A Pocket Guide to Business for Engineers and Surveyors

Pulling from his 30+ years of experience running his own engineering and surveying  services firm, Ed Bergeron gathers, in concise, practical, and often amusing writing, all the information an engineer or surveyor needs to know to grow their career, expand their business, manage staff and projects, understand the financial and legal aspects of their work, and conduct themselves in a professional and ethical manner when dealing with clients and colleagues.  Both the fields of surveying and engineering are making strides towards advancing their stature by increasingly requiring licensure, expanding continuing education offerings, and adding elements of professional practice into all levels of education.  This book presents the skills that differentiate the technician from the professional, and will serve as a tool for the advancement of the profession.

Preface ix 1 Professionalism & Business 1 What Is a Professional Surveyor or Engineer?  2 The Dual Career Path 7 Being an Entrepreneur versus Climbing the Corporate Ladder 9 Types of Business Organizations and Their Structure 11 2 Managing Yourself 17 A Personal Quiz 18 Paradigms 19 Principles 22 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs 23 Theory X & Y 25 Time Management 27 Interruptions 32 Procrastination 34 So What Is Personal Productivity Anyway? 36 So What’s the Big Deal about Increasing Productivity? 38 3 Communications 41 Different Types of Communications 42 The Communications Model & Managerial Effectiveness 43 Listening 45 Speaking 48 Written Communication 60 Roadblocks to Effective Communication 70 Avoiding Roadblocks to Effective Communications 71 4 Leaders, Managers, & Motivation 73 Motivation 75 Leadership 81 Summary 94 5 Project Management 95 An Introduction to Project Management as a System 96 Pitfalls of No Project Management 101 How Did I Get to Be a PM Anyway? 103 Why Is PM Necessary? 104 The Project Life Cycle 106 Planning, Organizing, & Implementing Your Projects 109 6 Ethics & Professionals 135 Introduction 135 An Ethical Dilemma 136 Examples of Unethical Behavior 138 Professional versus Nonprofessional Ethics 140 Values & Morals 142 Ethical Obligations to Others 145 Codes of Ethics 148 Enforceability of Codes of Ethics 151 The Role of Mentoring 152 7 Basics of Financial Accounting & Analysis for Managers 155 Introduction 155 Accounting Basics 158 Income & Income Statements 164 The Balance Sheet—A Snapshot in Time 169 Capital Sources 175 Budgets 177 8 Legal Issues 191 Introduction 191 Definitions 192 The Legal System 194 Basics of Tort Law 203 Professional Liability 205 9 Marketing Professional Services 211 Introduction 211 How Do Surveyors and Engineers Get Work? 212 The Selection Process—Different Strokes for Different Folks 213 What’s the Difference between Marketing, Advertising, and Sales? 216 The Market Planning Process 219 Prospecting 229 Maintenance Marketing & Cross-Selling 232 Interviews & Presentations 232 Scope of Work 238 Negotiating the Agreement 241 10 Ownership Transition 245 Introduction 245 The Leadership Development Plan 246 Planning for Ownership Transition—Exploring the Options 248 Bibliography 269 Index 271