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 Saturday, May 02, 2009 |
As an engineer you will commonly work with clients, managers, vendors and co-workers. It is your responsibility to provide your client or employer with the best advice you can on the engineering topics you are entrusted with. I have found that at times I have felt that I had a better direction in a design path, or even company procedures than the way things were going. Since you, as an engineer, are getting paid to provide your best advice, you need to bring this to the attention of those around you.
What are the best ways to achieve this? My advice is to approach this from an eduction point of view. I have always felt that if others had the same information I did, and they were reasonable people (which they invariably are), they will reach the same conclusion(s) as I did. Therefore I will not need to 'persuade' them. This takes more time then trying to force something down someones throat, but the payoff is immense. You will be viewed as someone to work with. Sometimes all you need to do is to provide a bulleted list of pro's and con's, or a decision tree, or a strategic graphic (a picture is worth a thousand words).
 What if, even with your best effort at education, things still do not go 'your way'. Assess the importance of this decision or advice. Is it really a make or break direction for the company or you? In most cases I would think the answer is probably not. If not, take a back seat. Let someone else drive. You gave your best advice and best effort. Also, you may not know all the information yourself. Those you're trying to persuade may not want to put the effort in to educate YOU. Perhaps your direction is not the best. This may be particularly true if you are the new kid on the block. Things are the way they are for a reason. More than likely there is a whole history to the way people do business around you that you may not be aware of and will take time for you to learn.
Perhaps there are alternatives to what you're proposing that are almost as good. About the only additional thing I might try, if I felt THAT strongly about this, is another short, very focused, attempt at education. Then drop it. The worst thing is to be viewed as argumentative, then all that credibility that has built up is washed away.
There is another question you need to ask yourself. Is your goal to be viewed as right or is it to effect a new and better direction for the design or your company? Sometimes its best to let others take credit for your ideas and/or do things more quietly. On the other hand, perhaps it is an appropriate time to be recognized as being right.
I took a course once that dealt with some of these issues. The topic? "How to manage difficult people." Don't be one of them. Be effective. |
damon at 8:54 PM |
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