Interoffice Engineering PR Campaign 2

[zuccus]

So this is a wierd one, Our company recently got a new president about a year ago. Since then, all of the other departments have been sending him the "Look how good we are doing" emails on a constant basis. They send him emails late at night to show that they care about the business, blah blah etc. They even make it a point to swing by his office once or more a day.

Well the people who make up the management staff in the engineering department are from a different walk of life (this probably won't suprise anyone here). We get in, get our stuff done, and go home and spend time with our family, etc.

Now the president is smart enough to not buy most of their crap, but the VP of engineering wants us to have something ready just in case. We have already started a list of what we have done to improve the processes, company, products, etc.

I am looking for some ideas of some other stuff we can do. Mainly we want to hold some stuff in our back product just in case.

Zuccus

 

[TenPenny]

Those late night emails are funny. We had a GM who did that, sending emails to the VP at 3 am. Of course, everybody knew he simply did it by using a queue, and leaving his computer on all night. So it lost its effectiveness, although he never clued in.

One key, that I actually learned from that same guy, is, figure out what drives the new President, especially his bonus structure. Make sure that your presentation emphasizes all the things that your dept has done to maximize whatever drives him; is it cost reduction; increased efficiencies; find out what his important factors are, and make sure you show what your department has done to further HIS goals. Especially if it is directly connected to an increase in his take home pay.

 

[UcfSE]

Keep track of how much time the others are wasting on this sphincter-smooching and show how your department is being productive or billable with that time.

 

[MikeHalloran]

... and keeping track of other departments is productive?

That gun has some blowback when you fire it.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[ewh]

"That gun has some blowback when you fire it."

A good turn of phrase, Mike. I like it and feel it is appropo in this situation.

 

[ewh]

appropos

I really should use spell check more often.

 

[zuccus]

For a while we had a few other departments tracking our engineering department because we were "late" on everything. They quit that they were using our being a couple of days late to cover their butt why they were weeks late. That didn't last to long.

 

[PSE]

As TenPenny indicates, I would be wondering why a new president was brought in and what is his vision/motivation for the direction the company will take. Even his personality type will affect the way things are done. The e-mails from the other departments are in an effect to put the best "face" on their department (after all, there is likely budget money at stake here), and it might be a situation where if you snooze you lose. Politics come into play whenever there is more than one individual involved. Thats the field your VP of engineering gets to play in.

You have started a listing of activities and results. You need to find out if they are aligned with the new president's vision. In effect, outline the charter or mission of the engineering group, it's overall priorities, and then go into current projects. If there is a way to attach $ to the results of the department's efforts (hopefully positive results), so much the better.

Regards,

 

[RAH1234]

The first thing I suggest is for you to determine why your department is struggling to identify its acheivements.

TenPenny is right. You must understand what management's expectations are for your department. If you don't know, then you must ask. I suggest you focus on what your leaders expect you to focus on. Providing management with documentation of your efforts to accomplish their goals is a lot better than keeping a CYA list in your back pocket.

 

[MedicineEng]

As a last resort, you might want to print some T-shirts saying:"We Love You".

Just kidding.
Put $ in your engineering achievements.
All presidents like that.
And remember: lots of graphics and few engineering jargon. If he is not an engineer he will not feel particularly thrilled about it.

 

[MikeHalloran]

Good t-shirt graphics have visual impact, which is hard to achieve while delivering messages like:

-Buildings not falling.
-Airplanes not crashing.
-Refineries not burning.
-Automobiles not wrecking.
-Bridges not buckling.
-Electronics not smoking.
-Ships not sinking.

... That's what engineers do.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA