Engineering Management Institute

UPCOMING WEBINAR

How to Increase the Efficiency of Your Construction Project

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How to Increase the Efficiency of Your Construction Project is a guest post by Holly Welles

Construction ProjectConstruction project efficiency has become a problem over the last 50 years. In spite of advances in construction technology, project efficiency has dropped by nearly half, which leaves jobs undone for years after their projected completion date. Construction holds the title of the industry that has the lowest productivity gains of any comparable sector, leaving many people to wonder what could have slowed down the workflow so much. Despite all of this, there are some things that project managers can do to increase the efficiency of their construction projects.

Be Proactive, Not Reactive

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TCEP 096: A Specific Recipe for Building Seller-Doer Skills

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Seller-Doer SkillsIn episode 096 of The Civil Engineering Podcast, I speak with Jim Rogers, author of Win More Work, and Co-Founder of the Seller-Doer Academy. Jim and I will be giving you a strategy for building your seller-doer skills which consists of three specific learning approaches.

Engineering Quotes:

Seller-Doer Skills

Seller-Doer Skills

Here are some key points discussed in this episode on building seller-doer skills:

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Delivering Stellar Client Service to Engineering Clients

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Stellar Client Service

Every A/E firm talks about delivering stellar client service and many deliver to that mark.  Why?  Well, before I can provide my opinion let’s set the definition for what constitutes stellar client service.

From my foxhole, stellar client service = responsiveness, collaboration, and establishment of crystal clear expectations.  Without these three elements, you will certainly not develop stellar anything, let alone client service.

Thirty years ago, I learned what delivering stellar client service was as a bus boy, then as a waiter, in a posh restaurant.  We in the A/E industry can learn a lot from the hospitality industry when it comes to client service and “delivering an experience”. From my time servicing clients on two-tops, then four-, six- and eight-tops, I learned how to gauge what our guests (i.e. clients) wanted and when.  How to read body language, how to interact with the guests to establish rapport beyond a transactional relationship, and how to ensure they left with an experience, not just a meal.

In short, I learned how to turn eating into an experience.  I also learned that when it’s done correctly, your fees (i.e. tips!) go up.

Delivering stellar client service in the A/E industry requires engineers to transform the technical act of engineering services from the technical stuff many clients don’t understand (or want to), into an experience.  This is much like the transformation of eating dinner from a biological requirement into a memorable experience.

The 6 Ingredients for Stellar Client Service

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BIM as an Effective Tool in Project Management

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BIM as an Effective Tool in Project Management is a guest post by Shakti Prasad

BIMBIM (Building Information Modeling) has been revolutionizing the AEC industry in terms of economic and technical viability, over the past few years. The advantages of the long-term application of BIM can be leveraged most efficiently in the field of project management. The need for management of an asset is a continuous process; from inception to demolition, a true cradle to grave cycle which involves handling large volumes of data, handling a lot of responsibilities, and so on for which BIM is the one-stop solution. Project managers need to embrace Building Information Modeling, interrogate the BIM information and reap the maximum benefits out of it for effective project management.

How Building Information Modeling (BIM) facilitates effective project management?

There are 2 broad aspects of Building Information Modeling which enables it in facilitating project management:

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How Engineers Can Develop Necessary Soft Skills to Excel in Their Careers

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How Engineers Can Develop Necessary Soft Skills to Excel in Their Careers is a guest post by Tiffany Rowe

Soft SkillsThe five years of an engineer’s bachelor’s degree program are filled with complex math and science. Indeed, almost all of an engineer’s training pertains to the hard skills they will directly apply to problems in their field during the course of their career. Yet, what most new engineering grads discover as they enter the workforce is that they are woefully under prepared to function in the workplace because they have failed to develop their soft skills.

Hiring managers are always looking for well-developed soft skills, even in engineers. The ability to communicate, to work in teams, to think creatively and adapt swiftly to new situations are mandatory in the modern workplace, and it is unlikely that an engineer will find success without cultivating such skills. Fortunately, it isn’t difficult to enhance one’s soft skills, both inside and outside an educational environment. Here are a few ways engineers can build the skills they need to excel in their careers.

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5 Laws for Engineer Career Success

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5 Laws for Engineer Career Success is a blog post by Tom Jager

Career Success

“Engineering is the closest thing to magic that exists in the world.”

