IET - Management in engineering

what is the major use of knowing the soil's existing state?

jacksonkulakowski4 — 2013-06-06T14:58:42 00

Hi, I'm a geotechnical engineer and I have done so many projects. However, there are some things that i don't quite understand. Usually, we conduct moisture contents and samples across the investigated depth. We evaluate these numbers in line with the results and know the soil' existing state, if it's about plastic limit, lower than plastic limit, liquid limit, etc.

I just don't understand. We have been doing this but I don't know why we are doing this. Aside from that, I want to know if the moisture content results have other uses.

Sylvester Stallone allegedly sexually harassed Ping Fu

AlbertWang — 2013-03-19T02:38:27 00

According to Ping Fu's memoir (Bend, Not Break: A Life in Two Worlds), pp. 60-61, Sylvester Stallone, a Hollywood celebrity, sexually harassed Ping Fu at a Chinese restaurant in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Stallone allegedly startled Ping Fu by reaching around and grabbing her rear end with his enormous right hand. Instead of giving an appropriate apology, Sylvester Stallone allegedly laughed and told Ping Fu, "Do it again."

As an advisor to President Barak Obama, Ms. Fu should condemn the alleged sexual harassment by Sylvester Stallone when she was working as a waitress in order to financially support herself through college.

Sexual harassment is a serious allegation that should not be tolerated in our American society, regardless of the relative socio-economic status of the alleged sex offender and the alleged victim.

As a successful corporate executive serving on President Obama's advisory council, Ms. Fu should set a good example by publicly demanding an apology from Stallone for the alleged misconduct.

Marketing from Engineers' perspective

lipmin — 2013-03-10T12:35:36 00

Hi fellow engineers,

Please can you help fill out this survey. I am currently doing a research for my MBA. The nature of this study involves a questionnaire aimed at studying the relationship between marketing and engineering functions in various industries.
This study will hopefully be able to identify area for synergy improvement between the two functions.
KwikSurvey

Many thanks in advance
Lip Min Khor

Women in Construction & Engineering

HattieHasan — 2013-01-29T16:55:59 00

Great to see the issues for young people in general and girls in particular being so clearly stated.

Hattie Hasan, founder of Stopcocks Women Plumbers, the only national company of self-employed female plumbers (we believe) in the world faced, similar difficulties as Rhys Jones when training as a plumber in the 80's.
Her response was to form her own business. She too saw the leaks in the pipeline, her response was to redesign the system, fixing it in the process.
The outcome (but not the end of the story) is the first plumber training course for women. It includes mentoring, access to the on-site work necessary to qualify, supervision in order to complete it and build confidence and also business building, starting this February.

We are still encountering women whose fathers and brothers are plumbers but they're discouraged from doing it, women who are the only females on their courses and women who have managed to get jobs with stories of what has happened to them that could make your hair curl.
Careers advice appears still to channel girls away from plumbing. Even colleges seem to only be set up to accept the flow of boys straight from schools and not to proactively attract more mature learners.
With the reputation of plumbing among the lowest of any job/trade/profession we believe it needs quality of work plus the soft skills/customer care women bring to drag it into the 21st Century.

Document title

ebanner — 2012-11-30T12:21:26 00

Hi

I am just writing a response to a specification and was wondering what this document would be titled. It is not a proposal as we are delivering a system but we need to prove that our system meets our customers specification.

Knowledge Retention in industry - your views please

ahemzz — 2012-10-22T13:23:25 00

Hello fellow members,

I work at The National Skills Academy for Power and would like your views on knowledge retention. You don't have to be a power sector employee, and respondents earn a chance to win a gift card! Please click here to start the survey: http://tiny.cc/powersurvey2

We are working on a series of initiatives aimed at helping the Power Sector (as well as potentially other sectors) to improve the way knowledge is retained and shared among employees in the sector, ensuring that workers have the right knowledge and skills for their work.

Many thanks in anticipation,

Chee

Help required: How to better audit my new engineering team

AndrewMcAllister — 2012-10-15T20:39:52 00

Hello all,

I currently run 2 teams of network and VC engineers which is inside my IS specialisation. I have recently been tasked with running an additional 15-man team who provide 24/7 watch keeping and maintenance of an array of Hard FM equipment: diesel engines, chlorination systems, cooling towers, CBRN protection systems, sewage systems etc.

