You’re a Marine Engineer. How do you balance technical and management responsibilities?

At first it seems a difficult task to switch being a manager and a hands o technical person where most of the time you will find the manager in the mix of things when there are breakdowns thus making the employees uncomfortable and this also impact on their growth because they don't want to make wrong descions while you are present. It also creates competition among them in a sense that they want to be viewed as contributing while in your presence. It is very important to create balanced teams with both experience and in experienced, have technical meetings, clear details of roles and responsibilities, trust your team even in difficult times, be visible not only when there are challenges but while things are going well also.

We are a global world and any discipline is affected on what is going on around the world and moreover Marine Engineering is an international career which is governed by the same standards from STCW, MAPORL etc.The same expectations in terms of knowledge from Japan to Brazil in terms of knowledge and skill gabs should algn. We are talking decabonisation or moving to green energy or greaner fuels for ur Marine plants and that itself requires extensive research and development, it also requires some sort of framework, legislation and some kind of guidance and it requires each an everyone who is operating withing the parameters of marine engineering to be actively involved in one way or the other. Such changes are highly impacted by AI aslo

There are days where there isn't much jobs in the engine room. I normally use those days to check out the company task assistant to fill out necessary forms about jobs and also prepare for new jobs sent by the company. This is from a practical point of view

Understanding Pareto principles will help you be more effective which it should be incorporated with SMART principles. Understanding that 80%of your challenges are as result of 20% of the inefficiencies or things which were either not done, or done incorrectly which have resulted in 80% problems vs 80% of your success are as a results of those 20% inputs you have completed or iniated. Engineers are practical persons hence the example of Pareto: You supposed to track spending of engine room spares, have a bill of quantities in place and activate auto software ordering system which is 10 - 20% of your position outcome but you did not do it, then you experice engine breakdown which eventually stop the plant then results in delays that is 80%

The job itself requires an outgoing personality. It is not about being technical sound or technical expect any more but teams which you work with, work around with. It is imperative that one is equipped with soft skills like communications, empathy and related. Being proactive and sensitive to the needs of orders while developing them is key for team building. Marine engineers are often mentors by default without the necessary skills to enable them to carry such functions with success. Positive mindset is vital to ensure your team remain in a state where they see positive outcomes when faced with difficulties. Clear guidelines and measurable outcomes with periodic reviews and recommendations will assit in this regard.

Technical skills are easy to develop- Learn what everyone around you is doing and keep reading associate content, and while at home there are plenty, company in house courses you can attend. Management is something difficult to achieve, you have various nationalities, ranks, and other differences. Reading a few material on people behaviour can be helpful, I have tried the same. And companies do prepare you for the same too.

To balance technical and management responsibilities, You have to develop a company's safety management system (SMS), This will define various roles both for field workers, technical team,office staff and the management responsibilities. With various checklists, the procedure of handling projects and tasks will be defined, this will enable you to have on the spot assessment both yourself and other staff under you, Always carry on internal audits, this will enable you to discover various non conformity and address them. Training of staff and understanding on the use of SMS is the key for success