Engineering Management Strategy & Leadership (PDF)

Engineering Management Strategy & Leadership Politics, Power, Influence & Ethics Mr. Omar Sweeney P.E. Chairman, PERB Managing Director, JSIF October 8, 2019 Engineering Power, Politics & Influence This afternoon… The nature of engineering and organ...

Engineering Management Strategy & Leadership Politics, Power, Influence & Ethics Mr. Omar Sweeney P.E. Chairman, PERB Managing Director, JSIF October 8, 2019 Engineering Power, Politics & Influence This afternoon… The nature of engineering and organisational strategy. Engineering authority and the relationship with the project organisation. The need to lead the team and pay attention to all those involved. Good Engineering depends on Excellent Leadership  Politics - Good or Bad? Why might the discipline of Engineering be concerned with the subject of politics? How important is the role of politics in effective Engineering? Politics in Engineering When we think of politics in Engineering, we are concerned with the techniques and skills that the Engineer must draw upon to:-  Influence  Motivate  Persuade  Manipulate  Drive; and  LEAD…….. …….. all project participants (and others who can interfere with the project) towards the successful realisation of project outcomes. In a very real sense, an effective engineer must be a skilled politician in terms of influence and relational skills with others. Organisational Design We all know that the projects depends upon a highly specialised and differentiated set of skills and professions. While there is such a high degree of specialisation and differentiation amongst project contributors, the project depends on all of them to do what is expected of them and in many instances there are complex interdependencies between project participants. Therefore, there is a need for the engineer to allow a project organisation to integrate all participants. BUT, to do this, the engineer needs to be in a position of authority in the project hierarchy. Organisational Design The level of authority afforded to the Engineer will play a major role in defining the scope of their leadership. Authority and Responsibility must correspond The project organisation diffuses or distributes authority and plays a critical role in either centralising (say in a Main Contractor or Architect) or decentralising authority. Authority provides the power to directly instruct resources to be committed to complete necessary activities. Therefore, the Engineer must be a skilled leader so that they can develop the scope of the informal authority that they can use to motivate and build a team that can overcome deficiencies in organisational design caused by procurement or industry culture. Leadership The Engineer must use leadership and political skill in order to develop an effective power base, perhaps largely dependent on informal authority (or power), to instruct and direct the resources needed to get the project done. Leadership and political skill (or relational or influential skill) are critical - so that the level of informal authority and seniority afforded to the Engineer can be elevated to the status necessary to override cultural and procurement problems so the project can be delivered successfully. Leadership Leadership includes:-  Giving meaning and purpose to work  Winning and empowering followers  Inspiring and infusing organisations with a value and ideology.  Motivating people, both within and outside the project organisation to accept a project’s goals and to work enthusiastically towards the achievement of these goals.  Getting others to do what you want!  Motivating people towards getting things done willingly Leadership Clearly leadership qualities are going to be determined, at least in part, by the personality traits, charisma and enthusiasm of those in the position of a leader (as the Engineer must be). This means that, if Leadership is so important to Engineering and project success, we need to ask a very serious question:- Discussion Question ▫ Are leaders born…..or can leadership traits and skills be taught? Leadership requirements To be an effective leader, the Engineer must:-  Have a credible and legitimate source of influence.  Have highly developed Relational Skills  Have highly developed Mobilisation Skills Sources of Influence How can an Engineer influence the various project participants towards the achievement of project goals? Discussion Question What devices can Engineers use in order to control project participants so that objectives can be realised? Which of the devices you discussed do you would think to be the most important for Engineers? Sources of Leadership Influence Formal Authority (Legitimate Power) Reward Power Punishment Power (Coercive Power) Expert Power Referent Power (Collectively, the above 5 sources are sometimes referred to as the 5 power bases and these are well established in literature) (Information Power) (Cognitive Power) (Emotional Persuasion) (Personal Power) Leadership Style Leadership Style I (formal authority, reward and punishment power) Leadership Style II (expert and referent power) Leadership Who does the Engineer need to lead?  