COMMUNICATIONS Enhancing Your Soft Skills

7/28/2019 COMMUNICATIONS Enhancing Your Soft Skills

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12 / JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT IN ENGINEERING / JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1999

struction and the Document B141:Standard Form of Agreement be-tween Owner and Architect. In late1997, the AIA issued revised versionsof these two documents, and it will

issue updates to other related docu-ments soon, including C141-987:Standard Form of Agreement be-tween Architect and Consultant, themost common basis of agreementsbetween architects and engineers.

Pending adoption of the new C141agreement, engineers should beaware of the principal issues affectingtheir agreement with the architect.Although some of the revisions toA201 are clearly important, thechanges to B141 will affect engineers

the most. First, the entire format ofB141 has been revised by reducingthe document to a brief form withboilerplate terms followed by a seriesof attachments. The attachments areintended to provide flexibility for thearchitect and owner to prepare a de-scription of the project, including pa-

rameters such as budgets. This new

format will help define the engineers

scope of services, roles and responsi-

bilities and improve the relationship

between the engineer and the archi-

tect. For example, the attachment de-scribing the architects services

should be used as a checklist when

the engineer prepares its own scope

of services.

One new provision in A201 and

B141 is the waiver by the owner and

contractor, and the owner and archi-

tect, of consequential damages. The

change offers significant protection to

the owner and architect from claims

by the contractor, such as for delay or

other economic damages. Engineers

should ensure that agreements with

the architect contain the same protec-

tion for the consulting engineer.

Efficient and affordable dispute res-

olution is critical, and the new docu-

ments stipulate mandatory mediation

as a precondition to arbitration.

Finally, allocation of design respon-sibility to the contractor and its sub-contractors has become a subject ofcontroversy within the industry. A201has sought to clarify the issue by pro-

viding for incidental design by thecontractor of specific systems or com-ponents. This is merely reflective ofindustry custom in some parts of theU.S. but is adamantly objected to bysome contractors. The designer, i.e.,the architect and presumably its con-sultants, must define and provide allperformance and design criteria forany incidental designs. However, theB141 description of an architects ser-vices does not specifically assign thearchitect the responsibility of check-

ing or confirming the contractors sub-mittals for compliance with those per-formance and design criteria.

DAVID BOELZNERJAMES D. HOBBSWright, Robinson, Osthimer &

TatumRichmond, Va.

PEOPLE SKILLS

The Art of Delegation

As a manager, you may find thatyour days are long and hectic and

that you often risk being derailed byunexpected developments that de-mand your attention. Effective dele-gation is your best time-savingmethod over the long run. A goodsystem of delegation will give yourpeople enthusiasm and build team-work. A bad system will give yourstaff the feeling that you are merelydumping your menial, unpleasanttasks onto others. The difference isthe amount of responsibility you as-sign. When a person receives respon-

sibility for making a contribution toan organization, he or she has an op-portunity to increase his or her stat-ure within the organization. Properlyhandled, delegation will empowerstaff members, building a more ca-pable team overall.

Good delegation requires fore-thought. As a manager, you needto define the task you want to dele-gate and consider how much author-ity will be required to reach a desiredgoal. Then consider who will bethe delegates. Once you have madeyour decision, announce the dele-

gates new roles to their team mem-bers.

Next, you need to train the dele-gates to perform their new tasks. Theprocess should take into considera-tion each delegates strengths, weak-nesses and personal style. By puttingyour focus on reaching a specificgoal, you allow your delegates flexi-bility in their methods, offering themeven more input on how they per-form their new duties. Not every del-egate will do things the way youwould; in some cases, you will findthat they do them better.

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Before beginning training, be sureyou choose an appropriate time,when the delegates are notoverloaded with other tasks. Al-though some employees are capable

of handling more work than others, itwill do you no good to overload

them and set them up for a possiblefailure caused by your lack of fore-sight.

Develop a simple way to track andreceive feedback on your delegatesperformance. Write down the specificgoals you are looking for and get in-put from the delegates about themost appropriate method of feed-back. The mutuality of the process

will set the tone for the task. The

manner you use to notify, train andmonitor your delegates will help es-tablish trust between you. The art ofdelegation is really the art of sharingresponsibility and authority. Ideally,both parties will benefit from the pro-cess.

