Managing Experts and Technical Professionals

Project Teams and Individual Contributors – the key to productive and stimulating environment

In the movie ‘Manhattan Project’ Gen. Groves barges into the research facilities of atomic scientists and exclaims ‘They’re just sitting around talking – I want them to stick to their knitting and get work done!’ Leo Szilard exclaims with disdain and frustration ‘How do you work for a man like that!’ Gen. Groves had much to learn about managing scientists, experts, and technical employees in a research setting. The same can be said for many sectors of American technical business.

Companies employing various experts and technical professional employees face a common dilemma: how to establish reward systems and work environments that are both stimulating to the technical professional employees and productive for the organization. Standard methods of motivating, rewarding, and leading non-technical employees fail to work for those in R&D, engineering, and similar professional pursuits. Leaders need to learn how to retain key technical staff, integrate professionals into the company, build project teams, manage the innovative process, deal with very creative individuals, maintaining the edge over time, enhance technical transfer and communications, understanding the role of the technical manager, develop reward and incentive systems that work for managing the evolving technical expert employee.

 Managing the high tech environment – Technical experts are an invaluable resource, and advantage should be taken of these talents so that they don’t fly to other companies for fulfillment. Recognition can be given in many ways: patent incentive rewards, weekly newsletter with notices of progress made, notices about what customers are looking for, world news related to the work at hand, etc. The newsletter can be informative and entertaining, too. The tech person gets the feeling that he/she is part of a big important picture. Technical experts are encouraged to publish, and these papers are compiled in a weekly compendium. Copies can be ordered for your own use. The plant library should have a budget for ordering textbooks and other references for the tech person. No justification should be demanded.

Managing the relationship between other departments – R&D is in partnership with marketing, engineering, manufacturing, and finance, among other functions. Frequent interplay with these functions removes isolation and facilitates the transfer of ideas among key players. Engineering wants to know what’s new over the horizon and works with R&D to develop test vehicles to test theory and find ways to integrate new ideas into future products. Manufacturing experts come into the picture early to give their views on how to bring into play new manufacturing methods. Promising test results are shared with respected customers, who may encourage further work with funding. Sales and marketing are part of this process. Different departments are working together more or less on a continuous basis. The key phrase in managing experts and technical employees is "working together".

Identify and reward managers who facilitate techical transfer - Managers who are able to effectively foster effective relationships with technical employees should be rewarded and encouraged to train others. This is a valuable asset. Although these managers may not be at the same level as the technical experts, they speak the same language and their education level is not far behind the experts. These effective managers of experts and technical employees are characterized as mature, polished, sharp, tech savvy individuals who respect talent and foster it enthusiastically.

Technical Managers find ways to boost performance – One major tech company makes a practice of employing promising talent, such as top masters graduates with special accomplishments, as a stimulus to established technical experts. New technology is introduced and fostered in this manner. After a period of time, the new expert is taken into the fold and encouraged to produce original work towards a doctorate. The company benefits, the new employee benefits, the mentor benefits.  Everybody wins.

Integrate work across internal and external cultures – Effective management of experts and technical employees includes a constant cross-pollination of talent and can be encouraged within the plant or among a number of satellite organizations. The sister organizations are informed and they gain a respect for the talent distributed among the company. This can be via technical newsletters and annual company meetings.

Reward technical talent with what they want – Money is not the only reward; technical recognition is a powerful incentive. Posting of patent awards and articles by expert employees in the newsletter gives sterling recognition. The occasional article prepared for technical magazines and professional organizations puts the spot light on talent, polishes the image of the company, and reaps unexpected benefits. A room with a view is OK, if that is possible, but an arrangement of desk and conference table with marking board is the sign of importance. It facilitates communications between technical personnel and encourages bringing questions to the expert technical employees. All key individuals should have their own conference facility. Others should have access to basic conference arrangements interspersed in the office for brief meetings and consultations. It encourages communications.

Change is good; encourage it – Sometimes a change of office environment removes the cobwebs and clears the air. Some major companies have the practice of moving their groups around into different locations, different buildings on the campus, and different levels. One company even placed an engineering organization under the factory floor, and there was constant traffic of shop vehicles with seemingly square wheels. The racket was annoying, but it didn’t take from the work at hand. Everyone knew that the next change would be better. This telegraphs to everyone that change is the order of the day. Nothing is sacred; change is always in the air. One major company makes it a practice of reducing the population by 10% every year. This produces a certain tension in the air because all employees, not just the technical experts, feel that they must constantly produce or fall by the way side.

Environments that enhance motivation – Facilities of a major electronics firm, employing many technical expert employees, are situated on a landscaped campus with 100+ acres of land. The cafeterias are not ordinary; they emulate the look of fine restaurants with divided spaces, chandeliers and special lighting, nice views of the landscape, and variation of seating like banquets and intimate small groupings. In good weather employees can bring their lunches outside and enjoy fresh air and beautiful views. Other companies visit these facilities to learn what they could do to enhance their own facilities. No doubt, the arrangements in the work spaces are something special, too.

Handling special individuals and groups – Years ago, Lockheed had a name for their special development team: the "Skunk Works". Whatever the prevailing atmosphere, they produced what the customer wanted and in a short time. They broke new ground in materials and manufacturing processes.  They were unstoppable. One particular individual in an engineering firm was so talented as a design draftsman that they sent him to MIT all expenses paid. He graduated with honors as an engineer. He was the one who developed new technology continually. His personality was not the best, but he produced new designs intuitively. He was well loved in the community of scientists and engineers. Don [not his name] was never lambasted or criticized, He was fostered and encouraged to take on the hard nuts of technological progress, and he succeeded admirably.  The company benefitted greatly too.

Retain young professionals – Promising young engineers and scientists need to be encouraged and challenged with meaningful work. A good talent sometimes creates his own work out of his talents and research accomplishments. That’s how fracture mechanics was introduced into a large engineering company. It was embraced by his mentor and worked into a new design. The new technology was communicated to the customer, one of the national services, and they embraced it in the analysis of flight structures. It became the means of avoiding failure in service.

Maintain creative energy – Company expert talent need not be compartmentalized. Various units can share their talents for use in diverse areas. Although an expertise was developed in an automotive accessory unit, for example, the technology was used in a diverse line of kitchen appliances and lawn equipment. It was the result of sales and marketing interest in diversification. That’s working together. Sometimes a consultant can be found in diverse areas like manufacturing. Vendor manufacturing facilities are storehouses of diverse good information. They have seen a great variety of components and designs that can be applied to diverse interests.

Managing technical experts is challenging and rewarding. It is not for the faint of heart but for those who are eminently prepared to deal with talent, technical challenges, and a changing world.