Any engineering project is a complex process, no matter how small the scale. In carrying out these projects, engineers must busy themselves with various activities such as research, design, development, construction, operation, and management.
Engineering impacts all other walks of life — financial, social, and industrial. It is a necessary discipline that has a broad reach. Because of the complexity of the process, there is a need for a management system that unifies the individuals on the team.
In this article, we will discuss leadership, management, and how they have been beneficial to the engineering sector. First, let us highlight the differences between leadership and management.
Leadership and management
Leadership and management are synonymous in some circles, but they are two different aspects of a process. Leadership is persuading an individual or a crowd to respond to a situation in a specific way. It involves two parties: the leader and the led.
Management is defined as an operation that involves planning, organizing, directing, and monitoring the activities of an individual or a group while stewarding resources to accomplish the set objectives. At the same time, management breaks down the responsibilities into achievable steps.
Leadership and management require a goal, a set of strategies, and an interdependency of people. The core of this article is to understand why and how leadership and management help engineering run smoothly.
Leadership in engineering
The leadership aspect of engineering does not just refer to the people in charge. It also points out the hierarchy of the process as each stage aligns with the project’s vision.
Everyone in an engineering project is given precise instructions in order to achieve the aim of the project. These instructions often come with specifications that differentiate one task from the other.
Also, everyone involved is expected to provide an immediate and excellent result, which is only possible when the people are trained to carry out these tasks. This excellence requires training.
Management in engineering
Management in engineering is simply applying the principles of management to engineering. Management became an academic study in the 1900’s, and today most schools refer to the study as engineering management.
Management is the directing of activities, including the participants involved, to achieve a particular aim. Management is not the same as leadership; it is carrying out the activities leadership envisions in order to accomplish the purpose intended.
Managing in engineering is organizing, administering, planning, weighing, strategizing, and arranging the assets with the human resources available to produce tangible results. Management in engineering should be different from its administration in other disciplines. This is because engineers have a complex work process, which requires a management system that caters to everyone and, at the same time, maximizes resources.
Engineering is not simple and managing such a discipline is challenging. Since engineers realize the importance of leadership and management, many choose to pursue an online engineering management master’s degree to be more productive.
Advancing professionally is one of the best investments engineers can make. It helps the engineer stay current with ever-changing technologies. A master’s degree in engineering management provides a knowledge of financing, project, and people management. It also provides a better understanding of leadership, analytics-driven decision-making, products, innovations, and operations management.
What is the importance of management and leadership in engineering?
The endpoint of starting a business is profit. However, the history of engineering shows that, aside from the need for money to run the projects, engineering is ultimately about progress.
Madanchian noted that any organization aims to ensure its survival and maintain relevance through progressive performance. There is a direct relationship between leadership and organizational performance.
Knowing the end goal, let’s consider the specific areas through which leadership and management help engineering flourish and remain relevant.
Benefits of leadership in engineering
The benefits of leadership can be measured by observing the changes that occur when the structure is introduced to the engineering process.
Current information during projects
Prompt information should be made available to everyone. That is, the engineers and non-engineers should know what is happening at all times. This happens when the leadership communicates effectively. Also, the leadership vets that accurate information gets it to the correct department or individual in a timely manner.
With good communication, there are fewer mistakes and fewer delays from different departments. Even if issues arise, they are not hidden because of the open effect of communication.
Resolving conflicts
The workplace is a convergence of various engineers with different experiences. There is bound to be conflict as engineers interact with one another. Since strife could directly or indirectly affect progress, a good leader immediately addresses any tense relationship between employees.
Shaping visionary engineers
Engineers bring life to peoples’ visionary ideas using scientific knowledge and processes. Hence, a leader must serve as a conductor of operations, channeling his or her skill to achieve the ultimate goal.
Engineers are as effective as the one who leads them. Visionary leadership produces visionary engineers and challenges them to stay ahead of the curve.
Managing engineers
Managing engineers is an essential job of leadership. Engineers’ jobs are critical, and management ensures they are allocated the resources they need.
Resources are correctly managed
Leadership controls the distribution of resources, whether money, time, connection, and engineers’ intellect. The correct use of these resources eliminates waste and maximizes productivity.
Reduction in error
When leadership steps back to observe the overall picture, errors become obvious and can be more easily corrected. When leadership lacks a big-picture perspective, it can jeopardize the whole project.
Benefits of management practices in engineering
Management practices have become more common in the engineering circle. Some of the benefits of management practices include:
Practical engineering economics and finance
In engineering, good economics ensure the effective distribution of resources and value for money. The financial aspect of any engineering enterprise is compromised if there is no transparent management system in place.
A transparent management system is a structure that simplifies and tracks where money flows from the point of disbursement.
Well-structured production and logistics systems
The administration holds everyone accountable, including the leader. From the beginning, management provides everyone with instructions on what is expected of them concerning the project.
Logistics in engineering exists to establish where and when a product is needed. Also, logistics makes sure the product is functioning as it ought to. Management dedicates a department to doing these things, employing a division of labor.
Documenting processes
Management ensures that writers employed by a company document process undertaken by engineers. Management assigns this duty to the in-house technical writer.
The technical writer documents the step-by-step proceeding of everything that happened during a project. Documenting is done so that the process can be followed even by engineers who were not originally part of the process.
Utilizing ICT for growth
ICT management is a discipline on its own, and it is so vital it cannot be underestimated in any venture, especially in technology-centric ones like engineering. Things like network services, internet applications, websites, and cyber security are the focus of the ICT or IT department.
Localizing these duties to a team or an individual increases excellence and enables engineers to direct all attention to the project. Also, the presence of the ICT department means engineering projects that require internet technology run smoothly.
Managing innovations
Innovation is managed right from the conception of an idea to its implementation. An excellent management system utilizes the resources available by encouraging scientists and engineers to share ideas, do personal projects, seek out problems, and find solutions.
Human resources become idea generators. These ideas are accepted as essential and are recorded. These ideas are shared with everyone in the company to consider and build on. A great management system takes the feedback to the leadership for approval and then organizes everyone into workforces for implementation.
Using strategic planning
Strategic planning is another important principle of good management. It is one of the core functions of merging management with engineering.
As with everything, resources are limited. Without strategic planning, resources would be wasted. Strategic planning involves a goal, the resources available, and the time it will take. It plans to use the means available to meet a desired goal over time.
Strategies are required for simple and large projects alike. Engineering management enables managers to stay current on events, supplies, and timelines.
Management in engineering saves resources, tracks the use of assets, keeps the goal in view, and ensures projects are completed on time.
Management control of engineering ventures
Management control assures an unshakable focus on the aims and objectives of the enterprise. Management control ensures that everyone involved in the project keeps up with the venture’s goal.
An engineering venture is complex, the process involved is intricate, and the hierarchy structure is layered.
Because of the complex network of employees in these ventures, there must be a system of regulations. Without such regulations that align with the status quo of a business, the profits, operations, and productivity could be affected.
Engineers in leadership and management
Engineers have invented many of the wonders we have come to know in our modern world. However, for this to happen seamlessly, someone has to be in charge. Those in leadership and management help guide an innovation from conception to actualization.
Leadership and management are truly remarkable, but every skill can be acquired and improved, including management. Engineers can develop leadership competency and enter supervisory roles by studying and sharpening their managerial skills. The engineering field is ever-expanding and is in need of engineers with leadership and management abilities.