I was asked to help out as the team had become moribund, lacked any sort of drive and poorly managed.

As I am not a mechanical engineer by trade, my solutions so far have been to instigate a formal training routine, supervising watch handovers and generally becoming their least favourite line manager.

I would appreciate any advice any advice on KPIs, audit, assurance or oversight techniques that any of you with a hard FM management experience can offer.

Many thanks,

Andrew McAllister

Engineering and Procurement !!!!?

aahabue — 2012-08-08T12:10:24 00

These two departments generally have problems working with each other.... so guys my question is how can "How can engineering risk management complement those of procurement and supply chain to mitigate risks in oil and gas production ?"

Your views will be very much appreciated

PhD/DBA?

scottseedell — 2012-07-16T15:39:16 00

Hi Folks,

I'm currently doing an MSc (Engineering Management - Distance learning) and all going well, should finish fairly shortly. I'm currently employed as a project engineer for a large M+E firm and generally enjoy the role although I would like to progress up the ladder a bit more possibly to a senior personnel manager or similar position. Being naturally ambitious and keen to learn, I have been pondering undertaking a management/leadership PhD or DBA. My local university offer a PhD on a part time basis which can take up to 6 years to complete with fairly minimal attendance at uni (<10 hours per week). I've also been looking at possible online/distance DBAs which seem relevant to my aims also. Upon completion of my MSc I would meet the entry criteria easily enough I believe.

Can anyone give any advice on whether or not I would need a PhD/DBA in order to further my management ambitions or whether I should concentrate on completing my MSc and gain some valuable industry experience before I consider any career changes? I'd hate to spend up to 6 years completing a PhD only to discover than it hasnt actually moved me up the career ladder more than just my MSc!

Much appreciated.

E&T Magazine - Debate - Developing networks has become more important than command and control for today's manager

jpwilson — 2012-06-19T11:03:08 00

For:
Developing networks has become more important than command and control for today's manager.

Against:
Developing networks has not become more important than command and control for today's manager.

Industrial Engineering Course and Textbook

garzaart — 2012-05-25T13:27:54 00

I need to prepare an academic course on the traditional Industrial Engineering (productivity improvement, work study methods, work measurement, ergonomics, facilities layout, etc.). Can someone suggest a good text book to be adopted at undergraduate level?

I would appreciate your help on this.

R&D Tax Credits & Patent Box

barriedowsett — 2012-05-11T11:20:08 00

Please let me know if members would appreciate some free guidance and advice relating to R&D Tax Credits and the forthcoming Patent Box. If so, how would they like it to be delvered via the forum, via a breakfast seminar or similar event, on-line or by 1 to 1 sessions. I would be interested in your thoughts and ideas.

From sparky to manager?

CBR — 2012-05-01T22:21:19 00

Hi there

I've decided after a lot of deliberation to seek employment in M&E biased project management. I've been an electrician for 20 years and self employed for ten years, and due to a down turn in work, I have had to seek employment. As I have been working on my own for ten years without support, I feel that I am capable of making the transition.

But my question is, what training would an employer look for to gain a management position? I have been told (by a project manager that I know) to obtain IOSH and NEBOSH and then to obtain MIET status.

Also, do companies generally take on people like myself who would need some training. Free work experience, perhaps?

Thanks in advance

E&T Magazine - Debate - Can we really learn our management techniques from the explorers of yesteryear?

jpwilson — 2012-04-25T09:36:48 00

For:
Yes, we can learn management techniques from the explorers of yesteryear.

Against:
No, we can't learn management techniques from the explorers of yesteryear.

Non-degreed engineere

murungu — 2012-04-20T14:22:11 00

How 'easy' is it for an IEng with a City&Guilds to get around the degree pre-requisite in job adverts?

Oath - again ?

Brinklow — 2012-03-15T13:05:14 00

Yes I have already signed an oath and would be happy to attach a copy if this software would allow.

Paul H Brinklow.

