How to Improve Your Engineering Managing Style
Naturally, you can’t lead an engineering team without top quality people skills and some strong technical knowhow. But that’s just the beginning. To become a truly excellent engineering manager, you’ll need to move beyond the basics. Here are some tips.
Communicate
Communication may be a basic skill, but it’s also the foundation for your entire management style. Foster an open, transparent, workplace where you listen more than you talk and you strive for clarity and compromise. Offer several channels for feedback, and help mediate workplace disputes.
Set People Up to Succeed
A top engineering manager performs, in many ways, like a coach. Rather than micromanaging everything your employees do, set them up for success and then get out of the way. Provide the tools and resources they need, make yourself available for questions, and check in now and then. But trust them to do the right thing.
Share the Spotlight
It can be tempting to take credit for your team’s successes, but avoid the temptation. Great managers share the spotlight while also taking most of the burden of failures.
Fill the Gaps
It’s true that engineers tend to be excellent technicians and problem solvers. But it doesn’t necessarily follow that they’re introverted and lack people skills. Do an honest assessment of each team member as an individual, and place them in positions with the opportunity to shine. If you identify an area where your team is lacking overall, consider hiring someone to fill the gap.
Fight for the Team
Senior managers aren’t always aware of what’s going on day-to-day, and they may have unrealistic expectations. A vital part of a manager’s job is supporting the team when dealing with senior management.
Stay Open to Possibilities
Modern engineering teams need to be flexible, agile, and able to pivot at a moment’s notice. This can’t happen if you get stuck in the mindset of doing things the way they’ve always been done. Collaborate, promote diversity and inclusion, and keep your mind open to the novel solutions your engineers suggest.
Make Things Happen
You don’t, and can’t, know everything. Fortunately, you don’t need to. What you do need is the ability to problem-solve on the fly and get things done. Know where to point your employees when they need resources beyond your area of expertise, and learn how to work through the common stuck points in your department.
Offer Work-Life Balance
Today’s team members expect much more than just a paycheck. Work-life balance has become tremendously important in hiring and retaining top employees. From remote work to flexible schedules to child care assistance, offer real solutions that make your team members’ lives better.
Build A Forward-Thinking Engineering Team With PEAK
If you are looking for talented engineering professionals who can help your organization achieve its goals in the new year, contact the experts at PEAK Technical Staffing today to learn how we can help you access cutting-edge talent.
