Speaking as an engineer and a contractor, my job is to use my expertise and experience to help my clients prosper within their specific building or corporate situation. I deal quite a bit with corporate and facility managers who often think very differently about a problem than I, as an engineer, would. I can’t tell a client, under very different pressures than me, how to act in his or her field, but I can and hope to give my opinions here on things for the manager to be aware of to make the exchange of ideas with the engineer or contractor more successful. The facility or corporate manager knows its facility or company and its challenges more than I can ever know. Despite the client communicating such issues, I must work within those limits. I recognize that what I, as an engineer, consider the “best” solution to a problem may not be feasible for the company, given the specific situation, facility, goals, and company.
It works the other way, too. Facility and corporate managers must recognize our capabilities and limitations and work within them for the project to proceed successfully for all involved. Here are some tips for the facility manager to understand to work better with an engineer and help the project succeed.

1. Trust Your Senses. You are a smart person. Trust the evidence you see that something may be wrong. It is tempting to see, hear, smell a problem in your building or operation and ignore it. It is tempting to say, “It’s too much work. Life is easier if I ignore.”; “I’m too busy”; “It’s somebody else’s job.”, etc. But that’s all the more reason to at least record the issue and get details. We engineers like and need details. I can’t tell you the number of times a client describes in the most general terms an odor, a leak, etc., but does not know the details of it, when or even exactly where it happened. I need such information, in many cases, to determine a cause and solution. Being told in general about a problem does not help. You don’t need to solve the problem; just collect details for the engineer to handle..

2. Know and Check Your Staff and Your Processes. You are probably a good communicator and know your staff well. Being around your equipment and processes on a daily basis, you probably know a lot about them. Don’t think that way. You only know what your staff tells you; other things may be going on. I once did an air emissions inventory for a chemical plant. I was given the formulas and steps used to make certain products. I walked on the floor to see the equipment in action. I spoke to some of the workers who set up the tanks, reactors, etc. I showed them the official formulas; they laughed. They had not followed those procedures in years, even though those were the official versions. The workers on their own made changes, in many cases, to save the company time, resources, etc., but had never informed the managers. Problematic. Worse still was the project I did on an air matter where some workers admitted they routinely took the barrels of spent material with low solvent content and dumped them in the next door wetlands. “But it was very diluted”, they said. I reported this to the manager, who was totally unaware, and he had to report this to the authorities. Be aware of what goes on. Bottom line: know your equipment and processes, not just by what the specs. say, but how it does in the field, too.

3. Listen to and Trust Your Consultant. I can’t tell you the number of times that I made a suggestion to a client and the person is not listening or assumes I have an ulterior motive. I can’t say every single consultant is straight forward, but the vast majority are. So it’s in your interest to listen to what he/she says and trust that he/she is looking after your best interests as understood. That doesn’t mean the engineer is right, but at least seriously listen to their suggestions and see the angle he/she presents.

4. Think About Different Perspectives. Every client has their own motives. We understand. Some truly are concerned with their company; some care only about getting the credit for a project well done; some like to wield power; some only care about saving money short-term. That is fine. Circumstances, corporate culture may dictate this. But at least, be open to different pictures that your engineer presents, such as “While this saves you cost now, it may lead to higher costs because …..” or “This project cannot proceed smoothly without the cooperation of _____ in _____ Dept.” Your engineer will likely offer you different perspectives and effects of options. Listen and consider them carefully. Yes, one may be more important, but you owe it to yourself to not dismiss other perspectives or side effects the engineer offers.

5. Challenge Your Engineers – with Facts. If a manager hires an engineer to do a project, there is nothing wrong with checking on and even criticizing his/her work, assumptions, sources, etc. Some engineers merely give a client (and an agency) numbers without any background. It is certainly your right to ask the engineer how the work was done. Similarly, it is OK to ask or criticize the assumptions made. What is important, however, is not to criticize for the sake of criticism, but with real curiosity and real facts. I had an emotional client once who often lashed out at me, critical of certain decisions I made on behalf of the client for work performed. When I sat down with him I showed him my assumptions and what my goals were in discussing the issue and the client understood, apologized and agreed. This is a productive exchange. However, being crass and angry and not giving your engineer a chance to respond is counterproductive.

CCES has the experts and experience to work with you to upgrade your processes for productivity and energy cost savings. Contact us today at 914-584-6720 or at karell@CCESworld.com.