Sharing powerAuthority and responsibility go to-

gether, but any confusion betweenthe two can lead to frustration andproblems both subtle and blatant. A

manager, for example, cannot just tellan employee what to do. Ideally, amanager should ask an employeewhat has to be done to reach a de-sired result. The manager is theexpert when it comes to identifying

goals, but the employee is the experton how a particular job needs to bedone. Only when the two have sharedtheir experience, expectations andneeds will it be possible to establish

and meet realistic goals.Delegation involves five progres-sive levels of responsibility and au-thority. As an individual demonstratesmore knowledge, ability and value toan organization, he or she moveshigher up the following scale:

Level 1: Stand by for instruction.Level 2: Look into a task, provide

information on possible action andwait for instruction.

Level 3: Look into a task, provide

information on possible action, rec-

ommend specific action and wait forapproval.

Level 4: Look into a task, take ap-propriate action and provide frequentand immediate feedback to superiors.

Level 5: Look into a task, take ap-propriate action and provide planned,periodic feedback to the organization.

As an employee moves up the five

levels and becomes more competentand sure in his or her own judgmentand abilities, he or she becomes morevaluable to an organization. But there

are risks in the delegation of authorityand responsibility. Both parties arevulnerable because they rely on eachother to accomplish a given task. Oneway to reduce the risks inherent insuch a situation is to create guidelines

for each partys behavior as well aswhat each one will produce.

Reaping the rewardsDelegation will increase your con-

tribution to your organization be-cause you will be helping others in-

crease their skills and abilities. As amanager, you can use delegation as ameans of helping your staff growboth personally and professionally,creating a positive climate in your or-ganization by encouraging creativityand initiative.

Keep in mind that allowing yourdelegates to exercise personal initia-tive will enhance their respect for

themselves and for you. It will also

open lines of communication betweenthem and their colleagues as theyseek more information about newways to perform their duties. The endresult will be that everyone in your or-ganization will have the feeling of be-ing part of a team. When each em-ployee feels he or she owns a stake inthe companys end product, peoplewill start to help one another be more

productive and also take more noticewhen an individual steps out of line.This feeling of ownership and empow-

erment will make your organization abetter place at which to work.

David RohlanderPresident

DGR Communications

Orange, Calif.

LEGAL ISSUES

The Millennium Bug

Most PC users are familiar withcomputer viruses. These nasty

bugs can wreak havoc by erasing in-

formation from the hard disk or canbe simply annoying, as by preventingone from formatting a floppy disk.

Some viruses having really evilsounding names (Terminator, Sa-tan Bug) can, like the Trojan horse,



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infect ones computer without warn-ing. Because a virus is essentially a

mechanism that causes a computer to

malfunction and that often has a rip-ple effect of complications through-

out a system, the Y2K problem,sometimes also called the Millen-

nium Bug, qualifies as a virus by

some definitions. But unlike most

computer viruses, there is no simpleantibug program that will prevent

the Millennium Bug from causing

computer systems to make mistakes,

crash or otherwise fail.

What exactly is the Millennium

Bug? Basically, its an abbreviation.The Millennium Bug was born back

in the days when computer memory,

measured in kilobytes instead ofgigabytes, was relatively expensive.

To conserve valuable memory and

disk space, programmers decided touse only the last two digits to identify

a year whenever a date had to be en-

tered. For example, the year 1998

was abbreviated simply as 98 in com-

puter code. Now what happens when

the year 2000 arrives? In computercode, the abbreviation will be 00. Un-

fortunately, this is also the abbrevia-

tion for the year 1900. Faced with the

number 00, most programs will read

the date as 1900, not as 2000.Weve all heard about this potential

error, usually paired with near-hyster-

ical predictions about its possible ef-

fects, but why exactly is this a prob-

lem? One of the easiest examples has

to do with credit cards. Your creditcard has an expiration date up to five

years beyond the date it was issued.

Some customers have already been

issued cards with expiration dateslater than 2000. Even now, cash reg-

isters around the country are reject-

ing these cards, which appear to beinvalid to computers that have not

been upgraded to be able to acceptthem.