This quote comes from Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk and beautifully describes what each engineer wants to do and should do to achieve career success: create, innovate, and improve everything around them.

Becoming a successful “wizard,” or engineer, has never been easy because the profession requires complex skills and even more complex responsibilities. To enter such a career, one has to develop the courage and personality traits needed to endure all the challenges one will face in this profession.

Despite a popular opinion, knowledge alone is insufficient to succeed as an engineering professional. You have to have that desire to design the things that millions are only dreaming about. That’s what drives people working on such amazing projects such as an autonomous car and an upcoming flight to Mars.

What else distinguishes these brilliant engineers?

The ability to follow the unwritten laws of the profession that keep them focused and moving forward.

In this article I’d like to focus on these laws in hopes that they can help you to become a successful or more successful engineer.

Law #1: Do Good Work

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Strategies for Delivering a Presentation to a Hostile Audience

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Strategies for Delivering a Presentation to a Hostile Audience is a guest post by Shoots Veis, P.E.
hostile audience

As engineers we often get the opportunity to work on great projects. We often transform the landscape through construction and make life safer and more efficient for the people using our infrastructure. However, not everyone is going to see it that way. Many of us have had to deliver a presentation to a hostile audience that does not think a certain project is the best idea. They come to the meeting with a preconceived notion of the project, not happy at the thought of what is proposed to be built.

If you are already a less than confident public speaker, speaking to this type of audience can be one of the hardest things to accomplish. They tend not to share your viewpoint, may have a dislike for technical answers, and may not value engineering expertise. Speaking to this type of crowd is never going to be easy, but there are a few things you can do to get ready.

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Why Engineers Make Great CEOs

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Why Engineers Make Great CEOs is a guest blog by Thomas Anderson, P.E.

CEOsEngineering is the most common undergraduate degree of the Fortune 500 Chief Executive Officers (CEOs). It has been for some time. Approximately one third of CEOs majored in engineering and only 11% graduated from business school. The Harvard Business Review has a list of the 100 best-performing CEOs on the planet.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos topped the list. Bezos earned a Bachelor of Science in computer science and electrical engineering from Princeton University. Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella is an engineer. General Motors’ Mary Barra as well. Carlos Ghosn of Nissan and Dennis Muilenburg of Boeing also have engineering backgrounds. Ursula Burns, the CEO and chairman of Xerox Corporation started her career as an engineering intern. In fact, 24 of the top 100 CEO’s have a Bachelors or Master’s degree in engineering.

Engineers are a little bit different. Sometimes introverted and always good at the math, they build and fix things; complex things. They have a unique ways of looking at the world. The qualities below make engineers exceptionally good at leading companies.

CEOs

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4 Opportunities to Grow Your Leadership Skills

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4 Opportunities to Grow Your Leadership Skills is a blog post by guest author
Patrick Sweet, P.Eng., MBA, ASEP
Leadership Skills

Leadership skills are crucial for engineers looking to take on more responsibility, and move into management. If you’ve ever read this blog, or anything I’ve written on leadership in the past, you’ll already know that.

What you might not know is how to develop your leadership skills. This is a constant struggle for engineers looking to break into leadership roles – how can you grow to become a leader if nobody gives you the chance to develop those skills in the first place? How you can get leadership experience if all leadership roles require previous leadership experience?

Today, I’m going to share five ways that you can grow your leadership skills, regardless of whether you already have a formal leadership role at work or not. Pursuing just one of these ideas over the next year can do amazing things for you personally  and your ability to lead others.

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How to Handle Conflict Resolution Questions During Engineering Job Interviews

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How to Handle Conflict Resolution Questions During Engineering Job Interviews is a blog post by Nader Mowlaee

Engineering Job Interviews

In any type of interview, but especially in engineering job interviews, hiring managers ask questions about how you would deal with technical conflict. They want to know about your interpersonal skills and how you would deal with a problem in the office if it should arise, especially if the conflict is of a technical nature.

This is where you must utilize your interpersonal (soft) skills alongside of your technical (hard) skills to find a resolution. What’s also very important is how fast you can come up with a solution, even if it’s a temporary fix, because in many technology-oriented or industrial environments, having a technical problem or conflict could potentially lead to severe damages.

Why Hiring Managers Ask About Conflict

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