Engineering Management Institute

Jacob W. Valentien

How to Delegate Like a Pro

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This is a guest post by Jacob Valentien, PE 

Look — delegating is hard. Let’s just be honest. As you start your career, usually everything you do is self-performed, driven by you, and you can rely on yourself to complete tasks to the quality level needed. As your career progresses, there will begin to be more work than you can complete on your own, and it will lead to utilizing other team members to get things done.

This has a fancy term called delegation. Delegation is a skill. Some people are inherently better at it, but nobody is born a master of delegation. Mastery of delegation allows you to continue to move up and progress in your career. If you don’t master it, then delegation can be like a curse. There are different levels of delegation. I am going to cover what I believe to be the three levels of delegation that young engineers need to learn how to master if they are going to move from a technical engineer to any form of management or leadership.

All forms of delegation require some level of planning and follow up on your part. Depending upon the level of delegation, the level of planning and following up varies.

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3 Quick Tricks to Trigger the Precious Flow State

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This is a guest post by Jacob Valentien, PE 

We all have moments or days where no matter how many cups of coffee are consumed, we just can’t get into a productive state. Sometimes the to-do list just continues to get longer, and you just can’t decide what needs to be done next. You have that one task that has been lingering for too long and you are in search of the required motivation to start and dedication to finish. As I sit down to write this article, I am going through this exact situation.

It is important to understand that motivation comes and goes like the tide. Discipline is the trait that carries you through the moments of fleeting motivation. As you press through those tough moments, sometimes you trigger the flow state where getting that work done becomes much easier. There are many sources of great insights on what this flow state is and how to unlock it.

I have stumbled upon a few tricks that can help facilitate entering into that flow state — where the work becomes easier, the creativity becomes unlocked, and the tasks on the to-do list become easier and easier to check off. Here are three unique ways to possibly trigger that precious flow state:

Momentum Snowball

Take a look at that ever-expanding to-do list and review it to see which tasks you can knock out quickly and with very little effort. Complete those tasks and continue to gain momentum by tackling tasks in increasing complexity and effort required. As you pick up momentum, the work will become easier and easier. This can ultimately lead you to the task you have been dreading but by that time, you are engaged and ready to tackle it.

Reference: https://startthesnowball.com/what-is-the-snowball/

Binaural Beats

Binaural beats use selective sound wave therapy that can help with increasing cognitive flexibility, focus, and attention to detail. According to research articles, there are five different brainwave states that have different effects: Delta, Theta, Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. While Delta and Theta are best for calming and meditation effects, Alpha, Beta, and Gamma can be utilized for focused attention, cognitive thinking, and peak awareness. Spotify has some playlists that make for great background noise as you start your work and try to build momentum and enter into that precious flow state. The playlists start utilizing Alpha frequencies and slowly increase frequencies through the Beta phase and into the higher frequency Gamma phase. In my experience, this background noise allows you to sink into a productivity mode and zero in on the task at hand.

Reference: https://www.healthline.com/health-news/your-brain-on-binaural-beats Design by Ruth Basagoitia

Pomodoro Technique

This technique is more of a time management system that encourages both moments of work and moments of rest. Set a timer on your phone for a short period of time — I like to use 25 minutes, where I only focus on one task and turn off all notifications from email, text, social media, etc. When that timer goes off, I take a break and take a quick walk around the office or check my email for five minutes. Once that five-minute break is up, get right back to work. Doing this just a couple of times usually unlocks longer periods of focus, reaching the point where I don’t want to take that next five-minute break but rather continue through until I finish the task at hand.

Reference: https://sketchplanations.com/the-pomodoro-technique

Summary

Next time you find yourself in a lull and need to trigger a productive state, give one of these methods a try or better yet, combine all three into a flow-triggering productive stack! Hopefully this helps you dwindle down that ever-growing to-do list.

About the Author Jacob W. Valentien, PE 

Flow StateJacob is a Senior Project Manager with Pacheco Koch Consulting Engineers, Inc. and has over 9 years of engineering experience in municipal infrastructure with a focus on water & wastewater treatment design and construction. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas and is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Texas. He has designed projects and managed teams on local and state public & private sector projects. Jacob is responsible for project management and delivery, business development in the public works sector in Central Texas, and client success. He previously completed the 2019-2020 Emerging Leaders program through ACEC Houston, has presented on topics such as pre-chlorinated pipe bursting to the Association of Water Board Directors, and has co-authored a technical article on Wastewater Treatment Plant Design. He also has developed curriculum, organized programming, and led project management and professional development training courses for his teams.  

I hope you enjoyed this week’s post by guest author Jacob W. Valentien, PE.  If you’re interested in your firm possibly joining the Civil Engineering Collective, please contact us here or call us at 800-920-4007.

I hope you’ll join us.

Anthony Fasano, P.E.
Engineering Management Institute
Author of Engineer Your Own Success

The Talent Bus Does Not Have to Feel Like the Struggle Bus!

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This is a guest post by Jacob Valentien, PE 
The Talent Bus Does Not Have to Feel Like the Struggle Bus! - Team members

As I am sure everyone in the civil engineering industry and associated disciplines would agree, it seems like there is always a need for more help. With how fast it seems that things are moving and how quickly some markets are growing, building a quality team in a timely fashion is no easy endeavor. Balancing the backlog with the appropriate number of team members has always been challenging.

I want to tell you…

Over the last couple of years, I have been helping grow a satellite office of a larger firm from less than five people to now close to 20 — and still growing. I wanted to share some of the helpful guidelines and thought processes that we use as navigational beacons for recruiting, interviewing, and hiring to build our team.

Getting the Right People on the Bus

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Don’t Fall off Mt. Stupid

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This is a guest post by Jacob Valentien, PE 

Don’t Fall off Mt. Stupid

In my previous article, I spent some time writing about the four major components for optimizing your career development. I wanted this article to focus on the Experience and Continual Learning components. Have you ever heard of the Dunning-Kruger effect? Well, don’t feel bad, most folks have never heard of it, although I am willing to guess that if you have been in this industry for any time at all, you have experienced multiple points along the curve. The Dunning-Kruger effect is best summarized via a graph (see Figure 1) that maps the relationship between confidence and expertise.

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