Engineering project management involves a delicate balance of technical accuracy, people management and structured planning. In case you’re confused, start with the basics. Set realistic milestones, use management software, define project parameters, avoid micromanagement, encourage clear communication, and apply agile and the critical path method. By following these best practices, you’ll have a good head start to begin and lead your project. As time passes, you can continue exploring different approaches to figure out what works best for your team. In the meantime, also continue encouraging them to improve and build on their skills.
Introduction
Project management, in itself, has several challenging aspects. Add engineering to that, and it becomes a complex game of coordination, tech and leadership. Contrary to popular belief, engineering projects aren’t just about technical execution, but they also concern planning, coordination and decision-making. Whether it’s managing resources and timelines or aligning the team’s technical goals, it is crucial to keep on the right path, or it can get really complicated, really fast! To help bridge the gap between engineering and project management, we have compiled this blog of the best tips for engineering project management so you can lead your projects confidently and efficiently. Continue reading to learn more!
What Is Engineering Project Management?
Simply put, engineering project management pertains to the control and coordination of projects specifically in the field of engineering. It could be anything related to the design, development and implementation of technologies. Engineering project management requires the skill to balance the outlook of engineering while simultaneously keeping in mind project management approaches.
Although both project management and engineering management are closely related, there are certain minor differences. For instance, project management is more wide-scale, including the planning and execution of all project-related activities. Engineering management, on the other hand, is slightly more constricted to the technical aspects of engineering in business or management projects. Because of this difference, engineering project management has its own challenges and, therefore, specific ways to tackle them.
10 Best Tips for Successful Project Management
According to a study conducted by the Project Management Institute, one in three engineering projects fails to meet its goals. Moreover, 48% miss their deadlines, and 43% exceed budgets. This is because handling technical projects can prove challenging. To assist in this task, listed below are the best tips for successful project management in engineering.
#1 Set Clear Milestones and Deadlines
The best way to provide direction to any project is through milestones and setting deadlines. However, it is important that you decide both prudently. For instance, an unattainable deadline will reduce your team’s morale immediately. Similarly, a milestone that’s too far in the future will not provide any motivation to keep moving on.
According to the Project Evaluation Review Technique, there are four timelines that each project manager must be aware of:
- Optimistic time: shortest completion period.
- Pessimistic time: longest completion period.
- Most likely time: best estimate while considering zero snags.
- Expected time: best estimate while considering possible issues.
A good project manager must be able to set the right deadlines and milestones while also considering the project’s value and importance.
#2 Software to Organise
Technical projects typically have too many moving parts and are tough to handle. For example, you’ll at least have to look out for client details, project expectations, purchase orders, invoices, training documents, tracking documentation, time tracking details, etc. As the project manager, you must not expend more time than necessary to review and process all of this.
Instead, explore different project management software for your engineering project and choose the one that will suit your project the best. Automation in these aspects of the task can really help in the long run.
#3 Define parameters
Especially in engineering projects, details are extremely crucial. Even a minor technical miss can cascade into a huge blunder down the line. Thus, it is essential that you clarify and define all project parameters beforehand. Also, ensure that all your team members have clearly followed and understood their role in each.
You can consider parameters like project objectives, teams, cross-functional departments, materials, reports, deliverables, deadlines, resource requirements, and budgets.
#4 Backup!
In engineering project management, you must not wait till the last minute to fix an error. In fact, you must have backup plans and strategies prepared before the project begins in full swing! Consider potential issues and obstacles in the project. Is there anything that could go wrong? Is there any personnel resource that you might have to train or replace midway? Explore all these possibilities beforehand and keep yourself well-prepared!
#5 No Micromanagement
Letting go of the reins feels difficult, specifically for high-priority tasks. But being a project manager for engineering projects means trusting your team. You must entrust them with their individual tasks and refrain from micromanagement. It might lead to unrequited friction in the team and cause coordination problems later. Also, micromanagement might take up a lot of your time as well, restricting you from looking at higher-priority tasks.
