Engineering Management Institute

virtual meeting

The Value of Positive Public Perception — In COVID and BEYOND!

By

This is an article by Sam Lytle, P.E. speaker for our upcoming CEC session: The Value of Positive Perception for Your Civil Project which you can find here

It’s hard to fathom now, but only months ago, groups of unmasked people gathering together to learn about a public works project was not only a common and important part of our democratic process, but a valuable opportunity to gain valuable public support. 

Virtual public meetings have now become a viable alternative to pre-COVID gatherings. With this shift — and similar to many other industries in 2020 — has come a fundamental questioning of the very purpose of these public meetings. Has technology made meeting together unnecessary? Will these changes rewrite decades of written and unwritten rules about the necessity of public meetings to communicate project designs?

[Read more…] about The Value of Positive Public Perception — In COVID and BEYOND!

15 Minutes of Preparation Can Save Hours for Your Engineering Team

By

Our next live Civil Engineering Collective training session will focus on maximizing engagement and effectiveness through virtual interactions.  Something that must be top of mind for all professionals today, especially those in the civil engineering world, who work on complex projects with many moving parts.

Let’s be honest, we’re not getting away from remote work any time soon, and most likely, we’ll never go back to as much office time as we used to have pre-COVID-19.  With most great teams, when the rules of the game change, they adjust and continue in their winning ways.  One way that your team members can adjust is to become superstars in terms of their virtual work productivity.

One of the biggest areas for improvement in this arena is virtual meeting productivity.  I’ve been involved in many virtual meetings over the past six months, and it is clear to me that the person leading the meeting has the most impact on the productivity of that meeting.  More specifically, their preparation prior to the meeting, which I believe has the most impact on meeting productivity.

[Read more…] about 15 Minutes of Preparation Can Save Hours for Your Engineering Team