THE EXPERIENCE OF ENGINEERS LEADING PROJECT TEAMS: A GENERIC QUALITATIVE INQUIRY Halle Horvath

INTRODUCTION Personal Interest Literature Gap Importance - Previous 10+ years working for engineering firm, experiencing the unique ways in which they manage projects, manage conflict, and build relationships Literature Gap Engineers as a unique population Complexity, interconnectedness of work Project-based work Closely tied to economic drivers of an organization Personality Importance Project-based work is becoming more prevalent Understudied population, notably working engineers Engineers are a unique population with a large influence on the economic vitality of organizations There is a small body of literature regarding how engineers lead It is unknown how the traditional theories of leadership apply to this population Additional information is needed to understand how engineers leading projects experience the structural and organizational context in which they work, how they experience the transition into project leadership, and how they support the creative, collaborative work required

METHODOLOGY Research Question: What is the experience of engineers leading project teams? Methodology: Generic Qualitative 10 participants, 9 men and 1 woman Bachelor-degreed engineers Working in for-profit organization Leading mixed project teams

FINDINGS: MAJOR THEMES Develop Trust-Based Relationships Commitment to Team Perspective Taking Learn from Experiences Engineering Mindset THEMES: Trust-Based Relationships: the foundation of these leadership experiences was the development of authentic, trust-based relationships amongst a team of experts working together to accomplish a goal. Knew how important it was to establish genuine relationships with team members, to understand them individually, their motivations, capabilities, and developmental needs. Listening and humility were keys. Commitment to Team: strong sense of responsibility for the individuals, their success, and the impacts that these experiences would have on their career progression. This included learning the individuals strengths of the team members so that they could be leveraged for group success, and the importance of alignment. Perspective Taking: Genuine focus on taking perspectives to learn from the others on the team, showed respect for their expertise and knowledge Learn from Experiences: discussed as learning from failures, reflecting on experiences, seeking mentorship, and soliciting feedback. This included learning how their leadership impacted individuals, project outcomes, and the organization’s success. Engineering Mindset: Effective engineering requires taking multiple influencing factors into consideration, and understanding the context within which a system is operating. They apply this same mindset to individuals and project teams – learn what they are made-up of, what is influencing them, and within what context they are working, what the results mean for the company. Facilitates judgement.

RECOMMENDATION: FURTHER RESEARCH Major themes identified provide a foundation for the development of a leadership model and leadership development approaches Study leadership attributes discovered to understand their relationships with leadership, followership, and project outcomes Research differences between long-time individual contributors and engineering leaders to understand any differences in personality characteristics

RECOMMENDATION: IMPLEMENTATION Organizational support of mentoring initiatives Mentoring relationships enabled effective feedback, placed a focus on growth and development, and provided a foundation for developing leadership skills such as listening, perspective taking, and individualizing approach Need to further understand how to best implement mentoring programs and train engineers to be mentors Organizational support of engineering leadership development Support themes that emerged – allow for individualization, autonomy, and offer clarity on objectives/results Support development of engineering leadership by capitalizing on their systems thinking and learning orientation Institute mentoring programs to train and develop leaders