I gave my notice today. I'm leaving an engineering/surveying firm of about 30 employees to become the director of surveying at a branch office of an engineering/surveying/environmental firm with a total of about 360 employees. I'll be responsible for three field crews and coordination between in-office engineers in a large metropolitan area. My new position will keep me home with my wife and two young children and is better pay and much better benefits. I'm sad that I won't get much time, if any, in the field, but I'm excited to get to work on more complicated projects and to be around more surveyors.
While I've managed people and surveyors, it has never been to this scale. I have not had much in the way of formal business education. I'm worried that while I may understand the theory, I lack the language. If anyone has any advice, reference material, or any direction in which to point me to find useful information, I would greatly appreciate it.
.......welcome my son....welcome to the machine....
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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lt-udg9zQSE
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You got this!!!!!!
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Congratulations on your career move! I have no practical experience managing a large number of people, so I can't offer you any advice. A long time ago I was at a large book store, and I saw a book written by a former U.S. Navy ship captain concerning how to be a good captain. I'm sure it's a good book because you certainly have to have good business-like sense and leadership ability to be the commanding officer of a ship. I had a great captain when I was a sailor in the Navy. He was a great leader because he really cared about the crew, and he made me feel that my job was important, even though I did things like cleaning scuttlebutt drain lines. While I didn't think much of it, he said it was important because it kept the crew healthy.
I'll be responsible for three field crews and coordination between in-office engineers in a large metropolitan area.
That was my first big leap from a 5 man outfit, except I was expected to manage *5* crews, *and* redline the engineering Dept's designs for math/logic errors, *and* help the other LS when he got in a time crunch concerning ALTAS, ROSs & subdivision maps.?ÿ I was gung-ho and with the overwhelming workload quickly was putting in 80 hour weeks with deadline overnighters occuring often.?ÿ The pay was astounding BTW.
Thanks to coffee I was keeping my head above water and groomed a coupla party chiefs to basically run the field operations but after a year it finally became too much.?ÿ I started having Generalized Seizures at work (scarey) and went to the doctor.?ÿ After a long interview and brain X-Ray (Cat and MRI scans didn't exist back then) the doc told me he has the cure and wrote me a prescription.?ÿ I opened it up and it said "quit your impossible job find employment elsewhere so you can enjoy your life out of the office."
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I've read that book and it is a good one. I further recommend Bergerons A Pocket Guide to Business for Engineers and Land Surveyors.?ÿ
Small world, I'm quite familiar with HEB Engineering in the White Mountains area of New Hampshire.?ÿ It was always a good thing to see their seal on a plat.?ÿ I had no idea the old man wrote a book.?ÿ Thank you.
Maybe I'm out of line bringing the room down, but beware, tread lightly, and watch closely.
I've worked at almost every kind of shop there is, from family business where I was the only one without the same surname to a 200 person company with multiple offices, managing 10 crews.
While each had their issues, infighting, and back-stabbing, the worst by far were the larger corporate entities.?ÿ I've never seen such childish, vindictive behaviour, bordering on sociopathic, by some of the managers and owners who seemed to've become overly impressed with their own success and imagined importance that they only really wanted to be surrounded by sycophants and fawning idiots or interns.
Beware of the back-stabbers, gossipers, finger pointers, bean counters, ladder climbers, worried subordinates, malcontents, and suck-ups.
I've been there, and am now at a place probably like where you're leaving, and overall, much less miserable because of it.
Have a great day
There's a fair chance that someone was passed over for the job you were offered. If he exists, he'll make himself known quickly. Treat him kindly until you can't, and concentrate on delivering a quality product in the early going.
I'm not sure what you mean by language in terms of business. There will surely be terminology differences; when someone uses a term you don't know, just ask them to define it. Never, ever say, "Oh, we called that 'xyz' at Last Company" and burn the new term into your mind. The old company is behind your Profitability calculations are notoriously non-standard from company to company, with the general difference being allocated expenses (how they're allocated), but also sometimes what's included in job expenses.
The other managers know their way around these details. It'll take a few jobs, but make sure they don't dump their excess expenses into your budget. Look at the business papers from some old jobs, especially the ones that included multiple departments.
As someone said above, "You got this!!"
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I don??t have any sage advice. I??ve been content to manage as few people as I can manage. It seems the most successful people in this arena are adept at finding good people they can delegate to and don??t micromanage them. Were it me, I think I??d be dusting off my copy of the ??Art of War?? by Tsun Zu. You know, ??Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer??. Unless your enemy is a cyber hacker, then don??t do that.
Just because I'm paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get me.
Oh, forgot to say congratulations
Hope it works out great
Thank you.?ÿ Looking at past projects that involved multiple departments is a great idea.