Open-Book Project Management

PCA — 2012-03-14T07:04:10 00

I am looking for a document that describes how an "open-book" project is managed.
I am managing a multimillion pound project and want to establish open book principles with the suppliers. I need to be able to explain the principles along with examples if poss.
Does anyone have a document that they could share with me that may help?

Thanks

Paul

MBA advice needed

DonaldFisher — 2012-03-07T13:59:40 00

Hi,

I am considering options for a part-time MBA and was looking for advice from anybody who has, or knows people who have, studied a part-time MBA. Which schools are good/bad/overrated and why?

So far, my front runners are Manchester, Warwick and Cranfield - any feedback on these would be most appreciated.

NB - I work in the renewable energy sector on the commercial side and want to continue down this path.

Thanks,

JBB

Environmental sustainability - every engineer's responsibility...?

maceace — 2012-03-06T00:10:58 00

Interested in members' views on the extent to which environmental sustainability is or could / should be considered within day to day professional life as an engineer: In addition to "greening" your daily working life (choosing lower-carbon / lower-energy modes of transport to work or on business travel for example), or lowering the daily carbon footprint in other ways, do you also:

engineer products, services or projects which are directly focussed on sustainability / carbon reduction / renewable / recycling ?

pay attention to the whole life carbon footprint of your project during creation, operation and disposal ?

explore additional secondary sustainability benefits which your project might deliberately or inadvertently bring, for example by being applied in adjacent domains ? If no to any of the above, what barriers do you feel stand in the way of creating greater sustainability and climate change resilience, through your work as a professional engineer ? Are there any other dimensions of an engineer's work which could impact on sustainability and climate change resilience ? Interested in any thoughts and debate this post might stimulate. Kind regards Erik

Ethics training for engineers

jimbaxter — 2012-02-24T10:31:36 00

In the recent article in E&T magazine about engineers working with ethicists, 'Social Engineering', the ethicist James Dempsey was interviewed about his approach to partnering with engineers on the ethics of engineering.

For anyone who wants to get some practical experience of this approach, the Inter-Disciplinary Ethics Applied Centre at the University of Leeds for which James works is providing, through the IET, a training course in Professional Ethics for Engineers.

This one-day course has been designed to help you explore how ethical issues impact on your working life. During the course, you will be introduced to the process of ethical reasoning and will explore how ethical values are applied in professional context. Through scenario-based training, you will also learn how to identify ethical issues and deal with these issues as they arise.

To find out more and register for a course, follow this link:

Professional Ethics for Engineers

What is reasonable as a training agreement?

nhaughton — 2012-02-16T10:17:16 00

I manage a small team, and I want to send one of them on a technical training course (3 days), which is relevant to their job and my employer's business.

The new skills will benefit both parties but will also clearly be transferable, so my boss wants me to negotiate a training agreement with this particular individual, ie whereby he/she agrees to repay a percentage of the course costs on a sliding scale if he/she leaves the company before the end of the agreement.

Clearly such an agreement needs to be reasonable and not something that can be construed as restrictive, so I would like some advice on what is currently the norm for a short course such as this, ie a 3 day course costing circa £2000 in fees.

Can anyone offer advice based on their experience?

Surplus Asset Management Software

lcinacio — 2012-02-02T09:35:51 00

Dear all,

We are developing an asset management software that allows firms to better manage their surplus/idle equipment. Instead of creating excel sheets and sharing them via email, firms can enter this information in our system and have it accessible by the entire company.

The idea is that by having this information in a single system, companies will be able to take the most appropriate action in each case: Internal redeployment, disposal, recycle, donation...

I am looking to get feedback from people with expertise in this area. Please let me know if you would be able to spare 15 mins of your time for a quick chat.

You can read more about our software:
assetglobe.com/enterprise-saas

Or take a look at our flyer:
assetglobe.com/sites/default/files/AssetGlobe-flyer.pdf

Best regards,

Luiz Inacio

Liability Insurance for self-employed engineers

rdsmales87 — 2012-01-24T12:21:39 00

Hi,

I'm investigating the practicalities of setting up a cottage industry
building audio electronic equipment. I'd like to get some
legal advice about liability insurance in the event of product failure.
Can anyone advise me where to look? Obviously I can contact a solicitor, but I can't be the first to ask this outside a solicitors office?

