Advancing from a non-managerial position to management can be a difficult transition. While going from full-time engineering work into management is a common career path., the skills required to be an effective manager are different from those of a good engineer. Unfortunately, the conventional wisdom that the best predictor of future success is past success is useless here. Past success in a non-managerial role has limited, though important, value in predicting how well someone will perform as a manager. This is simply because managerial work is different from non-managerial work.

Before becoming a manager, much of your work has probably been technical in nature, requiring expertise in your specific engineering function, and perhaps a broader knowledge of engineering as a whole. You also needed a conceptual sense of the interdependencies of the various knowledge and skills areas in producing the desired outcome or output. As a manager, however, you will be expected to place more emphasis on human behavior and have a more highly developed set of interpersonal skills. These include skills such as listening, providing constructive feedback on employee's performance, competency in dealing with difficult people, and sometimes orchestrating complicated team dynamics. All this takes place while you continue to meet your own personal work goals and guide the people you manage towards theirs.

Your role as a manager will also require that you become a strong conceptual thinker, with ability to analyze unstructured situations and to interpret information needed for effective decision making. Much of what you will be confronted with will be characterized by the ambiguity and complexity inherent in human interactions, compared to technical certainties. You will be dealing with a diversity of talents, needs, goals, styles and cultures as you grow in your role as a manager.

Some sage once quipped, "Yesterday I couldn't even spell manager. Today, I are one!" This pretty well sums up the dismay of many who are taking on the multiple roles and responsibilities of managing people within an organizational setting for the first time. Though that reaction may be somewhat expected, the good news is that there are many tools available to help you conquer that initial response. The information here lays the groundwork for an effective, productive management experience.

This module will increase your confidence in approaching this new role with a heightened sense of your own abilities to apply positive, productive behaviors and help you make informed choices in navigating the sometimes choppy seas of managerial responsibility. In this module, we'll focus on the human relations skills of communicating, motivating and managing employees, and dealing with diversity in the workplace. We'll then discuss the more technical skills of managing meetings and your time effectively. It will provide you with a look at some of the key tools and concepts that are a part of any good manager's repertoire in today's increasingly diverse and increasingly global companies.

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