“He is the worst engineer I’ve ever had.” I’ve heard this countless time from developers who have become disillusioned with their present engineer. When I would ask them why they felt that way, the underlying theme in all the answers was that the developer felt he didn’t get the service and results he was paying for. My belief is that in most cases the engineer was not a bad engineer but a bad manager.
During the construction boom of the last decade, the universities were unable to keep pace with the demand for new civil engineers. As a manager and executive in a land development firm in
Those days are over. With the collapse of the construction industry, now is the perfect opportunity for firms to weed out the weak and fill those management positions with only the most qualified people. Only those firms that do will be able to survive the next couple of years and come out of this mess as strong and ready to grow. The firms that don’t are going to disappear.
The first rule to remember is that not all engineers are good managers. Engineers by nature are very analytical and creative. They know what they expect from a design and refuse to delegate the design to the team members they manage. They tend to micro manage projects and ignore the following areas requiring project manager knowledge and attention:
1. Project integration management to ensure that the various project elements are effectively coordinated.
2. Project scope management to ensure that all the work required (and only the required work) is included.
3. Project time management to provide an effective project schedule.
4 Project cost management to identify needed resources and maintain budget control.
5. Project quality management to ensure functional requirements are met.
6. Project human resource management to development and effectively employ project personnel.
7. Project communications management to ensure effective internal and external communications.
8. Project risk management to analyze and mitigate potential risks.
9. Project procurement management to obtain necessary resources from external sources.
The second point to remember is that not all good managers are good leaders. Seldom does a manager in a land development deal with one project at a time. To be effective in their position, they must also be leaders. They must inspire their team members to become self starters and work to solve problems on their own while at the same time providing the leadership to ensure the job is done right. I recently read an article by the Geno Prussakov where he states “When comparing leadership with management, it is essential to understand that they are not mutually exclusive. Both leadership and management involve influence, working with people, concern about effective goal accomplishment, and other shared characteristics.” He went on to quote from Warren Bennis’ On Becoming a Leader about management as opposed to leadership:
1. The manager administers; the leader innovates.
2. The manager is a copy; the leader is an original.
3. The manager maintains; the leader develops.
4. The manager focuses on systems and structure; the leader focuses on people.
5. The manager relies on control; the leader inspires trust.
6. The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective.
7. The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why.
8. The manager has his or her eye always on the bottom line; the leader’s eye is on the horizon.
9. The manager imitates; the leader originates.
10. The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it.
11. The manager is the classic good soldier; the leader is his or her own person.
12. The manager does things right; the leader does the right thing.
So the next time your looking for the right person to fill that management position or even looking to upgrade your staff, remember these things. Together we can all restore the reputation of our industry that has suffered over the last decaded.
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