strategy

TCEP 117: The Importance of Staying Calm, Cool, and Collected as a Civil Engineering Professional

May 8, 2019 By EMI

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In episode 117 of The Civil Engineering Podcast, I visit with Tracy Bratton, PE. who is the Land Development Division Manager at Doucet & Associates, based in Austin Texas. We talk about the importance of staying calm, cool, and collected as a civil engineering professional. We also talk about the role that sound technical experience plays in an engineer’s confidence level as well as the ability to manage projects.

Engineering Quotes:

Here Are Some of the Questions I Ask Tracy:

Tell us about your career journey.
Tell us about the time you spend in Venezuela.
When you started working in Land Development, was it something that you initially liked doing?
Talk about the importance of having sound technical knowledge in your field in order to become a successful manager.
What are some of the things you learned about managing teams in different locations?

Here Are Some Key Points Discussed in This Episode About Staying Calm, Cool, and Collected as a Civil Engineering Professional:

TECC 179: Practical Strategies You Can Use for Productively Dealing with Conflict

July 10, 2018 By EMI

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In this episode I talk with Dana Caspersen, conflict specialist, speaker and author of the book: Changing the Conversation: the 17 Principles of Conflict Resolution. During the interview, Dana outlines very practical strategies that you can use when dealing with conflict.

Engineering Quotes:

Here are the 3 principles that Dana Caspersen discusses in regards to dealing with conflict:

3 Reasons You Must Set Your Vision Before Setting Your Professional Goals

December 21, 2015 By Christian Knutson, PE, PgMP, PMP

vision

Anthony and I are both proponents of goal setting. We’ll each tell you that if you’re unsure of what action to take next, don’t do anything until you’ve re-focused your goals. Why? Goals serve as a target against which we can take aim and focus our energies. As an engineer, setting goals must become second nature.

Because you’re in the profession of bringing goals into reality.

Using Key Performance Indicators to Manage Your Engineering Career and Life

May 18, 2015 By Christian Knutson, PE, PgMP, PMP

“What gets measured gets done.” ~ Unknown Management Yoda

Ever heard this phrase? More than likely you have and if you haven’t, stick around in the industry long enough and you will. Although this phrase gets thrown around each time there are discussions about organizational performance, it happens for a good reason: it’s true.

Management and business gurus long ago figured out that measuring organizational performance was the surest way to ensure that processes were efficient, goals met and benefits realized. The terms most used to describe the tools of the measurement trade are: [Read more…] about Using Key Performance Indicators to Manage Your Engineering Career and Life

7 Attributes of an Effective Strategic Plan

April 7, 2015 By Christian Knutson, PE, PgMP, PMP

When you think “effective leader” what comes to mind immediately?

I attended a leadership seminar at local university recently. Within the first fifteen minutes we were given a task to go out and ask three strangers this exact question. What do you think the result was?

To be an effective leader you have to be effective at giving vision and setting a direction.