Management Skills and Techniques for Engineers

Introduction:

This course offers engineers and technical staff who are making the transition to managerial and supervisory positions an excellent opportunity to understand the differences in mindset between technical and functional thinking. Such transitions are not always successful and many engineers end up leaving their posts or the company altogether because they cannot cope with the new job requirements. This course allows engineers and technical teams to make a successful transition from their technical comfort zone to an area that is quite different on many fronts

Targeted Groups:

Technical managers, supervisors, and engineers who need to develop their managerial skills

Course Objectives:

At the end of this course the participants will be able to:

• Develop insight into the functions of management
• Apply project planning skills from a business perspective
• Identify and use the right performance Indicators (KPIs) to manage business performance
• Communicate and work with others to achieve the desired goals
• Acquire team-building techniques to enhance business performance
• Employ unbiased problem solving and decision-making practices

Targeted Competencies:

• People and performance management
• Team formation and management
• Individual and team motivation
• Managing conflicts
• Solving problems
• Effective communication
• Workforce planning and scheduling
• Basic financial knowledge

Course Content:
Unit 1: The Journey from Technical to Managerial:

• Engineers versus management
• Typical issues faced by engineers when they become managers
• The fundamental shift in roles
• Managing the transition
• Understanding the different functions of management
• Productivity - A management perspective

Unit 2: Essential Skills for Engineers:

• Technical
• Managerial
• Leadership
• Management mistakes engineers need to avoid

Unit 3: Planning and Organizing Tools and Techniques:

• At a personal level
• At a project management level
• Fundamentals of project management - A quick review
• Scheduling and organizing
• Workforce planning
• Leading projects successfully
• At an organizational level

Unit 4: Managing Performance:

• Engineers and business performance management
• Setting performance expectations
• Working with key performance indicators (KPIs)
• Developing 'SMART' business objectives
• Business targets and performance standards
• Management and motivation

Unit 5: Working with Others:

• Engineers as business influencers
• Barriers to communication
• Developing effective communication
• Managing conflicts

Unit 6: Building Successful Teams:

• Teams and teamwork
• Engineers as team leaders
• Understanding group dynamics
• Building high-performance teams
• Stages of team formation

Unit 7: Problem Analysis and Decision Making:

• Engineers as business decision-makers
• Kepner Tregoe approach to problem-solving
• Situation appraisal
• Problem analysis
• Decision analysis
• Potential problem analysis