Project Management as an Engineer

There are 3 important considerations when managing an engineering project.

They are;

1) Managing People

2) Managing Time

3) Managing Finance

Manage People

- Matching the skills of individuals to the right task

- Motivating the team to ensure they are motivated and to maintain quality delivery of results

- Keeping the team well aware of latest updates from customer to prevent “last minute” rush for work

- Provide clear instructions and executions to prevent misunderstanding to different stakeholders

- Manage expectations of customers by not overselling the project and timeline, regular discussion with them helps in aligning and matching current and new expectations

Manage Time

- The project has adequate fund to last throughout committed time to customer

- Optimizing cost by understand the actual market price from competitor and multiple vendors during course of project

- Plan for Mean Time Before Failure (MTBF) of all products beforehand, a good rule of thumb is to have 10% spares for critical and frequently used items

- If you can outsource the services to a supplier to expedite the process, you may do so

Manage Finance

- When requiring manpower, requests beforehand instead of “last minute”

- Avoid having the mentality to delay the task before all other possible solutions are exhausted. If you are unable to deliver the full project on time, your company will be fined with Liquidated Damage (LD) charges.

- Always include intentional spare time during planning to ensure project has proper time buffer to manage unforeseen circumstances

- Have the mindset to motivate everyone to finish their tasks quickly and reliably, otherwise, team members may take time for granted

- Know how to identify tasks or individuals who are stopping things from moving, then, resolve it quickly to ensure work schedules are properly met