Biggest Challenges For a Senior Project Manager at John A Martin and Associates
Adena, a senior project manager, identifies effective communication with clients and colleagues as the biggest challenge in her role, noting that "a lot of engineers are not great communicators," preferring individual work over collaboration. This communication skill, however, is key to success, requiring overcoming inherent shyness to work effectively within the structural engineering field's problem-solving demands.
Communication, Problem-Solving, Project Management, Teamwork, Overcoming Challenges
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Adena Geiger
Sr project manager
John A Martin & Associates
UCLA 2013
UC Berkeley masters of science
Engineering - Civil
Architecture, Construction & Design
Operations and Project Management
Scholarship Recipient, Immigrant, Transfer Student, First Generation College Student
Video Highlights
1. Effective communication with colleagues and clients is crucial and a significant challenge.
2. Engineers often face challenges in structural analysis and calculations, requiring problem-solving skills.
3. Developing strong communication skills is key to success in engineering, as it helps overcome communication barriers that many engineers face due to their inherent nature of focusing on technical tasks and calculations
Transcript
What is your biggest challenge in your current role?
The biggest challenge would be being able to communicate correctly with clients and with colleagues at the firm. There are always challenges that come up within the structural engineering realm.
These can include how to calculate something, or how to analyze a part of a building or for certain kinds of loads. There will always be things you've never done before that you have to figure out.
However, I feel you're able to overcome these challenges by asking the right people, or by thinking through things correctly with the right people. So, being able to communicate effectively with colleagues and clients would be the most important thing.
This is the biggest challenge I think a lot of engineers face. As engineers, many of us are not great communicators. We tend to focus on calculations and working independently.
When it comes to talking to people, we can be relatively shy. So, developing the skill of communicating effectively with others is the key to success.