How can you maintain a professional relationship with someone from a previous Engineering Design project?

2 Share your achievements and challenges

Another way to maintain a professional relationship is to share your achievements and challenges with someone from a previous engineering design project. This can help you showcase your skills, demonstrate your value, and seek their input. You can also congratulate them on their successes and empathize with their difficulties. Sharing your achievements and challenges can also spark new ideas, opportunities, or partnerships for future engineering design projects.

3 Provide value and support

A professional relationship is not only about taking, but also about giving. You should provide value and support to someone from a previous engineering design project whenever you can. For example, you can offer your expertise, feedback, resources, or connections to help them with their current or future engineering design projects. You can also endorse their skills, recommend their services, or promote their work to others. Providing value and support can help you build trust, credibility, and goodwill with someone from a previous engineering design project.

4 Learn from them

One of the benefits of maintaining a professional relationship with someone from a previous engineering design project is that you can learn from them. You can ask them questions, request advice, or seek mentorship from them on various aspects of engineering design, such as technical skills, project management, problem-solving, creativity, or innovation. You can also follow their work, read their publications, or attend their presentations to gain new insights, perspectives, or inspiration. Learning from them can help you improve your own engineering design skills and knowledge.

5 Invite them to collaborate

Another way to maintain a professional relationship with someone from a previous engineering design project is to invite them to collaborate on new or ongoing engineering design projects. You can propose a joint project, suggest a partnership, or join a team that they are part of. You can also invite them to join your network, community, or organization that is related to engineering design. Inviting them to collaborate can help you leverage their skills, experience, and connections, as well as strengthen your bond and rapport.

6 Appreciate and respect them

Finally, you should appreciate and respect someone from a previous engineering design project as a professional and as a person. You should express your gratitude, recognition, and admiration for their work, contribution, and impact. You should also respect their time, privacy, and boundaries, and avoid being rude, demanding, or intrusive. You should also acknowledge and celebrate their achievements, milestones, and occasions, such as birthdays, anniversaries, or promotions. Appreciating and respecting them can help you foster a positive, lasting, and mutually beneficial professional relationship.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?