engineering management

everybody in the loop

Straight talk, and often, says an engineering manager, is what works for him on the job.

By Jean Thilmany, Supplement Editor

Sometimes it's helpful to read about the travails and triumphs that engineering managers face at their jobs. With that in mind, Engineering Management will include occasional articles taken from free-ranging discussions with managers who ply their trade at a variety of engineering companies.

Of course, no two jobs are alike. But you can still get a peek into your colleagues' lives and their struggles, and can take home some tips.

In this issue, we speak with Herb Flink, the engineering manager at Parker-Hannifin's Fluid Control Division in New Britain, Conn. The division makes solenoid and process control valves. Flink has been with the division for 36 years. He reveals the most important skill that he feels a manager can bring to the job and compares managing engineers to living within a family.

Mechanical Engineering: What can you tell us about your managerial style? Let's talk about how you've developed that style over the years and how your particular job has nurtured it.

Flink: They've given managers here at Parker the opportunity to better understand the world of engineers. We wear two hats. I wear my supervisor hat; then I take it off and work on projects myself as an engineer.

So I get to also live in the world of the engineer and appreciate the pains and pleasures of that. That's helped me quite a bit to hone my management skills over the years.

Managers are no different than any other professional person. We want to treat people with respect. I'm honest with my people. If there's something I can't discuss, I tell them why I can't. I keep confidential matters to myself. I also feel I owe it to my engineers to treat them fairly, to confront situations as they occur, and to be critical of them as necessary.

Mechanical Engineering: How are you critical?

Flink: I don't like to let six months to a year go by without a review. I feel I'm doing my job as a supervisor if there are no surprises on either side of the desk at the review. If we've worked together and communicated properly, the engineer knows what I'm going to say.

A manager's communication skills help to keep everyone on board.

I feel I'm a mentor, a coach, a trainer, a guide, and a consultant. I need to pass along my technical knowledge to help engineers communicate within the world of engineers and to work within the system. I'm there to answer their questions, but not to do their work for them. I perhaps edit occasionally, but I don't want to micromanage. I want them to grow.

To that end, I'm happiest when I see a young engineer get promoted or move to a job they prefer. I try to work that side with my engineers daily. I ask them what they want to be doing in their careers, and then I make sure to ask them often, "Are you working your plan?"

Mechanical Engineering: Have you found that there's a learning curve to managing?

Flink: I think there probably is. There's a learning curve before you even get into it, although I certainly didn't think that when I graduated from college and was thrown into the ranks.
But, you almost learn on the job, especially if you have older people who work for you, people with more experience than you. Really, the whole thing can be a trial by fire sometimes.
But I think that highlights one thing: It's extremely important to treat the people who work for you with respect, and it's also important to show support to those who work for you.

Mechanical Engineering: Give us some of your tips for effective management that you've learned on the job.

Flink: Well, one way to become an effective manager is to earn the respect and trust of people who work for you. Yes, that's basic, but it needs to be pointed out. You've got to assume people are intelligent, and you've got to support them and treat them with respect.

We're here as managers to help our people grow. We can't do their work for them. You can point them in the right direction.
Doing their work for them can be tempting, because as an engineer, you always like to jump in and do the work. [Laughs.] I don't know that I could do the work better; I just like to do it.

As an experienced person here, it's also important to show people the ropes—to make sure they understand the procedures here because every company has its own unique procedures. It's helpful to show engineers these, rather than let them kind of flounder around.

Mechanical Engineering: It sounds rather paternal, in a nice way.

Flink: Managing is kind of like marriage. You're with these people eight hours or more a day. Because you're with them so much, it's extremely important not to hold grudges. You have to talk, discuss, and try not to raise your voice. You've got to deflate situations.

If you sense the person you're talking with is upset—not necessarily with you, even, but with the situation—it doesn't help to elevate the situation. You want to be a neutralizer.

Mechanical Engineering: What are the skills that you emphasize?

Flink: Oh, definitely, communication skills. That's extremely important. There are a couple of sides, the listening side and the transmitting side. On the listening side, I find it effective to give feedback, to echo back comments, to ask appropriate questions without interrupting, to nod.

If you don't have the time—we're very busy here and I might not have the time to meet with someone exactly when they request—I let the person know, honestly, that right now I have only one or two minutes and then I have to go into a meeting. If they need more time, I can set aside a block of time in the future for us to discuss this until they're happy. That situation happens to me quite a bit, honestly.

I think the communication side of being a manager is probably most important. That's what we do as managers: We communicate information and guidelines.

Mechanical Engineering: Any other parting wisdom?

Flink: Well, what we've talked about is all pretty basic stuff, but putting it into practice is the key to being a successful manager.

And I've generalized, of course. But each and every person is an individual. I'll be sure to ask a new engineer who comes to work for me how they'd like to be managed.

I tailor my style to the engineer sitting in front of me. If they want more input, I'll give it to them. If they want general comments, I'll give them those.

It's kind of like raising kids. Every one is different and it requires adjusting to the person you're dealing with.



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© 2005 by The American Society of Mechanical Engineers