Any place a computer identifies a

transaction or archive by date, there

is potential for malfunction. Consideryour firms electric bill. When your

first bill arrives, in January 2000, will

your electric companys computer

register the issuance date as January

1900, and send you a dunning notice

warning that your firms payment isnow a century past due and should

include interest compounded over

100 years plus all applicable late pay-ment penalties? Think of the financial

tangle that would cause. Now imag-

ine the ways in which the MillenniumBug could cause a glitch in your bank

account or your companys payroll.

A significant amount of money, ef-

fort and worry has already been ex-

pended in trying to fix the Millen-nium Bug before it can attack and

cause damage to susceptible com-

puter programs and the systems they

control, including elevators, climate

control devices, alarm systems and

telephones, to name just a few. Any-thing containing a computer chip

could be affected on Jan. 1, 2000. Ac-

cordingly, companies using such

equipment need to examine their sys-

tems for possible Millennium Bug

problems and prepare for the poten-tial legal consequences that could,

and will, result from its various man-

ifestations.

Two lawsuits involving the Millen-nium Bug have already been filed. Asthe year 2000 approaches, the num-ber of lawsuits is expected to esca-late. Presumably, the suits will arise

over issues such as breach of warran-ties, product liability, fraud and de-ceit, violations of consumer protec-tion laws, and violations of financialand securities disclosure laws andregulations.

In addition, numerous disputes andquestions are expected to be raisedconcerning intellectual property. Forexample, do software licenses permitmodification or alteration by the li-censee to fix the bug or would suchmodifications or alteration violate pat-

ent or copyright laws? Companies hir-ing outside contractors to work ontheir YK2 problems should be carefulin preparing confidentiality agree-ments or risk forfeiting valuable tradesecret protection.

In summary, the total effect theMillennium Bug will have on busi-ness is still unknown but will be feltin the entire business community. Allbusinesses need to examine their po-tential legal liabilities, including thepotential liability of officers and direc-

tors. Furthermore, every businessshould carefully review its licenses,warranties and agreements to deter-mine what protection it may havewhen it comes to recovering the costof fixing the Millennium Bug or re-covering damages in a worst-caseY2K scenario.

Eric W. GuttagSmith, Brandenburg, Freese &

Knochelmann P.L.C.Cincinnati



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COMMUNICATIONS


Enhancing Your Soft Skills

Most engineers are attracted tononlinear, iterative processes

with inexact solutions. After all, theserepresent the most intriguing techni-cal puzzles. But what if the process inquestion were the process of listen-ing? Would you feel drawn to thechallenge, or would you go scram-

bling for cover?

If you would have dived for cover,its time to rethink your attitude to-ward this particular soft skill. Lis-tening, as the key to effective com-munication, is your key to success atwork, at play and at home. If you arein a leadership role, your communi-cations skills directly determine youreffectiveness.

Effective communication occurswhen each party conveys ideas sothey are understood accurately. Al-though the sender of a message is

responsible for sending clear mes-sages, the listener is responsible formaking sure those messages are re-ceived correctly, which requiresmore attention, effort and skill thanspeaking. Heres how to make sureyou get the real message:

Decide to hear the realmessage

You may have to put aside yourego, expectations and prejudices. Youmay even have to change your atti-

tude about the other person, butgreet each conversation as an oppor-tunity to gain valuable data.

Some people may be a challenge tolisten to, but truly effective leadersare inclusive instead of exclusive.They know that any success is actu-ally a team effort and that the morepeople you can enlist in that effort,the greater your success is likely tobe.

Sometimes speakers will believe

that they can force their success bydoing all the talking in a conversa-tion. Actually, the reverse is true. Re-member the old Western movies,where two cowboys stand on thestreet. Draw! yells the villain. You

first! yells the hero. So the villainreaches for his gun and loses. Thesame applies in communication. The

person who waits for the other tomake the opening move wins.

Collect data on all channelsMost people send a complex mix-

ture of spoken words and other sig-nals. Words often represent only asmall fraction of the message beingsent. To get the full message, listen

with your ears, eyes and heart.Watch the speakers facial expres-

sion. Does it support the words beingspoken or does it convey a different

message? For example, cheerfulwords and worried eyes may indicatea hidden message of concern.

