagement,
Yearning for more meaning and purpose, and
Wanting to make a difference in solving issues facing our world and those we care about.

Organizationally, many of us are also struggling to attract and retain inspired talent, clients, vendors, and partners to help us grow and be sustained.

There are many factors that lead to these circumstances, but when the prolonged work overload is finally addressed and the workflow improved, how do we better engage?

After we have “mastered our craft” and “made a name” for ourselves, how do we find greater meaning and purpose — and make a difference beyond the office and our immediate families?

Even as we build our careers, how can we leverage what we know to have a bigger impact and to improve our communities and the lives of others?

Meet Khamini H. Fennelly – Co-Host of This Week in Civil Engineering (TWiCE)

August 21, 2020 By EMI

The Engineering Management Institute is thrilled to announce that Khamini H. Fennelly, a practicing civil engineer will serve as one of the co-hosts of our new show – This Week in Civil Engineering (TWiCE). TWiCE will be a short weekly show published to provide civil engineering professionals with the most important industry updates. The first episode will publish on 9/17 and Khamini will be the host of the episode.

Joined by her knowledgeable and experienced co-hosts, they will dive into topics that will include, but are not limited to:

Khamini believes that civil engineers should embrace failure as it presents learning opportunities which lead to growth and ultimately success. In her own words, she believes that TWiCE will fulfill in the industry, Khamini says:

“TWiCE will be a centralized digital news outlet covering topics in civil engineering and infrastructure that you can listen to on the go.”