Engineering Management Institute

Gabe Lett

Communicating Process Is a Powerful Differentiator

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This is a guest post by Gabe Lett, FSMPS, CPSM, LPC

Communicating ProcessI wonder where Sue is in completing that draft? Does Frank know his quality check is due this afternoon? Does Lynn remember our grant application is due this Friday? If others are having to ask these questions about your responsibilities, you are not communicating process.

Communicating process is about letting others know where you are in the process of delivering requested information or in completing a task. Most never think about communicating process because they do not see the value in it. Yet, when you communicate the process, it lets others know that you are working on what they need and whether you are on target or running behind. This is true for both external clients and internal colleagues.

communicating process

What Makes Communicating Process a Differentiator?

Because most people do not think to communicate process, when someone does and makes a habit of it, it sets them apart. Think about colleagues in your professional role who are good at letting you know where they are in their process. Put yourself in the client’s shoes. How would you feel as a client if the consultant you hired kept you informed of their process? You would feel important and well-informed. You would feel that there was a partnership in the completion of your project.

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Your Ears Are Your Strongest Resolution and Negotiation Weapons

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This is a guest post by Gabe Lett, FSMPS, CPSM, LPC
Ears

Most content that centers around communication and conflict resolution has to do with assessing your feelings, your body language, your decision-making process, your attitudes, and your behaviors. Not that these are bad recommendations, but they fall short of what makes the biggest impact when resolving conflict and negotiating. Where most advice falls short is that the advice focuses on YOU, YOUR feelings, YOUR body language, YOUR decision-making, YOUR attitude, and YOUR behaviors.

Many of you have heard the saying, “God gave you one mouth and two ears. He intended for you to listen twice as much as you speak.” Ears are the gateways to receiving critical information about your environment. Ears collect sound waves. During conflict or negotiation, ears are data gathering reservoirs collecting what is coming out of the other person’s mouth. Ears are your strongest weapons in resolving conflict and negotiating a solution.

Ears

To be fair, your ears are only the front-end of a process that leads to great conflict resolution and negotiation. But if you cannot get the front-end of that process right, nothing else in that process will work. Therefore, ears are where you begin.

When you focus on opening your ears, closing your mouth, and focusing on the other person, several key dynamics are put in motion:

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Personal Brand: What Is It and Why Is It Important?

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This is a guest post by Gabe Lett, FSMPS, CPSM, LPC

A personal brand is the perception a person has of you. Rather than the overall perception of a company, a personal brand is specific to you as an employee of your company. The reason for the elevation of personal branding has to do with the digital capabilities of social media and the ease of building a personal business network that spans geographies. The better you establish your personal brand, the more opportunities you bring to your company.

What Ingredients Make a Personal Brand?

A brand is simply the total experience people have when interacting with a company. What people feel and experience when they interact with a product or service makes its brand. Therefore, a personal brand is made from:

  1. Interaction with you personally
  2. Experience of you personally
  3. The emotion elicited when interacting with you and experiencing you personally

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TCEP 190: Marketing and Business Development Strategies for Civil Engineers

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business development

In this ‘episode, I talk to Gabe Lett, FSMPS, CPSM, LPC, author of THE AEC PROFESSIONAL’S GUIDEBOOK, and a marketing guru in the AEC industry that helps civil engineers find the right clients and projects for the maximum mutual benefit. In the episode, we talk about marketing and business development for civil engineers and why civil engineers should partner with their marketing professionals.

Engineering Quotes:

EngMgtInstitute Gabe Lerr Tweet this

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Here Are Some of the Questions I Ask Gabe about Marketing and Business Development:

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