Check the persons body language.Does it appear open or closed,friendly or aggressive? Watch howthe person moves while talking.

Quick movements may convey anxi-ety, while slow movements may con-vey calm. Consider if what you ob-serve supports or contradicts thewords you are hearing.

Listen to the words that the sender

uses. Angry, negative words may con-vey disagreement or fear. A fasterpace may convey excitement, enthu-siasm or anxiety. If you know the

speaker well, compare the actionsyou notice with how the person be-haves in other situations.

The hidden message is often themost important message. Of course,in an ideal world, everyone would sayexactly what he or she meant. But inthe real world, verbal communication

suffers the equivalent of frictionlosses, nonlinear equations and un-certainty.

If you notice an inconsistency be-tween what you hear and what youobserve, you should probe for thereal message. Encourage the speaker

to tell you more by saying, You seemconcerned about this or You seem

to disagree. Most people will re-spond to such indirect queries by tell-ing you more.

Tune out distractionsWhen you listen, put everything

else aside. That includes otherthoughts, objects on your desk andpeople walking by. A woman oncetold me, I can tell that my husbandisnt listening. Hes thinking aboutsomething else, hes fiddling with apaper clip, hes watching other peo-

ple. And I hate it. Listening is a full-body activity. If you let yourself thinkabout other things, you will misssome of the information being con-veyed.

Remove the filtersSome people pay attention only to

ideas that agree with their views andignore everything else. Accept infor-mation with an open mind. If you dis-agree with what you hear, then ex-plore your reasons for doing so. The

other person may be operating fromdifferent assumptions, may have haddifferent experiences or may havebetter data. The other person may

even be supporting your viewpointthrough new terms.

When you listen through filters,you risk being fooled. Some execu-tives insist on receiving only goodnews, which prevents them from re-ceiving essential warnings. Effectiveleaders, however, invite criticism,



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complaints and concerns becausethey know that resolving difficult is-sues improves business.

Assist the speakerBy helping the speaker express

ideas, you make listening easier foryourself. Start by appearing pleasant.When you smile, you convey accep-tance to the speaker, which buildstrust and makes the speaker feel safesharing his or her ideas. The speakerwill have an easier time expressingideas and sending information than if

you appear serious, upset or grim.Next, act pleasant. Do this by offer-

ing encouragement and showing ap-preciation for the other persons ideas.

Your encouragement and apprecia-tion, however, must be genuine.Also, avoid negative statements

such as insults, sarcasm, ridicule and

satire. Even if such statements are di-rected toward others, they show thesender that you can be punitive,which instills caution.

Encourage questionsAs a listener, you may hear ques-tions that seem dumb. Instead ofresponding with disdain, treat thespeaker with courtesy. Ask questions

to find out if you fully understood theextent, basis or reason for the ques-tion. People use questions for a vari-ety of reasons: to gain information, in-troduce ideas, seek clarification,make suggestions or check under-standing.

Sometimes, simple questions lead

to complex, difficult answers. Savvyleaders encourage questions becausethey lead to open dialogue.

Finding a new orientationRemember that communication is

not just something that distracts you

from the real work of engineering.

It is the key to creating partnerships

based on trust and common gain.Everyone benefits from good com-

munication, so as a listener, treat oth-

ers with courtesy, dignity and respect

as they try to convey their thoughts

and ideas to you.

Effective listening is a complex

process requiring an alert, open

mind. It works best when you pay

complete attention to the message be-

ing sent. When you prepare to listen

to someone else, you should, in the

words of Max Dixon, show up ready

to be no place else.

Steve Kaye

Placentia, Calif.

ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISOR

Regulated Water:IS IT OR ISNT IT?

Most engineering professionalswith clients who build office

complexes, housing, roads, sewerlines and other infrastructure knowthat discharging dredged or fill ma-terial into wetlands or streams re-

quires a permit from the U.S. ArmyCorps of Engineers. The bodies ofwater which the Corps oversees arereferred to as waters of the U.S.

