Engineering Management Institute

Leadership/Management

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

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A Message from Pearl Jam

“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.”

Engineering Manager Anthony Fasano

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.

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

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This is a guest post by Steve Armstrong.

Positive ChangeInsanity 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…

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:

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People Management: Top Guidelines to Develop Yourself and Your Team

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This is a guest blog by Pamela A. Scott

People Management“People management” — that’s the term nowadays for managing your people and yourself. It means you’re focusing on growing the employee side of your business.

I’ve worked with engineers for over 20 years on the people management side of their business. That’s why my tagline is “If you don’t take care of your people, you won’t have a business to run.”

This blog post is aimed at helping you grow yourself and your people. The ideas apply for CEOs as well as for rookie engineers — and even for those non-engineering folks out there.

Guideline #1: Show Appreciation

People want to be appreciated. It is your job to let your people know that you appreciate them and what they do. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?

People Management

Lots of engineers freeze at the idea that they need to tell their people, “Thanks for what you do. I really appreciate you.” Notice that it’s YOU, not IT.

If doing that gives you hives, try this approach to build your mental muscles and communication style.

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3 Traits Every Engineering Manager Needs to Develop

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This is a guest post by Jeff Perry, MBA

DevelopManaging a team of engineers is an awesome opportunity, but one that needs to be done well. In order to succeed, there are many traits you will want to develop so you can do the job effectively.

In this article, we will focus on three key traits that, if you can develop as strengths, will set you and your teams up for great success!

Note that these are skills that seem easy to understand, yet sometimes they can be harder to develop. Ask your team for feedback, find mentors or coaches who can help you, and practice, and be patient with yourself!

You can do it – let’s dive in!

Listening

“Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” ~ Stephen R. Covey

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Like All Professionals, Engineers Quit Managers Not Companies

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Quit Managers

This article was originally posted on LinkedIn here.

There is an infamous saying that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately:

People Quit Managers, Not Companies

I’ve spent the last 10 years traveling to over 30 U.S. states speaking and training thousands of engineering professionals, and I can attest to the truth of this statement — that engineers do quit managers, not companies.

In fact, a study by Gallup concluded that one in two people admitted to having left a job to get away from a bad manager, and 70% of the factors that contribute to your happiness at work are directly related to your manager.

Why Does This Matter to Your Firm?

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How to Become a Better Engineering Leader

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This is a guest post by Steve Armstrong

Engineering LeaderBeing an engineering leader is about understanding what is going on around you.

In the military, it is called “Situational Awareness.” Often, the people with the most pertinent and relevant information about the situation are those working for you.

Questions are powerful tools, and knowing how to ask them is key to becoming a better engineering leader.

How to Ask Questions

How do you ask the right questions in the right way?

  1. Ask your questions like you care and want to know the answers. You’re not reading from a script — ask with sincerity.
  2. You asked, so be prepared to hear answers that you may not like, and be sure to take the time to truly listen.
  3. The answer you need may not come forth the first time you ask. But if you ask sincerely and humbly, you will build trust and confidence. So, ask regularly, and the quality of the information you gather will improve.

Engineering Leader

Read about the six things you need to communicate.

What Questions to Ask

These are the five questions to ask your team members every month, as well as why you should ask them:

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The Benefits of Conflict Resolution for Engineers

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This is a guest post by Tiffani Teachey

Conflict Resolution

“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” ~ Marie Curie

Conflict resolution is an essential skill for any engineer. When disputes arise, it is crucial to have the ability to calmly and effectively communicate with all parties involved. By using conflict resolution techniques, engineers can resolve disagreements quickly and efficiently while maintaining positive relationships with coworkers. In this blog post, we will discuss the benefits of conflict resolution for engineers. We will also provide tips on how to effectively resolve conflicts. Let’s get started!

Engineers can effectively resolve conflicts through the following tips:

  1. Stay calm
  2. Listen attentively
  3. Be respectful

Conflict Resolution

Stay Calm

When engineers are faced with a conflict, they should stay calm and try to understand the other party’s point of view. They can do this by using empathy or stepping back from their emotions so that cooler heads prevail! Show that you’re not angry or upset by keeping your voice calm and repeating back to them what their point is. This will help diffuse the situation quickly, without anyone getting too worked up about it! The best way to handle a conflict is by staying calm and following these three steps:

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There Is No Such Thing as a Free Lunch

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This is a guest post by Dr. Rae Taylor

lunchI believe there is a general consensus that buying pizza as lunch for the office leads to an unquantifiable increase in office morale. And, i would extend this further and say that in general, food is a great motivator and healthy food, being an energy sustainer, is by extension a visible morale booster. I once bought some snack bars and jerky for a crew to take with them to a tricky access site. When the crew was loading up the van, I could hear excited mutterings like, “Are these really for us?” and “Hey, have you seen that we have snacks?” As if it wasn’t pretty much the easiest thing that I could have done for them.

Free lunch: Expenditure or investment?

Some larger (mostly tech) companies take the morale boost (than a simple lunch) one step further and provide free more tfan a lunch (or at least heavily subsidized) food courts for their employees. They tend to offer a variety of meal options, often including many healthy options too. This is, of course, a trap to make the staff stay longer in the office in the hope that they will work more hours. But because people do work long hours, it’s incredibly useful. It is also costly and unrealistic for most companies to do.

Save time and improve your team’s health

I was thinking about this while watching the new season of “Queer Eye” (do not judge unless you are also up every few hours feeding a newborn and need something to keep you awake that you don’t have to focus on). With the increase in the number of hours we work and commute came a huge increase in people saying they don’t have the time to cook or grocery shop. As such, they rely on fast food and take-out, which tends to be less healthy. In the show, a member of the makeover team shows the recipient how to cook something that’s easy to make, healthy, and tasty. This made me think about how much I would have loved this kind of guidance when I was working crazy hours, and thinking about it more, how much I would love it even now that my schedule is more relaxed, albeit fuller.

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Shut Down Analysis Paralysis and Start to “Satisfice”

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This is a guest blog by Pamela A. Scott

analysis paralysisDo you struggle to make decisions? Most of us do—at least when dealing with something significant.

Do you find yourself trapped by analysis paralysis? Many of us do. We think and we think and we think, and then we think some more. And maybe we eventually act.

I believe decision-making and analysis paralysis are intertwined. You can throw decision fatigue into that mix as well. Decision fatigue occurs because we simply have too many decisions to make on any given day. Check out this site for lots more on decision fatigue.

In his book “The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less,” Barry Schwartz delves into why we struggle to make decisions.

285 Types of Cookies, Oh My!

In his neighborhood supermarket, he found 285 varieties of cookies. Can you pick just one? The average supermarket carries nearly 40,000 items for you to pick from. It gives me a headache to even think about those choices.

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Learning to Lead and Succeed with ‘SFA’: Success From Anywhere

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

SuccessCOVID forced “work from home.” Then evolved the idea of “work from anywhere” – whether that be home, a local café, or other workspace.

As we work through the sometimes half-hearted attempts to bring our employees back to the office, the organizational development and talent attraction and retention idea that I believe will stick is “SFA” – success from anywhere.

Success From Anywhere

What is SFA, and how can we make this work, especially among “back to the past” forces within us that have very likely already cost us in terms of missed opportunity and preparedness for our inevitable future state?

Let’s leave the resistance to SFA aside for a moment (or at least until the link at the bottom of this article) because even the skeptics and the naysayers recognize the competitive disadvantages of not offering some type of work flexibility in this employee-driven market — hence the half-hearted and tempered calls for a full return to the office.

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