Kind Regards,

R

Cost Estimating Applications

daveboy — 2012-01-13T19:26:26 00

Hi there,

My organisation currently uses Propricer as the application for the cost modelling of all estimates prepared for our bids.

However, the version of Propricer we use is becoming a bit dated and I am investigating alternative applications. In addition the licence costs are quite expensive.

Does anyone have any recent experience of procuring cost estimating applications or have any recommendations for such applications?

Many thanks in advance!

CMMS Software?

ryanm — 2012-01-11T10:58:08 00

Hi all,

I am wanting to move all our paper/excel base PPM on to computer using some CMMS software.

What are people using for this?

- I am wanting to be able to create work orders for jobs which randomly come up, print out the scheduled weekly maintenance for 3 maintenance engineers, and have different frequencies for these.

- Equipment inventory

- I would like to integrate our spares in with the maintenance system eventually.

- Record breakdowns of machines and try to get some logic to the break downs of each machine etc

Any other ideas would be great.

Thanks a lot
Ryan

Authorised Person Competancy

iie1001114 — 2012-01-04T21:34:47 00

We have 5 HV motors in our plant which need to isolated regularly for mechanical maintenance. These were isolated by Authorised Persons following a detailed switching schedual. Each of these AP's previously had HV competancy training. Due to a change in staffing new engineers with no compentancy training are currently being Authorised to carry out this switching by our Electrical head of department. Currently our head of department also does this switching he also has not had any SAP training. His view is this will make the job easier for the 3 SAP's on site.

Does anyone have views on using non HV trained personel doing the switching and isolation, or is it down to what you feel you should as it is aprivate network. Make the rules up as you feel.

Human Resources people

eswnl — 2011-12-14T01:35:39 00

When you submit a CV to a company, does it go to HR first for the initial sifting and then to the recruiting engineer?

Do you think HR can be a barrier in the recruitment process? Do people wish the CV could go straight to the recruiting engineer?

Interviewed but rejected due to lack of experience

eswnl — 2011-12-02T16:46:08 00

I've noticed that companies invite you for interviews but reject you because you don't have the experience. Even if your interview performance is good.

I find this odd because if they have your CV, they can see your experience and if you don't have the experience they should not be interviewing you (and wasting your time or producing false hope).

The only reason I can think of is I'm being used as a backup candidate, in-case they don't find the experienced person they were expecting. Then they would have to downgrade the job slightly and introduce (shock, horror) a bit of training.

Technical documentation in all its forms

broweriie — 2011-12-02T10:51:47 00

I am asking for your views and experiences over your lifetimes as engineers and scientists, at all levels, on the subject of technical documentation. My motives for this forum are that I want to make a case for more time and resources to be put into technical communication and knowledge sharing within my organisation. Much technical information is spread around an establishment, often in hand written form, you may be familiar with the phrase 'on the back of a fag packet'. My view is that often this information is lost when people leave, are promoted and in some cases held back. With companies making a big issue of the value of knowledge, it's often hard to find the relevant piece of technical data. This is not a new discussion and I am sure you have come across the subject before. It is becoming more topical so can I ask you three questions without giving me any confidential details;

Is sufficient time and energy spent on knowledge sharing and is this culture amongst engineers/scientists a high priority?

What value do you put on technical documentation, in whatever form, and how does impact on your organization?

What is your experience of documentation within your organization, has it changed over time and how would you improve it further in terms of structure and management?

Help wanted for dissertation

iie630326 — 2011-11-28T18:20:34 00

I am currently doing my MSc in Engineering and I am looking for people from Senior mangers to staff to complete the following survey. It is only 10 questions long and it is related to safety at work. I would grateful to anyone who completes it.

Click here for Survey

Thank you.

Developing my product and taking it to market

rajudegala — 2011-11-28T14:15:30 00

I have developed a new system for the improvements in Wind Turbines, and I wish to develope the product and get it to market. I have little experience of this particular part of a business. What is available in the UK with respect to funding, and what are the best places to look for further research into this? What agencies are the best to approach with respect to providing funding? I am writing a business plan and working out what the requirements are in terms of development costs, though I am not that experienced at this either, and I am basing figures on existing products in this sector. Your help is very much appreciated.