How can you determine whetheryour clients project will affect a waterof the U.S.? When preparing to con-struct a water pipeline, widen abridge or clear land for a businesspark, how do you tell the differencebetween a protected body of waterand the proverbial hole in theground?

According to the Corps, waters ofthe U.S. are defined as all waters thatare currently used, have been used inthe past or may eventually be used forinterstate or foreign commerce. Allwaters that are subject to the ebb and

flow of the tide are also included inthe Corpss definition. Other bodies ofwater under Corps jurisdiction areall interstate waters; all otherwaters such as lakes, rivers, streams,mudflats, sandflats, wetlands, sloughs,prairie potholes, wet meadows, playalakes and natural ponds; tributaries tothe above-listed waters; territorial seas;adjacent wetlands, and water that couldbe used by migratory birds or endan-gered species.

What could a small wetland have to

do with interstate commerce? Goodquestion. Although the official defi-nition cites commerce, which mightunderstandably lead one to think ofnavigable waters, in practice the def-inition covers most naturally occur-

ring features that convey or hold wa-ter.As difficult as it may be to deter-

mine what constitutes jurisdictionalwaters, it is also important to identifywhat are not defined as waters of theU.S. Roughly speaking, artificial bod-ies of water created on otherwise dryland are not regulated by the Corps.For example, irrigated uplands, drain-age ditches on otherwise dry land,and artificial lakes or ornamentalbodies of water such swimming pools



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would not normally be consideredprotected waters. Water treatmentsystems, such as lagoons andtreatment ponds, also typically arenot considered waters of the U.S.

There should be no link, however,between the stock tank, ditch or

other nonregulated body of waterand jurisdictional waters. Any runoffor other connection to a nearbystream or other water of the U.S.might cause the nonregulated bodyof water to be reclassified. TheCorps and the Environmental Protec-tion Agency (EPA) reserve theirrights to categorize nonregulatedwaters as waters of the U.S. if the

agencies determine that site-specific

conditions warrant the reclassifica-tion.

To determine whether a particularparcel of land contains a protectedwater of the U.S., environmental con-sultants may consult U.S. GeologicalSurvey topographic maps, NationalWetland Inventory maps offered bythe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,and soil surveys. Aerial photographs

of project lands can also prove help-ful, especially if maps of the area areout of date, do not reflect changes to

the topography or simply are notavailable.

Maps and photographs are static,however, and do not reflect changesto topography or land usage. Soil sur-veys, while important, are not suffi-cient in themselves. Rather, these var-

ious tools should be considered apreliminary means of identifying po-tential problems. There is no substi-tute for a field visit by a qualified sci-entist or other trained professional toconfirm the presence or absence of

jurisdictional waters. Wetland expertscan gather vegetation and other sam-ples, check the accuracy of maps andphotographs and look for evidence ofprotected waters during dry sea-sons.

Drawing boundariesIf you find that your project site

contains or will affect a jurisdictionalwater, the next step is to identify theboundary of that water. Though

many laymen could determine theboundaries of large rivers, lakes and

ponds, most of us might have troublefinding a clear line between uplandsand wetlands or bogs or the bound-ary of an ephemeral streambed whenthe water has evaporated in the sum-mer or remains underground. Theregulatory community, including theCorps, typically looks for the ordi-nary high water mark to determinea waters boundary. As defined by theCorps and the EPA, the ordinary

high water mark is characterized byat least one of the following: A clear natural line on the bank; Shelving of soil; Changes in the character of soil; Destruction of terrestrial vegeta-tion; The presence of litter and debris.

Jurisdictional limits generally startwhere drainage features begin: at theflow line or where a channel beginsto dip down. This boundary may beeasy or difficult to identify, depending

on the region where you live. In thesouthwestern U.S., for example, youmay need to determine the limits ofa dry wash that carries flows only af-ter a substantial rain. In the aridSouthwest, an environmental scien-tist would look for a scour line andevidence of vegetative destruction todetermine the ordinary high-watermark. In the western U.S., particu-larly in California, you might encoun-ter shallow, periodically floodedmeadows called vernal pools. This

particular type of wetland remainswet in the winter and spring, afterwhich it may dry out and disappearduring the hot summer months.

