I am a small firm of one employee, with out- sourcing capabilities of a few more to compete in todays engineering world. With that history, I envy those of you in municipal or large governmental backed firms that can collaborate and communicate your goals, policies and strategies as a large group. I remember them by their acronyms GPS. More typically thought of as global positioning system, the task is similar: to put everyone in the room or company on a map with directions and commitments to the bigger group. Let me be frank that a company flow chart does not do that for this new engineering team. A flow chart is almost a symbol of earnings and age and not the flow of communication. I have worked for a very large engineering firm and was openly warned that there were not open door policies and few were free to communicate to other engineers outside of the billable team assigned to the project.
So where's this leading? I would use your strengths as a large group and the ability to use the vast resources in out-sourced training seminars and programs that are available in this country. Ask yourselves how many communication seminars your team has participated in in the last year. Think about the Disney animated movie Tarzan. The whole movie was about the animal kingdom motto : "the strength of the wolf is in the pack, and the strength of the pack is in the wolf."
For me and my company, I still go to seminars, but also find leadership training in books, movies and CD's. Even a video recording of a "Town Talk" is beneficial. There is a great book called "The Effective Executive" by Peter F. Drucker that is a an awesome resource. You can always go back to those resources and talk about them as an engineering team "book club."
good luck
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Vernon Brock P.E., M.ASCE
PRINCIPAL
Brock Consulting Llc
Eagle CO
(970) 328-0876
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-24-2017 08:48
From: Christopher Menna
Subject: Communication Best Practices - ASCE's Public Agency Peer Review Committee
In my last few years at the City of Philadelphia, a high quality newsletter created by staff from various backgrounds was very successful. We made sure that printouts were given to field people that did not have computer access. It was good to take turns showcasing all units, highlighting the challenges that they face. Regular columns from Commissions worked out well. Key to this was regularly thanking employees for their service and providing kudos, when the opportunity was there.
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Christopher Menna P.E., F.ASCE
Structure Project Manager
Jacobs
Philadelphia PA
(215) 487-0396
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-20-2017 18:40
From: Elizabeth Bialek
Subject: Communication Best Practices - ASCE's Public Agency Peer Review Committee
As one of ASCE’s volunteer public agency peer reviewers, and a member of ASCE's Public Agency Peer Review Committee, I have been reflecting on past reviews, and a common theme that comes up is "Communications". Many agencies still struggle with best practices for effective communication with their employees on administrative issues and also team communications on projects. Paradoxically, even with more communication tools than ever (emails, text, skype, phone, email-based voicemail), we still struggle to communicate.
What tools or best practices do you find enhance communication and collaboration at your agency or former agency? What general advice would you share with public agency managers to help them improve communications at their agency?
Thank you in advance for your thoughts - we could all use help in this area and your input will shape the best practices that we convey to fellow public agencies that we visit for peer reviews.
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Elizabeth Bialek P.E., M.ASCE
Engineering Manager
East Bay Municipal Utility District
Oakland CA
(510) 287-0335
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