In 2007 I had the same opportunity. Huge paycheck, huge responsibility and adapting to a massive corporate structure. While I knew within a few months that I hated it, I toughed it out for a year. A management position for a massive engineering firm looks pretty damn good on a resume.?ÿ
The best advice I can give is that receptionists, secretaries, and executive assistants run those companies. Treat them with the utmost respect, and your job will be much easier!
In 2007 I had the same opportunity. Huge paycheck, huge responsibility and adapting to a massive corporate structure. While I knew within a few months that I hated it, I toughed it out for a year. A management position for a massive engineering firm looks pretty damn good on a resume.?ÿ
The best advice I can give is that receptionists, secretaries, and executive assistants run those companies. Treat them with the utmost respect, and your job will be much easier!
@jph Amen, brother. Been there, done that. The sociopath part is not an exaggeration.
@mike-marks I knew I had to leave when my wife would find me in the bathroom staring at the mirror and trying to get up the courage to go to work. Not good, not good at all. I still have nightmares about the time cards. Starting my own business was a life saver, literally and figuratively both.
I understand what you were experiencing.?ÿ As I put it following an MRI for similar seizures: They X-rayed by brain about 100 times and found absolutely nothing.
Had a new baby at home and the wife was going through post-partum depression while I was tackling a new job with unfamiliar challenges every day.?ÿ Those were the days when I was using my knowledge of plow shares to make swords.?ÿ Sort of the opposite to the recommendation in the Bible.
Part of my problem was I felt I was regressing in my career.?ÿ Our department was largely funded by special projects.?ÿ It was possible to complete everything very well and significantly under budget.?ÿ What that meant was that you did nothing for weeks on end until your wages spent every last penny of the budget.?ÿ You could not assist someone else on a different project.
I wish I could offer you some words of wisdom but I can't.?ÿ I have worked for two large Engineering & Surveying companies as the Survey Department Manager.?ÿ One company appreciated and rewarded their employees with parties and bonuses, the other threated their employees like numbers with no care or compassion.?ÿ Both had entirely different management styles, on was run by spreadsheet reading investors and the other by Professional Engineers and Surveyors.
If you don't understand the lingo, ask to have it broken down for you, you'll pick up on it quickly.?ÿ If the work flow feels overwhelming, mentor your people and delegate some of the tasks.?ÿ The most important thing, when running the department, is to be consistent.?ÿ Set up a system that works for you and have everybody in the department follow it.?ÿ This may take time and tweaking but it works.
Listen to your people and their suggestions.?ÿ If somebody suggests something that you think won't work, don't just dismiss them, explain to them why you think it won't work so that they take something away from the conversation.?ÿ If somebody does a good job, tell them so.?ÿ If somebody is slacking or not performing to your expectations, have a private conversation with them, one on one, and suggests ways to improve the situation.
I've been in management of Survey staff for over 20 years.?ÿ There are two things that I've learned,?ÿ you learn something new regularly, and, just when you think you have seen it all, you quickly learn that you haven't.
Good luck in your new position, I wish you nothing but success.?ÿ Keep in mind that we are all here if you would like tips or suggestions.?ÿ?ÿ
Good comments on this thread for you.?ÿ Get involved with upper management about the "multiplier" which is the number used against the cost of labor to determine the charge out rate for the employees, sometimes called "overhead".?ÿ How companies use this varies widely, some even have different multipliers for different departments.?ÿ With some clients, particularly government ones, they will audit the firm and determine an "allowable multiplier".?ÿ The reason is all of the non-producing costs have to be in this overhead multiplier, like the cost of the buildings, utilities, receptionists, principals, marketing personnel, computers, IT costs, Presidents new Mercedes and Golf Country Club dues, corporate jet, etc.?ÿ ?ÿWhat you want to do is make sure the things for survey department are in there such as equipment purchases and upkeep, employee training and development, and non-chargeable work for you as the manager to attend to corporate interaction.?ÿ A very good question when starting is "what is the expected chargeability of my position?".?ÿ ?ÿIf you as a department manager are expected to be 60-100% chargeable to projects, that is an clue that you are in for a collision course with impossibility.?ÿ In fact depending on the firm and required duties, it might be lower than that.?ÿ Smart business strategy is to recognize the?ÿ needed amount of overhead costs, and include it in the overhead multiplier so that the charge out rates for the production staff recoup the overhead costs.?ÿ This all gets complicated with labor charge out rates and working up cost estimates if you are in a market area with competitors that don't?ÿ realize the real cost of (profitable) business and low-ball charge out rates.?ÿ If that is prevalent in your area, it's a rock-and-hard place situation to acquire work against a low-balling environment.?ÿ Knowing what the regional charge out rates are of others is good intel.?ÿ Get to know your management and other business line managers.?ÿ ?ÿAsk questions when you are not sure of what is expected by upper management or if there are business terms or directives you are not familiar with.?ÿ Welcome to the machine.?ÿ ?ÿ