Wetland boundaries are often no-toriously difficult to pin down. Oftenserving as transitional bodies be-

tween upland areas and other aquaticenvironments, wetlands by definitionstraddle the border between land andwater. Environmental professionalsmust carefully examine vegetation,

soils and hydrology to delineate awetland.

The need for protectionBy focusing on the often nitpicky

issue of what does or does not con-stitute a protected water of the U.S.,it is easy to forget why we protectthese waters. Why go to such troubleover a tiny stream or a pool thats of-ten bone dry?

The answer is that swamps,streams, rivers, lakes and wetlands allperform valuable functions that make

protecting them worthwhile. Anyonewho has lived near a stream will haveseen the many species that drink itswater. Unseen by many, however, arethe multitude of other creatures, in-cluding insects, reptiles, amphibiansand even migratory birds, that de-pend on the water for habitat, foodand reproduction and even the con-tinued survival of their species.

In addition to offering natural

beauty and recreational opportuni-ties, jurisdictional waters protect usfrom floods, recharge valuablegroundwater aquifers, and filter pol-lutants from our sources of drinkingwater. Wetlands in particular protectshorelines from wind and wave ero-sion. What were once viewed as dan-gerous breeding grounds for diseaseand pestilence are now understood as

irreplaceable natural resources thatkeep our environment livable.

Peter D. McKone

Certified Wildlife BiologistCarter & Burgess Inc.

Fort Worth, Tex.

Douglas Hollinger

Carter & Burgess Inc.

Fort Worth, Tex.



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Dilbert reprinted by permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc.

THE INDEPENDENT

CONTRACTORIndependent contracting has

emerged as a respectable profes-sional undertaking and is no longer a

euphemism for less-than-full-time em-ployment between jobs. Independentcontracting is a useful tool that canhelp a professional engineering or-ganization balance staff and work-load. For the working professional, itcan expand career opportunities andactually improve employment secu-rity.

Managing a consulting engineeringcompany is an artful balance ofmatching a staffs capacity and capa-bility to workload. Independent con-

tracting can aid this balance, offeringsurge capacity and additional capabil-ity when needed. In the perfect vir-tual consulting company, you wouldpay for what you needed only whenyou needed it, drawing from a pool of

available talent, or human intellectualcapital, to meet customers demands.While independent contracting can-not create this perfect world, it canhelp dampen swings in staffingneeds.

The growth of independent con-tracting has been driven in part bythe different demands of new en-trants into the workforce as well asby experienced professionals who

want more options for balancingwork with other aspects of life. Thepractice is applicable to government,industry, education and academia,

but most especially in private prac-tice. An engineering companys as-sets walk out the door every night.Managers hope that most come backthe next morning. Independent con-

tracting is one way to keep them onthe payroll even if they dont show up

the next morning. It is a way to keepthem working with you even if theydont always work for you.

Engineering consulting dependson hours sold, so staff must be in-creased for owners to increase theirfinancial returns. That means hiringmore bodies. More bodies meansmore capacity to do work. But if theworkload slackens, not enough staff

hours generate revenue, which in-

creases overhead and in turn drivesdown profitability, competitivenessand eventually head count. Howmany engineers have left a companyto open their own practice, startingwith a single client, then adding staf fas the workload grew? Or perhapsthey added no staff and chose towork only for a single company,sometimes their previous employer,

but only part-time. The company re-tains access to the engineers experi-ence, expertise and familiarity with

its operations, but carries muchlower overhead for the independentcontractor (IC).

