Leading projects is one of the most challenging—and rewarding—roles engineering managers will take on. Beyond the technical challenges to confront, there is the added difficulty of managing diverse teams with limited resources. Optimal President, Carla Fair-Wright has teamed up with 2013 Society Of Women Engineers President (Houston) Jill Almaguer to describe the challenges faced in engineering projects and also suggests the best ways to overcome them to ensure success.

1. Strategies for Successful
Engineering Management
SWE ‘12 NATIONAL
CONFERENCE
Jill Almaguer, PE, MBA, PMP
Carla Fair-Wright, PMP, CSQE

2. Agenda
 Learning Objectives
 Introductions
 Experiential Learning
 Q&A
 Evaluation

3. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
 To understand the importance of Project Management
 Provide tools and techniques to improve the overall management
of a project
 Help participants manage projects more efficiently & effectively
 Share lessons learned and best practices

4. JILL ALMAGUER, PE, MBA, PMP
 Registered Professional Engineer in Texas for over 20 years (B.S. in
Bioengineering from TAMU)
 Managed large projects at HP, Agilent Technologies, Texas Medical
Center, Harris Health System, SWE
 Experience in healthcare, IT, telecom, semi-
conductors, education, energy
 Adjunct Faculty, DeVry University
 Certified Project Management Professional, member PMI
 President, Society of Women Engineers Houston Area Section

5. CARLA FAIR-WRIGHT, PMP, CSQE
 President and CEO, Optimal Consulting LLC
 Certified Software Engineer over 20 years (B.S. in Computer
Science)
 Managed projects for Shell, BP, Pitney
Bowes, CNPC, USAF, Cameron, SWE
 Experience in IT, Reliability Maintenance, EAM, public
safety, energy
 Certified Project Management Professional
 Past President, Society of Women Engineers Houston Area
Section

6. Factors Constraining Project Success
Slide
© 2009 SOUTH-W ESTERN, CENGAGE LEARNING
1-6

7. Challenges of Engineering Projects
The complexity of large engineering projects has led to the
abandonment of many expensive projects and led to highly impaired
implementations in other cases.
Yaneer Bar-Yam, New England Complex Systems Institute
•Constraints and
Dependencies
•People and Technology
•Evolutionary Process

8. What Is Project Success?
R. Ryan Nelson, University of
Virginia

9. Obstacles to Effective Leadership
Personal agenda
Micromanaging
Failure to act
Fear and self
doubt

10. Leadership Models

11. 4 Functions of Management vs. Project Management
 Leading and Directing: Staff
training, supervising, delegating, motivating, counseling and
coordinating
 Planning: Deciding what needs to happen in the future (today, next
week, next month, next year, over the next five years, etc.) and
generating action plans
 Organizing and Staffing: making optimum use of resources required
to successfully implement plans including structure and job
analysis, recruitment, and hiring for appropriate jobs
 Controlling: Checking progress against plans

12. Planning
Planning is an essential part of project management.
The project plan is a roadmap with milestones.
The first step is to define the project objective (destination or deliverable).
The objective must be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time
bound (SMART).
The objective is usually defined in terms of scope, schedule and cost.
The project objective should be clear and concise and agreed to by the team
and sponsor at the beginning of the project.
Develop a baseline plan:
Divide and subdivide the project
Define the specific activities to be performed
Graphically portray the activities in a network diagram
Make a time estimate for how long it will take to complete each activity
Make a cost estimate for each activity
Calculate a project schedule and budget.
Determine if project can be accomplished within time, funds, and available
resources.

13. ORGANIZING AND STAFFING: Project Life Cycle Effort
Slide
© 2009 SOUTH-W ESTERN, CENGAGE LEARNING
1-13

14. Controlling the Project
Monitor progress :
Measure actual progress; compare it to planned progress
Track which activities have been started and/or completed & when
How much money has been spent
Compare on a timely and regular basis
Take corrective action to get back on track
A regular reporting period should collect:
Data on actual performance
Information on any changes in scope, schedule, and budget
Data should be collected and used to update the schedule and budget
Compare updated schedule and budget to the baseline and analyze
Shorter the reporting period, better the chances of identifying problems
early and taking effective corrective actions

15. Project Management Maturity Model
 The Project Management Maturity Model (PMMM) has five levels.
 Level 1: Common Language
 Level 2: Common Processes
 Level 3: Singular Methodology
 Level 4: Benchmarking
 Level 5: Continuous Improvement
SOURCE: HTTP://WWW.MY-PROJECT-MANAGEMENT-EXPERT.COM/PROJECT-MANAGEMENT-
MATURITY-MODEL.HTML

16. Project vs. Matrix Teams (Leadership)
Define roles and responsibilities clearly
Agreement between the functional and
project manager on roles and
responsibilities
Shared performance goals and metrics

17. Common Problems in Project Teams
Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions of a Team
1. Absence of trust
2. Fear of conflict
3. Lack of commitment
4. Avoidance of team accountability
5. Inattention to team objectives

18. The Role of the Project Manager
•Focus on collective Outcomes
•Confront Difficult Issues
•Force clarity and closure
•Mine for conflict
•Go First

19. Effective Global Teams / Virtual Teams
Challenges
•Differences in Work
Norms and Behaviors
•Violations of Respect
and Hierarchy
•Fluency (accents and
vocabulary)

20. RESPONSIBILITY MATRICES
 Responsibility Matrix (RM)
 Also called a linear responsibility chart.
 Summarizes the tasks to be accomplished and who is responsible for what on
the project.
 Lists project activities and participants.
 Clarifies critical interfaces between units and individuals that need coordination.
 Provide an means for all participants to view their responsibilities and agree on their
assignments.
 Clarifies the extent or type of authority that can be exercised by each participant.
McGraw-
C O P Y R I G H T © 2 0 0 6 T H E MC G R A W - H I L L Hill/Irwin
C O MP A N I E S . A L L R I G H T S R E S E R V E D . 4–20

21. RESPONSIBILITY MATRIX FOR THE CONVEYOR BELT
PROJECT
FIGURE 4.10
McGraw-
C O P Y R I G H T © 2 0 0 6 T H E MC G R A W - H I L L Hill/Irwin
C O MP A N I E S . A L L R I G H T S R E S E R V E D . 4–21

22. The Agile Process
Coined in 2001 by the Agile Manifesto
Used primarily in software development projects
The premise of the Agile method is that a team of cross-
functional professionals works closely together to
develop, test, and implement the software in small steps called
iterations. The iterations are short in time and may last only a
day, a week, or a month. In the Agile process, the project team
is focusing on just getting a small component of the larger
project completed and then moving on to the next iteration.
The management of the project is different from traditional
scheduling methods in that a project manager isn’t scheduling
out the entire project at the outset. Typically, activities have
dependencies and don’t start until one activity has ended.
HTTP://WWW.WIZIQ.COM/TUTORIAL/16-INTRODUCTION-TO-SCRUM-AGILE-PROJECT-MANAGEMENT

23. Next Steps
 Please fill out online evaluation for session
 Thank you for coming and hope you enjoy WE ‘12 in Houston!
 FY13 SWE Houston Area Section Theme: A Year of ENRG -
Encourage Networking Recognition and Growth
 Next SWE Houston Area activities:
 November - Professional Development meeting at BP
 December – Ten Thousand Villages Holiday Networking Fundraiser

24. Jill Almaguer, PE, MBA, PMP, President@SWEHouston.org
Carla Fair-Wright, PMP, CSQE, fair@opc-houston.com
Please visit us at
SWEHouston.org
or
Stop by the Houston Area
Section Table at the SWE
Boutique