Moving up into management 1

[knight185]

I work in the electric utility industry on the generation side. I have been in engineering for the past 3.5 years since I graduated college. At some point I would like to move up into supervision/management. What kind of qualities do managers in this kind of industry look for when seeking to promote an engineer into management? From what I have seen it has little to do with being very good at the nuts and bolts end of engineering. A lot of it seems to be about one's perception of that individual. At this point I am not sure if I am on the radar for promotion to management or if I will be put on the subject matter expert track because of the nature of my work (steam turbine outages).

 

[shamsdebout]

Typically managers I have worked under have excellent communication skills, a broad range of technical of technical knowledge. Very organized and posess the quality where they can make whatever they are sounding sound really good.

 

[SomptingGuy]

No advice, just some points and observations.

- Project management skills. Planning, timing.

- Delegation - hands-off but still with full understanding.

Then...

- As you climb the ladder, recognition of your boss' foibles. How to tick his/her boxes and provide info in the way they like it. (a.k.a. brown nosing)


- Steve

 

[knight185]

These suggestions are along the same lines as what some of my coworkers have told me.

I might be doomed. I am a quiet guy who focuses on his work and gets the job done. My performance reviews have been excellent but that doesn't mean I will be chosen for management, especially if I prove to be an excellent project manager who knows the technical details of the job but also understands the importance of providing accurate schedules and budgets. The problem is there are too many bean counters and not enough people who know how to actually overhaul equipment.

 

[ivymike]

A couple of other details that I didn't catch above:
- It's more important to be nice and seem helpful than to be very good at what you do. This is more critical when dealing with managers than with your peers, but see the next point
- You can't get far without the support of your peers, and managers know this. If you're roundly despised and can't get anyone to do anything for you without commandments from above, you're unlikely to be highly promotable.

 

[MadMango]

If you are the quiet type, then you need to start being heard. You can do this via emails, interoffice memos, etc. Let the Uppers know that you not only see the big picture, but have thoughts and ideas about how to achieve those company goals. Getting your initiative noticed can go a long way to get you into a management role.

To revisit Delegation, get to know the strengths and weaknesses of the people you work with, as one day they will work for you. Then, when it comes time to assign tasks, you can give teh right task to the right person... win-win for everyone.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of these Forums?

 

[KENAT]

Sompting actually makes some good points.

Also, consider your managers. Which do you think are good, and what would you like to emulate about them. Many managers are stronger in some areas than others (like the rest of us) look to see which areas which are strong in and try to understand how/why/what...

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[kelowna]

A couple of thoughts on the thread (very good points so far)

First, being very good at your work is no guarantee to being promoted from engineering into management, and it could actually be detrimental to getting a promotion. The point being that if you are good, people typecast you and they do not want to move you because replacement is a hazzard. I was talking to a career consultant once and se mentioned that it is more effective to be OK but not very good, something called 'strategic innefficiency' or something like it. Carefull though, I am not advocating everybody starts to underperform at work!

Second, you are assuming that promotion into management roles will be performed by upper management based on careful consideration of your performance, habilities and prospects. In my experience there is a lot more 'randomness' on the process. You were available and somebody else was tied on a project, nobody wanted to relocate to that location, somebody left/got sick/went on holidays, you went for drinks with the boss and he thouth you were witty, you dress nicely, there is an opening on another department and the boss wants to get rid of you because your works sucks (see point one)...

 

[spongebob007]

Take up golf.

 

[IRstuff]

Not everyone is cut out to be a manager, nor can anyone be an engineer. Each requires a different skill set, and has a different emphasis, and different problems to solve.

If you are enamored with solving technical problems, then management might not be suitable for you. The hardest thing for many new, and some old, managers, is to LET GO of the technical. As a manager, you have "people" that do the technical, help them do their jobs by staying out of their way as much as possible.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[TheTick]

Ever hear the phrase "promoted out of harm's way"?

 

[mauricestoker]

Sounds like the Peter Principle Flying T organizatinal structure.

I've spent 11 years in engineering management, relocated and took a pay decrease to avoid it. I still get pestered.

If you like what you are doing, stay with it. The grass is always greener over the septic tank. Being aesthetically impaired and, as my wife tells me, socially challenged, is not a good combination for management. If you can take a kicking and keep on licking, it may be for you.

