Engineering Trends

The Manager Versus The Leader: Who Promotes Success?

by Todd Yuzuriha

Today's competitive business environment creates pressures that demand continual improvements in the ways products are developed. Managers play a critical role in these improvements — more critical than Dilbert would have us believe. But this role may not be the traditional one many professionals have in mind. Here is some food for thought for managers and engineers alike.

Guard Against Overburdening Projects

The ideal product development environment has teams working on exciting and challenging projects. Teams are stretched to build upon their successes and accomplish more with the same resources. But there is a fine line between setting challenging goals and overloading teams. Managers need to be aware of the differences and be able to work through this delicate balance. When situations warrant it, managers should push back on the requirements they place upon the team for the sake of longer-term team productivity and success.

Define Priorities

Inevitably, companies have multiple products in various stages of development at the same time. As a result, conflicts with resource utilization may occur. Managers should set clear priorities on the importance of one project over another, so that teams can make informed decisions about how to use resources best.

Establish Self-Directed Teams

Setting challenging goals and defining priorities is a precursor to what may be the most significant contribution a manager can make: setting up a product development environment that allows teams to run on their own. This forward thinking marks the difference between being merely a manager and being a true leader.

Leaders recognize that engineers are often in the best position to gather the information necessary to make better design, development and production decisions most efficiently and quickly. For example, engineers can determine the best way to assemble quick prototypes, know what architecture to use in the next electrical design, and can offer ways to minimize material costs.

Projects progress more effectively when managers make a concerted effort to allow the person or people tied most closely to the work make the decisions. In many cases, it's not the manager. Teams' work flows better when the manager does not control the decisions, but rather orchestrates them. As leaders, managers are more enablers and advisers than they are people who must participate in every detailed aspect of a project. Ultimately, leaders nurture team success; managers might not.

Todd Yuzuriha is the author of How to Succeed as an Engineer: A Practical Guide to Enhance Your Career. For more information, go to www.engineeringsuccess.com.