Top 3 Ways to Be a Better Manager to Engineers
Posted April 24th, 2019
Management advice is often delivered in general terms. The recommendations are meant to be largely universal, which isn’t always ideal.
When you are managing engineers, a significant amount of the core advice is still valuable. However, it is also important to factor in the nature of your team, including their roles, personalities, preferences, and priorities.
If you want to be a manager for engineers, here are three things you need to be ready to do.
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Let Go of Your Individual Contributor Mindset
When you work in engineering, it is common to want to remain hands on. You may worry about losing your edge or falling behind the times, leading you to take on or retain individual contributor duties that you should actually delegate.
As a manager, trying to retain your individual contributor title can be detrimental. It causes you to prevent your team from accessing certain opportunities while also risking overloading yourself. If you want to be effective as a manager, you need to embrace this new hat. While that doesn’t mean you can’t remain involved, it does require that you trust your team to perform and give them tasks that help them grow their skills.
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Steer Your Team in the Right Career Growth Direction
Many engineering professionals and managers assume that management is the only way to grow in an engineering career, but that isn’t the case. Not everyone will be happy as a manager, as some professionals would rather stay on the technical side of the field. Others may have substantial leadership drive and potential, making management a smart choice.
As a manager, you need to help your team determine which path is right for them. Then, you can serve as a guide on their journey, providing access to opportunities and challenges that will give them the skills they will need to take the next step. By looking at each engineer as an individual and speaking with them about both their goals and preferences, you can make sure their career takes them in the ideal direction.
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Learn Your Team’s Strengths
Each engineer has their own strengths and weakness. By observing them while they perform their duties and analyzing project results, you can help pinpoint where they shine and where they struggle.
While you may be tempted to focus solely on improving their weaknesses, that isn’t always the best idea. Instead, you also want to give them a chance to to harness and enhance their strengths, essentially encouraging your employees to develop a higher level of expertise in areas that engage them and where they can truly stand out from the crowd.
Now, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t also encourage them to improve their weaknesses, as that is also critical. Just make sure you don’t ignore growth opportunities that can make their strengths even stronger, especially if they can serve as foundations for an amazing career and provide the company with additional value.
Looking for More Management Tips? Contact Our Staffing Experts at Bayside Solutions
If you want to learn more about managing engineers, the team at Bayside Solutions can help. Contact us to speak with one of our experienced staff members today and see how our management expertise can benefit you.