A good workaround to this is to understand your team’s strengths and delegate tasks to them accordingly. You can also schedule regular check-ins to observe their progress, but also let them explore different approaches and figure out the tasks on their own. That’s also a good way to support your team to grow.
#6 Understand Project Specification
This might seem like an obvious one, but there’s a slight twist. Understanding the project requirements as a project manager is a must. But for engineering projects, it’s also crucial to comprehend the technicalities of the project. Ultimately, your engineering foundation should stay constant throughout the project.
This will also help you in properly realising the expertise of your team and eventually in delegation and setting deadlines.
#7 Critical Path Method
The critical path method determines how the workflow will move and how different tasks will be lined up. It is a crucial tool for all engineering project managers to study this technique and implement it wisely.
It’s especially useful for many interconnected tasks and moving elements, so the dependencies of each can be determined and planned around. To get started, you can create a flowchart that contains the following details:
- Sequence of different tasks
- Their relationship with each other
- Task dependencies
- Longest chain of task dependencies
Once you’re done, you’ll find the critical path method is basically the longest chain of task dependencies in the project. If you follow and plan along this path, chances are that your engineering project will move very efficiently.
#8 Focus on Communication
In an engineering project, it’s not just the hierarchy that matters for smooth coordination, but also how the team interacts with each other. You must foster and encourage open communication, transparent feedback and smooth collaboration between the team. It’s the best way to ensure that friction doesn’t arise in critical areas. Moreover, as trust amongst the team increases, they will automatically take more accountability for their work. And this, in turn, frees the project manager to look at strategic planning and problem-solving.
#9 Agile
Agile methodologies are very useful in project management, especially for engineering projects and high-priority ones. They offer teams the opportunity to be flexible and adaptable when the deliverables are fluctuating. Its iterative development sprints are also equally helpful in integrating client feedback and improving their understanding of the work.
#10 Keep Learning!
As an engineering project manager, the wisest thing you can do is keep learning. Be as open-minded as possible to all different approaches, techniques, styles of management and methodologies. Evaluate your past project and understand what went wrong. Find solutions to those errors so you can be prepared in the future. Remember, a culture of learning and knowledge-sharing can only be cultivated if the leader is willing to keep learning!
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Read also: If you’re interested in project management as a long-term career choice, learn about the top soft skills every engineer must learn in order to excel: Soft Skills Every Engineer Must Develop to Get Hired.
Final Thoughts: Balancing Project Management and Engineering Technicalities
At the end of the day, managing an engineering project includes a delicate balance of understanding the project requirements and maintaining a solid engineering foundation. While it may seem challenging in the beginning, follow the best practices and you’ll eventually find an equilibrium. Most importantly, remember to understand the finer aspects of the project and trust your team. Once you get ahead of the micromanagement curve, you’ll find that delegation, accountability and quality of work increase automatically. Lastly, explore the critical path method and evaluate how it can support your engineering project management skills.
FAQs
Q1. What is engineering project management?
Ans: Engineering project management includes the coordination and control of projects pertaining to the field of engineering. It involves managing the basic challenges of project management along with engineering technicalities.
Q2. How to manage people of different personalities in a team?
Ans: To manage people of different personalities in a team, you must encourage honest communication and coordination between them. Avoid micromanagement and let them take accountability for their work. For tasks that include cooperation between multiple members, ensure that you facilitate their collaboration without becoming overbearing. The best way to lead a team of diverse people is to be approachable and encouraging.
Q3. What are the five Ps of management?
Ans: The five Ps of management are plan, process, people, possessions and profits.
Q4. What is the 70/30 rule in project management?
Ans: The 70/30 rule of project management is suggested so project managers can lower expenses, improve overall cash flow, increase the trust and confidence of stakeholders and exercise better control. The idea is that 70% of the project progress should be achieved within 30% of the total project time in the beginning.
Q5. What should you keep in mind when practising engineering management?
Ans: When managing engineering projects, it’s essential to keep in mind four important pillars – people (your team), technology (integrating tech and automation), processes (critical path method), and product (focus on the final outcome).