E&T Magazine - Debate - Skills shortages in the UK are being properly addressed

jpwilson — 2011-11-15T16:41:31 00

For:
This house believes that skills shortages in the UK are being properly addressed.

Against:
This house does not believe that skills shortages in the UK are being properly addressed.

Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation Animation Help needed

danc2188 — 2011-10-20T10:13:28 00

Hi,

Does anyone know how to add a 'Scrolling text banner' across a PowerPoint slide?

I have a presentation to do for a project at college and I would like to scroll some text across the screen as I speak rather than just show it as bullet points. I know how to add 'credits' effect etc but I am looking for an effect that would be like a news channels 'BREAKING NEWS' text banner.

If anyone knows how please let me know.

Dan

Working in small electronic companies

eswnl — 2011-09-09T03:12:15 00

Hi,

In small electronics companies with few members of staff or even a one person band, is it likely that the engineers would take on multiple roles. For example the engineer may have to cover the design, customer requirement capture (therefore being customer facing), being a service engineer to the customer, sales etc.

If you were a person who wanted to focus purely on design, this situation wouldn't be ideal would it?

Project Management Training

alfinne — 2011-08-30T16:13:42 00

In preparation for my next job move I would like to enhance my project management skills. I anticipate I will work for a UK, Irish or US company in either the UK or Ireland. I want to stay in the Medical Device industry as I have 8 years experience of participating in and leading medical electronic systems development, and really enjoy it.

My quandry is whether to pursue PRINCE2, or join the Project Management Institute (PMI) or the Association for Project Management (APM) and follow their programs. I already have a Master's degree so don't want to do an MSc in PM.

Any tips or advice?

Best regards
Alan

mentoring?

ads114 — 2011-08-18T20:15:24 00

hi , i have started a new post in a very busy dept of a major player in the industry. i was taken on because i have knowledge and experience the dept recognise will be useful. there is no dedicated training programme for me, i don't know what i am doing from one day to the next i am having to occupy my time by trying to find things to do and read etc. i have been given a mentor who is so busy with his own work and completely stressed out he cannot spend any time with me. i ask for help, he cannot give it and brushes me off, despite having a long chat with him to try and fix things and come to some conclusion as to the way forward. how is this best resolved without causing any trouble, its a thought to go in when you are the only person not doing much it seems.the boss is very good and says to chill out and dont look to do too much to soon but i'm not happy, any thoughts please

Help required for dissertation: Permits on Low & High Voltage systems

ChristopherKelly — 2011-08-11T13:04:02 00

I am currently writing my degree dissertation on electrical infrastructures and need some help with permits.

I work as an operations engineer within the NHS and undertake Low & High voltage AP duties, and I need to compare the NHS permit system with permit/permission to work systems in other organisations or industries.

Could anyone help?
What I need is information regarding what permits are used and under what conditions they are issued.

Example of NHS (HTM) permits:
Low Voltage permits and forms:
Certificate of authorisation for live working,
Isolation and earthing diagram,
Limitation of access,
Permission for disconnection of electrical services,
Permit to work,
Safety program

High Voltage permits and forms:
Isolation and earthing diagram,
Limitation of access,
Permission for disconnection of electrical services,
Permit to work,
Safety program,
Sanction for test

Before any work which will interrupt a department or ward has started, a Permission for disconnection of electrical services permit is signed by the person with responsibility for the area involved in the work. This confirms that the electrical supply will be interrupted and nothing critical will be left without power unexpectedly during the work.

A Safety programme is produced to give each step of the process to make the item to be worked on safe and unenergised.

A Isolation and earthing diagram is then produced to visually indicate the isolations which will be made by the end of the Safety programme.

Once the Safety programme has been followed and the isolation made, a Permit to work is issued to the Competent Person (CP) who will be undertaking the work. Once the work has been undertaken and either completed or suspended, the Permit to work must be returned to the Approved Person (AP)

A Certificate of live working is only issued if it is impossible to make the point of work dead; it is usually issued only for the changing of batteries in UPS units. These are never issed for work on High Voltage systems.

Limitation of access permits are issued to persons who may need access to controlled areas but are not undertaking any work, this may include joiners undertaking fire door checks.