Pursuing the alternative pathI foresee a time when much more

of an engineers career could bespent as an IC contracted out to one

or more companies. Essentially, com-panies contract now for about 2,000hours per year per employee. An ICcould contract for 500 hours per yearfrom four companies or 600 hours

per year from three companies andtake an extra few weeks off.Independent contracting differs

substantially from simply workingpart-time. The IC gets a take-or-paycontract for a fixed number of hoursof work within a specified period, say500 hours per year. This assures theIC at least a minimum amount ofwork in the period specified and as-sures the engineering company thatthe IC will be available for that work.When the limit of the contract with

an IC is reached, the company isobliged to pay more. By not having topay an IC when the individual is notdirectly chargeable to a job or con-tributing value, the company reducesoverhead. The cost to the engineer-ing organization is that to get more ofthe ICs time, it must pay more. Thebenefit is that it pays less than itwould to have a full-time professionalemployee on staff all year, although itmust guarantee a minimum volumeof work. In a sense, this forces the

company management to quantify thevalue of intellectual capital, the prin-cipal asset in every engineering or-ganization. The company is then re-sponsible for seeing that thisintellectual capital is properly in-vested and managed to optimize itsreturn, just as it would with financialcapital.



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MANAGEMENT DIGEST


For example, suppose the fictionalProfessional Engineering Company(PEC) has contracted for 500 hoursthis year from equally fictional inde-pendent contractor Jack Pope, P.E.

For the majority of these hours, say400 or so, PEC has Pope working di-

rectly on a project for one of its bestcustomers, known as Industrial Pro-cess Inc. PEC then receives a requestfor proposals from a potential cus-tomer that it has pursued unsuccess-fully for some time, but which Popeknows well from previous work. PECthen asks Pope to help write the pro-posal, spending the 100-hour balanceof its contract. Because of the ur-

gency of the proposal requirements,

these hours are spent in 12- to 14-hour days pressing to meet the sub-mittal deadline. When the proposal iscomplete, Pope has worked 125hours, all of which he bills to PECeven though as business develop-ment for PEC all were non-revenue-generating hours.

Being paid for charging directly toa job or for writing a proposal is the

same for an IC. Both efforts are val-uable to the organization, and fromthe ICs perspective both generate

revenue. In fact, when viewed fromthe standpoint of value to the orga-nization, if the task at hand is not wor-thy of paying an IC to complete it, itsprobably not worth doing.

Amassing intellectual capitalLike many changes occurring to-

day, independent contracting in-creases the choices available to bringknowledge and other intellectual cap-ital into an organization. Professionalengineering companies now have

more options to add staff capacity andcapability. When faced with a newconcept in staffing it is no longer ac-ceptable to say, We dont do that

here. Talented individuals will sim-ply find work elsewhere. The com-pany cannot mandate employmentpolicy simply to satisfy an administra-tive process model. To do so woulddeprive it of access to a growing sec-tor of the workforce that seeks towork under a different administrative

structure. It would also indicate thatadministrative policy was more im-portant than finding and using qualitystaff.

In a time when individual choices

were more limited, a staff engineerwas obliged to accept whatever ad-ministrative policy was in place wherehe or she worked. For a company tobe successful in the 21st century, cor-porate policy cannot restrict access tohuman intellectual capital any morethan it can restrict access to financialcapital. In a knowledge-based envi-ronment, the company needs the in-dividual more than the individual

needs the company. It follows, then,that the company must work to cre-

ate an atmosphere that will attract in-dividuals of a caliber that will contrib-ute most to the companys success,with administrative policies that sup-port this goal.

In an important shift of perspec-tive, a career is becoming more ofwhat you do and less of where youdo it, reflecting a change in values re-

garding long-term versus short-termstays with companies. In interviewingcandidates even for long-term assign-ments, I no longer automatically con-

sider short stints of two years or lesswith several companies to be nega-tives. More often than not, they sim-ply reflect the recent escalation inmarket value of the intellectual capitalthat makes up the practicing profes-

sionals tools of the trade.Still, when hiring an independent

contractor, a responsible employer isobliged to check references, confirmcredentials and do a reasonable back-ground check, just as it would in hir-ing a full-time employee or a specialty

consultant. And if unresolvable prob-lems develop, because the IC is for-mally on contract, the company cansimply allow the contract to expire,

risking far less legal exposure than itwould with the formal dismissal of afull-time employee.

Corporate DarwinismBy working as an independent con-

tractor, an individual professional alsohedges a bet on the ability of any sin-

gle companys management to sur-vive in a time of rapid or difficultchange. Instead of hoping that themanagement of only one companyhas what it takes to survive, an IC can

connect with two or more companies.If one company fails or suffers cut-backs, an IC is not completely un-employed. And if the problem of anirascible or difficult supervisor arisesat any one of the several companies,an IC also has the option of lettingthat contract eventually phase outwhile holding on to the others. Hav-ing this option provides an entirelydifferent type of employment secu-

rity. It also makes any successful ICquickly learn self-marketing and how

to quantify the value the IC contrib-utes to the organization.

