Boss Problems 12

[Tunalover]

I'm a mechanical engineer who has worked in the electronics industry for 20yrs doing electromechanical packaging design. The problem I have is that my boss (who is an EE) thinks he can do my job and tends to minimize and oversimplify what I do. I bring much to the table (e.g. heat transfer analysis, CAD design, stress analysis, drafting skills, specmanship, shock/vibration analysis, industry standards and practices,...) however, in my last performance review, much of the time-consuming, day-to-day stuff that I do was ignored as he concentrated only on what was on his and his boss' "radar screen."

How can I impress on him that he is not qualified to do my job (let alone qualified to judge me!) and that he has much to learn about what me and my peers do for the industry? One constant I have noticed in my career is that many EEs seem to think that they are intellectually superior to the MEs!


Tunalover

 

[IRstuff]

That's the perspective of an engineer, but most management training, including MBA, basically assume that any manager can manage anything. This was most evident when Apple hired the president of Pepsi to run it operations back when it was having difficulties.

Likewise, oil companies in the early 70's went the same route when they diversified and bought a bunch of semiconductor companies. Schlumberger lost over $7B, after paying around $1B for FSC. It was eventually sold to National Semi for about $120M, cash.

While you might think this would be sufficient proof, managment thinks that it's simply poor execution and that a "good" manager can overcome total ignorance of his group's functions.

TTFN

 

[HgTX]

This is particularly the case if someone is a specialist. They're hired to know stuff no one else does; that doesn't mean they have to be in charge of the company just because no one else is qualified to evaluate them.

What the non-tech boss can't evaluate directly is the specialist's level of knowledge and how well they apply that knowledge. But they'll know if the specialist is screwing up. They'll know if the specialist is able to provide usable answers to the questions said specialist was hired to answer. They'll know if the specialist is meeting deadlines, fulfilling tasks, etc. They are qualified to judge whether the specialist is a good employee, performing a valuable service for the company.

But tunalover is right in that the boss is likely not qualified to do the specialist's job, and if the boss thinks he is, there's a problem.

If you can step back from the criticism, revisit this part of TrainerBob's post:

If he doesn't know what you are doing, it's because you haven't told him. I used to hate the annual performance reviews, then I started taking notes all year long of what I'm doing, and MOST IMPORTANTLY what the results are. Now my performance reviews show exactly what I do and how well I do it. My boss knows exactly what I do, and again MOST IMPORTANTLY what the results were.

The only thing I'd change is don't wait till the end-of-year performance review to touch base with the boss. Make sure he understands pretty much all the time what you're up to.

Hg

 

[EddyC]

I think that the problem that tunalover is facing is more a management style issue than one of an interdiscipline communication gap. Based upon his description, I'd estimate that the problem is 75% management style and 25% interdiscipline gap.

 

[sms]

The biggest problem I have found with engineers in general is that many if not most of them can't stand to toot their own horn. They have this expectation that just by doing their job well, everyone in management will know it and reward them for it. Wrong, Wrong, Wrong. You have to look out for yourself. If you are not actively promoting your abilities, if you are not telling your boss exactly how you made him or her look good this week, then you are asking for a stagnent career. You need to find out exactly what is on the radar screen for your boss and his boss, and then you need to concentrate on communicating how you are helping him out, regardless of his qualifications. It has been my experience that once a boss reaches a certain level and time in management, it does not matter what his or her qualifications used to be, those thought processes are long gone. We call it the management lobotomy, but hey they need that lobotomy to survive the back stabbing and empire building of their peers.

You all can call it sucking up or brown nosing, but if you don't tell your boss how valuable you are to him, no one else will.

 

[HB2U]

Tunalover - I think that if you want to be rewarded by your boss you need to figure out what's important to him.

Find out what his goals are and how he is judged by his boss and then align your efforts to help your boss acheive his goals. This, in turn, will keep him happy and he will begin to value your work because it gets him what he wants.

If you want to win the game, you have to know the rules - so figure out what the rules are!

Your other option, of course, is to seek your fortune elsewhere.

Good Luck.

 

[Tobalcane]

Tunalover,

I just wanted to join into the griping session. I am also a mechanical engineer doing electromechanical packaging for the defense industry. In my ten years of work, I had some different bosses. In my last company my boss was a mechanical and his boss was a mechanical and so forth. It was great! The design revolved around the mechanical geometry. We had to put stuff in tight places where heat transfer and vibrations were already defined by us. In other words, the electronic engineers had to do their magic under our specifications. At my present company it is the opposite, my boss is a mechanical, but his boss is an electrical. At this place the electricals reign. The electricals think that they can pump more power thru their ICs and expect us to take the heat away at high temps or have a circuit board lay out that is sensitive to vibration and shock. The electricals design may be working in a lab environment, but once you put it in military application with high heat and violent vibrations and fail, who’s your daddy now?


Go Mechanical Engineering
Tobalcane

 

[APH]

Tobalcane,

Amen to that!

APH

 

[debodine]

As an electrical guy (aircraft electrical systems design), I like to tease the mechanical engineers in our office with, "Whaddaya mean you won't drill a hole in this thingy you call a <Primary Structure Element> so I can run my wiring harness here?"

But on a serious note, I have had numerous occasions where prior coordination with the mechanical/systems people has saved me from a very stupid mistake that would have had serious cost/schedule implications if I just "ASSUMED" that temperature/vibration/shock/fluid intrustion issues would magically sort themselves out.

So to all the mechanical/systems people who have saved my a** throughout the years, THANK YOU and I am sure glad I asked...to all my electrical compadres, prior coordination is a wise thing to do. And make sure and listen. I have never had an engineer from another discipline bring up possible problems with my design just for the purpose of irritating me.

Craig

 

[Tobalcane]

Much appreciated there debodine, now if tunalover's boss can see our contribution to the design, his boss would treat him better.

Go Mechanical Engineering
Tobalcane

 

[automatic2]

Your boss should know more than you. Unfortunately it's not always like that. Here's something to consider. I had worked as ME for years, then personal interest drove me into Electronics. I now manage a group of very intelegent individuals who are at the top of thier fields. But guess what, in all but one case, the individuals are being payed for working outside of their designated fields. Simply because the projects at hand have no definative boundaries. Maybe that's the problem, people trying to stuff others into a descriptive box.

 

[IRstuff]

Much of the above discussion stems from a misunderstanding of what a manager is supposed to do, which is to manage, PERIOD.

So-called "managers" who are doing engineering are NOT managers, but engineers.

A senior engineer, e.g., me, does not expect my manager to know more about my job than I. I expect my manager to be concerned about results, accuracy and timeliness and not the nitty-gritties of how I get the answers. My manager MIGHT know more about certain technical aspects of my job, based on his experience, but I expect him the grade me based on me and not based on his own expertise.

TTFN

 

[buzzp]

Based on the last few posts from the OP, I believe the issue is merely discipline related. I would suggest changing jobs where a mechanical is the head cheese, then you will be happy.
I think we would all agree that ME's and EE's are equally important. You can't have one without the other in the cases you have presented. Deal with this and let your ego dwindle down a bit.