Sanction for test permits are issued to allow tests on HV cables, this includes pressure tests.

If anyone can help, please email me at c.kelly4343@student.leedsmet.ac.uk

Many thanks for taking the time to read this,

Christopher M Kelly

E&T Magazine - Debate - Do engineers make poor businessmen?

jpwilson — 2011-07-13T07:45:39 00

For:
This house believes that engineers are well suited to becoming successful entrepreneurs.

Against:
This house does not believe that engineers are well suited to becoming successful entrepreneurs.

Change capture / tracking software

amillar — 2011-07-12T14:35:24 00

I am looking around for up to date software to log change requests, and allow referencing of these requests to ECRs and other output documents. It should be flexible enough to capture the simplest of issues, but thorough enough to ensure that every change request is fully traceable (in both directions) through to the eventual change. It must also allow easy identification of open requests.

We could build yet another Access database, but if there is anything already out there it would let us get on with the ample other work we have to do!

All thoughts gratefully received.

Free labour in West Yorkshire area

cwhitak — 2011-05-30T10:46:08 00

Hi and welcome to the IET forums.

You will get a beeter response to this if you repost into the Wiring and Regulations forum, that is the most active forum and where most of the sparkies reside.

You will then be able to delete this post in the Management forum.

Kind regards

Donald Lane

Business Contingency Management Survey

olivogt — 2011-05-25T09:17:50 00

Hello, I plan to contribute to The Asset Management Conference 2011
http://www.theiet.org/events/2011/asset.cfm with a research paper about "Business Contingency Management: A survey of current industry practice in the UK"

If have some free time and your work is somehow related to BCM please complete the survey at www.domres.org

What do YOU get (the practitioner) by completing this survey? We will provide you with a comprehensive list of activities and options for Business Contingency Management. Some you may have implemented already but hopefully we provide new ideas too.... You will have access to the results of the survey.

What do WE get? We would like to measure the strategic, tactical and operational levels of Business Contingency Management implementations.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Best Regards
Oliver Vogt

what should i perpare for the interview

mshafique — 2011-04-22T09:43:53 00

I got interview with CEO regarding the sale post. I got this interview after series of tests, presentation and interview now the CEO ask for my final interview so what should I do don't know, I am engineer and have 4 years experience and don't know what to do lol

Any helping words
Thanks
Hassan

What's in a Job Title ...

jonmitch — 2011-04-15T07:54:40 00

Hello Everyone,

I'm looking for a little advice here ...

I had held the position of "Chief Engineering Manager" for a small company for approx 4 years. The word "Manager" at the end of the title was always a bit of an oddity as there wasn't an awful lot of managing to do - I was heading up the Engineering team (which consisted of just me), and more critically the General Manager did not delegate much if any real management to me anyway. I guess that was just his management style.

Back at the end of last year, however, most of the staff from that company ( my General Manager and all above him) got transferred under the TUPE rules to our main client. All has been going quite well, but there's a couple of things that worry me ....

My new immediate boss and I have had discussions about my Management skills. He has noticed that I am struggling here slightly. Although the new job is in theory exactly as per the old one, the management style of my new manager is very different from my old one (new manager is far less hands-on) - and as a result my weakness in management is becoming clear to both myself and my manager. He is being very supportive, and offering help and guidance - and even training courses - so I was quite encouraged. Quite necessary, though, as we are looking to expand the Engineering team from 1 (me) to 3 or more in the coming months.

Recently we have all been having the first of our "reviews" since joining the company - to be repeated annually or thereabouts. These are a fairly relaxed affair - in my case, as a member of the management team I was asked to write my own job description as well as help to write some others. However, during discussions with my new manager, he (strongly) suggested that my job title should change from "Chief Engineering Manager" to "Chief Engineer". Whilst he states that this is because, in his opinion at least, a Chief Engineer outranks a Chief Engineering Manager - I have concerns :

1) Obviously, with all the discussions about my Management weaknesses (which I do not dispute), I have concerns that he may be lining up to bring someone in above me and demote me.

2) Is the change in official job title, and for that matter agreeing a new job description, in any way negating or cancelling my rights under the TUPE transfer process ?