 

[ornerynorsk]

If you are going to be a really good manager, it is actually a promotion down. Except for pay. You will have twice the work to do. You need to be willing to be the volunteer for the dirty work. Your chief daily task will be to remove as many obstacles from your peoples' path and to insulate them from the BS and intra-organization politics you will be now experiencing. Delegation, as another poster mentioned, cannot be emphasized enough. You need to recognize right from the onset that you are not superhuman and you possibly cannot do everything that you would like to be involved in. You will be a lot more hands off. You need to be involved in putting deposits into your workers emotional bank accounts. You need to know them personally, what musical instrument their daughter or son is learning, where they caught the trophy fish, and what they're down to on their golf score. Take them out to lunch on their birthdays. Do some industrial field trips to see new processes. That kind of thing. I was promoted from quasi-blue collar (very hands on) to a product development manager some over 3 years ago, and I figured out very quickly that academic skills, though important, mean less now than the people skills do. People need to be directed so that they have real purpose and meaning to their work, their ideas and contributions are important, and that they feel an integral and valuable component of the team. No micro-managing!!! You have to learn how to trust, also. Well, my soapbox just crumbled beneath this weighty topic, so I shall digress to the fact that it is nearly happy hour, and exit abruptly.

 

[knight185]

For now I will stay with what I am doing. By being a project manager for outage projects, I kind of get a taste of both technical and management. I have to attend outage meetings and oversee the schedule and budget issues. But I also get to crawl around in the dirt and work with the mechanics in the plant. I provide some technical support but mostly overall project direction and I leave the most important technical support to my field engineers. I am still in the process of learning a lot of the technical details about turbines, but even if I did know everything I would not have the time to do be involved in every aspect of the project.

One of the frustrations that I see from engineers who were promoted to supervisors early in their careers is that there aren’t enough reliable people to delegate to. On top of having to deal with all of the management politics, some of them still have to get involved in things that an engineer should be taking care of. And some have complained that the money is actually not as good because as engineers they were making more money with the overtime (paid at the straight time rate).

In regards to me being an engineer and project manager, my reputation speaks for itself. Even if I am not on the company’s list for promotion to management, I think definitely have a job running projects because I do it well. If I ever did go into management, the deciding factors would be the need to get out of the field and into high level project management and to make more money. If I could make a lot of money doing what I do now, that would be great, but I know it won’t happen unless I move on to other employers or eventually become a consultant. I am still a very young engineer but I am being put in charge of some of the most critical overhaul projects and I am getting paid a young engineer’s salary. I will get some raises due to standard promotions within the engineering cycle but beyond that the company has no incentive to want to pay me more money.


.

 

[Noway2]

From what I have seen the biggest requirement for transitioning into management is who you know and knowing this right person at the right time.

Where I work now, most of the senior management has been recently replaced. Every one of the replacements is a personal friend and / or former co-worker of the guy in the corner office.

 

[hahor]

Hello knight185,

to me it looks like you want to be in management just for making more money. What are your visions, what do you want to improve?

Once you have been promoted to middle management you will realize that the job is not as easy as it looks at first sight (“if it looks easy – in ain’t”). Most of the time you are a bidirectional pulse damper.

Kind Regards,
hahor

 

[knight185]

Money is somewhat a big part of it but care must be taken. It would make no sense for my income to increase and for me to upgrade my lifestyle at the same time. I am simply looking for a peace of mind that my current income can't provide.

The question is whether or not if I got paid the money I want, would I rather do what I do now or get into higher level management? At my young age I think it would be pre-mature to start climbing the ladder but if an offer ever comes, it would not be a good career move to refuse it. I have 3.5 years in. I've seen other engineers start moving up the ladder at 5 years.

 

[vc66]

If you can't make a decent life out of being an engineer, you're either:

a) being screwed over in pay

b) spending too much

V

 

[ornerynorsk]

Hahor,

Love your term - bidirectional pulse damper. Perfect! I believe I'm going to have that added that to my job description next time it comes 'round for review.

 

[knight185]

I make over 60k/year but it doesn't seem like a lot. I have a simple lifestyle but school loans, medical bills, commuting costs to work, car payments, car repairs, and everything else uses up most of my income. Everything started going downhill financially after I got married and had a kid. Right now the only thing left to do is 1. make more money or 2. take years to pay down debts while hoping that new debts don't pop up. That is the problem.