The engineer in transition to management

In many of today's industries, the traditional role of functional managers is undergoing significant change. This change is a result of an emphasis on the use of multi-functional teams and the matrixing of staffs onto these teams for projects. The result is a new role for the engineer. It is a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inIndustrial engineer (Norcross, Ga.) Vol. 28; no. 9; p. 18
Main Author Read, Ronald G
Format Magazine Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Norcross Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) 01.09.1996
Subjects
Decision making
Employment
Engineers
Leadership
Managerial skills
Managers
Manufacturing
Planning
Skills
Teams
Value added
United States > US
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Summary:In many of today's industries, the traditional role of functional managers is undergoing significant change. This change is a result of an emphasis on the use of multi-functional teams and the matrixing of staffs onto these teams for projects. The result is a new role for the engineer. It is a change that mandates a shift in focus from "content" to "process." Prior to this change, the focus was on "what" was being done. Today the focus is also on "how" the work can be best accomplished. This new role requires an aptitude for coaching, teaching, and mentoring. If a company is moving in this direction and one finds himself in a leadership role, he needs to become an expert in several things: 1. understanding systematic processes for solving problems, making decisions, planning, and identifying and prioritizing concerns, 2. identifying and deploying those processes necessary to assure "best practices" are used in the functional area, 3. motivating, communicating, and using effective management styles, and 4. doing it right the first time, emphasizing value-added processes.
ISSN:2471-9579