It might not be worth worrying about, but I'm a naturally suspicious person. After all, I'm an Engineer - I understand and trust machines, but sometimes people are a mystery to me !

Any thoughts and advice gratefully received.

Thanks,

Jon

new commercial consumer unit

infinity2011 — 2011-03-12T18:45:15 00

I have recently been asked to change a commercial, 18 way distribution board. I understand once i change the db i am responsible for all out going circuits. Does this mean if i change any db, no matter how many circuits are incorporated, i have to ensure all outgoing circuits meet the 17th regs? And if for instance 10 circuits do not meet the 17th edition i have to inform the customer they cannot reconnect these circuits and its going to cost a lot more now to reinstate them?

Please pass on any advice.

Much appreciated

ET Magazine - Debate - Reality TV

dbacon — 2011-01-19T12:49:02 00

For:
What better way is there to enthuse people about business?

Against:
Leading by a culture of fear is a recipe for a disaster

New Project managing/engineering

Martyb447 — 2011-01-06T13:19:05 00

Afternoon All,

Looking for some guidance if possible,

I have recently (last week) taken on a new job as a projects team supervisor where I am supervising a few project managers and there team. All is going well but I need some guidance on where I should continue my training.
My background was originally from the shop floor and I've worked my way up. I spent two years as a enginering manager where I had to manage engineering projects including mods/new builds/designs etc but as with these things I picked things up as I went along until I was, in my own and others opinions, reasonably good at managing these projects. But now that I am managing multi discipline project managers I am unsure where to increase my knowledge. I've looked at the PRINCE2 courses but I dont know if these would be any good or if continuing my cross trianing into electrical/building services would be better or even just to do more general mangement training..?

Sorry for the ramble but any time I seek guidance from the course providers etc they, amazingly, say there course would be best. And as the previous person to hold the position has passed on I can't ask their opinion.

Any guidance from others that have done or doing this kind of work would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks you

Marty Barr

Management 3 Philosophy/Philosohers

shaunbutler — 2010-12-02T19:22:51 00

Hi
This isn't my usual forum, so here goes:
I used to work with a qualified manager a few years back. Who used to describe 3 person Philosophy/Philosophers in management, which I'm guessing he was lectured on.
As describe to me:

First would be to take a relaxed focus towards problems and people management, third, would be the complete opposite to the first. Second would take the in-between approach.
I do apologise for the vague descriptions, I'm after the name for these Philosophies/Philosophers if anyone had an idea into what I'm talking about, I cannot of love nor money remember the name, although they used to be stamped in my head.
Any help or info I would appreciate!
Many thanks.

Shaun

Technical Project Management

gillianlambert — 2010-11-24T14:44:08 00

I work for a large engineering company, undertaking systems integration, software, hardware and FPGAdevelopment, as a Project Manager, although I trained and started work as a Development Engineer, before crossing "to the dark side". Project Management is now one of the career paths our Business Graduates (i.e. without a technical background) can choose and we also recruit PMs from a range of industries and are now struggling with a skills gap because our Project Managers tend not to have sufficient technical understanding.

I've been asked for any recommendations on training programmes or technical accreditations which we could propose for some of these PMs with non-technical backgrounds, to provide them with a sufficient technical skills.

I confess that I'm a little baffled as most of the training I've found seems to work the other way - for engineers to become managers, not to give managers a technical grounding. Does anyone have any experience of such training or can they suggest possible avenues to consider?

Your suggestions will be much appreciated.

IET Communities - we are interested in your views

HVoong — 2010-11-16T15:21:12 00

The IET is conducting some research into the way our community groups (local, technical and professional) currently operate. We would like to know how the support and resources the IET provides contribute to the effective running of communities and how these could be developed in the future.

Please take a few moments to complete this questionnaire; your feedback will contribute to our future planning processes. The closing date is 28 November 2010.

Community Survey

Regards
Community Development Team

NEC3 for dummies

fmuyambo — 2010-10-12T00:23:37 00

Hi fmuyambo,

I am working through NEC3 contracts at the moment. We have let a supply contract and are now looking at requirements for the Professional services contract.

What do you need to know?

Cheers,

Den :-)