Three main ‘groups’ of project contributors need to be led within the project environment:- ▫ The visible team; ▫ The invisible team; and, ▫ The stakeholder team. All need to be convinced of the project aims and must be led by the Engineer; if one group is neglected problems are likely.  Organisations in the project’s external environment also require to be led by the Engineer. Leadership It has been said that as a Leader, an Engineer needs 360o vision. The Engineer must lead and manage in 6 dimensions:-  Upwards  Outwards  Forwards  Backwards  Downwards  Inwards Types of project participant that the Engineer must be paid attention to. From the visible, invisible, stakeholder teams and from the external environment AND while managing most of the 6 dimensions, the Engineer will encounter:-  Allies  Opponents  Bedfellows  Fence Sitters  Adversaries Positively influencing different groups of project participants. The Engineer must adopt a different political approach to each type of participant and must recognise that participants may change at different points in the project life cycle. The aim is always to meet the concerns and needs of the participant while simultaneously securing the needs of the project. The Engineer needs to be highly skilled and very political about doing this and must recognise that a very high degree of flexibility will be required. The aim….. The aim of the Engineer as a leader who draws on authority that is afforded mostly by informal means, is to build an integrated project team (IPT). Characteristics of an Integrated Project Team are:-  An IPT is a single team focused on a common set of goals and objectives for the benefit of ALL concerned.  An IPT is so seamless that it appears to operate as if it were a company in its own right.  An IPT has no apparent boundaries and provides all participants the same opportunities to contribute and all skills can be used to maximum effect.  The Engineer must also be guided by the codes of the professional practice and ethics. Professional Practice Hammurabi's Code of Laws (1792-1750 BC) ▫ 229. If a builder has built a house for a man, and has not made his work sound, and the house he built has fallen, and caused the death of its owner, that builder shall be put to death. ▫ 230. If it is the owner's son that is killed, the builder's son shall be put to death. ▫ 232. If he has caused the loss of goods, he shall render back whatever he has destroyed. Moreover, because he did not make sound the house he built, and it fell, at his own cost he shall rebuild the house that fell. Ethics Ethics (also known as moral philosophy) is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good vs. bad, noble vs. ignoble, right vs. wrong, and matters of justice, love, peace, and virtue. (Wikepedia) ▫ Socrates (469 BC – 399 BC) posited that people will naturally do what is good, if they know what is right. Evil or bad actions, are the result of ignorance. ▫ Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) posited that when a person acts in accordance with his nature and realizes his full potential, he will do good and be content ▫ Hedonism posits that the principle ethic is maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain. Professional Practice & Ethics A profession arises when any trade or occupation transforms itself through "the development of formal qualifications based upon education, apprenticeship, and examinations, the emergence of regulatory bodies with powers to admit and discipline members, and some degree of monopoly rights." Professional Practice & Ethics Professionalism Code of Ethics Professional Best Practices Responsibility Breakdown of Professionalism This often occurs as a result of: ▫ Conflict of Interest ▫ Incompetent Representation ▫ Improper Solicitation ▫ Breach of Trust Examples: Collusion (Contractor-Contractor) or (Consultant-Contractor) Consultants contracted to the Agency also working for the Contractor on the same project. Paying of Bribes or incentives to Agency workers Staff members of employers being employed contractors/consultants to prepare payment submissions & BQ’s Failure to Disclose or provide a Technical recommendation or advise based on a professional opinion Breakdown of Professionalism Professionalism Code of Ethics Professional Best Practices Responsibility Can we really achieve this?  Thank You! Professional Practice & Ethics Conclusion The political management of project contributors is essential for success. The aim is always to secure support for the project and for its objectives. The Engineer must identify the range and extent of the sources of influence available to them so that they can secure an appropriate leadership position to drive the project and to direct its resources effectively. The Engineer must recognise that the project participants need to be politically managed (or manipulated!) towards achieving the desired outcomes and that different approaches are needed dependent on how the contributor sees the project. The Engineer must politically manage the employer (client), the stakeholders and the external environment of the project, as well as their project peers if the propensity for success is to be increased. The Engineer must be guided by the codes of the professional practice and ethics.