An IC is also exposed to differentmanagement styles and theories ofbusiness, allowing observation ofthose practices that are used success-fully. For enlightened management,this can be another benefit of hiring

an IC, just as hiring small, specialtyconsultants brings unique expertiseand perspective.

Making it work

Part of what makes independentcontracting possible is the relative de-crease in costs of communication,computing and information transmis-sion, which lowers the barriers andcost of entry into the business. The

infrastructure costs of getting startedat a basic level have reached a pointthat makes it attainable by nearlyeveryone in professional engineering.Portability of retirement plans and awider array of personal retirementoptions under self-employment, such

as Keogh plans, make independentcontracting all the more attractive.This provides the IC greater flexibil-ity in pursuing those areas that are

truly of interest in developing a well-rounded career.

As potential ICs, we must be ableto see ourselves as individual practi-tioners as well as part of a greaterwhole. Learning how to switch fromone kind of team to another, integratequickly into a team and contribute to



9/9

MANAGEMENT DIGEST


a particular team on a particular as-signment is the key to independentcontracting for multiple companies,each of which will have differentstyles. The ICs role may change pe-

riodically from team member to teamleader, making flexibility a critical

component of success. Equally im-portantly, ICs must nurture the abil-ity to listen to the contributions ofothers, recognizing that the mosttechnically feasible solution is not al-ways the most appropriate solution.Engineers think with a certain linearprecision, and this perspective some-times overshadows the political, so-cial or human aspects of a problem.

The price of successIndependent contractors enjoy

greater freedom and actually greateremployment security. Every freedom,however, is coupled with a responsi-bility. In independent contracting, it isindividual responsibility for our owncareer, conviction and motivation. Do-ing the things necessary to increaseour market value, and thereby ouremployability, is a personal responsi-bility. Maintenance of the status quoin an individual professional career or

in company management is regres-sive in a time of aggressive change.Skills once considered leading

edge quickly pass into the categoryof expected, then required. To-days reality is a world where we areresponsible for ourselves, but to ourteam. It is a world where, from this

day forward, we must continuallymake decisions about our future. It isnot a world for the tired, the timid orthe indecisive.

Technical competence, confidence,drive and the capacity to organize andmanage time then become the hall-marks of successful ICs. This is es-pecially important for engineeringcompanies in hiring or contractingwith ICs because the things thatmake an IC successfulprofessional

competence and a basic understand-

ing of the businessare the samethings that generally make an individ-ual successful in a consulting prac-tice. So, . . . hired anybody lately?

J. PAUL OXER, P.E., M.ASCEProject Director, Global Water

Infrastructure

Enron Engineering &Construction Co.

Houston

GOVERNMENT

CONTRACTING

DEFINITIONSCONTRACTORA gambler whonever gets to shuffle, cut or deal.

BID OPENING A poker game inwhich the losing hand wins.BID A wild guess carried out totwo decimal places.LOW BIDDERA contractor who is

wondering what he left out of his bid.ENGINEERS ESTIMATEThe costof construction in heaven.PROJECT MANAGERThe conduc-tor of an orchestra in which everymusician is in a different union.CRITICAL PATH METHODAmanagement technique for losingyour shirt under perfect control.

OSHA A protective coating made

by half-baking a mixture of fine print,

red tape, split hairs and baloney. Usu-

ally applied at random with a shot-

gun.STRIKEAn effort to increase

egg production by strangling the

chicken.

DELAYED PAYMENT A tourni-

quet applied at the pockets.COMPLETION DATE The point at

which liquidated damages begin.

LIQUIDATED DAMAGES A pen-

alty for failing to achieve the impos-

sible.AUDITOR People who go in after

the war is lost and bayonet the

wounded.LAWYER People who go in after

the auditors and strip the bodies.

COMMUNICATIONS Enhancing Your Soft Skills

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