The four skills power systems electrical engineers need to develop into a leadership role so they can manage teams to deliver substation projects

Like most infrastructure projects, substation construction projects are multi-discipline. They include different electrical, mechanical and civil engineered systems are integrated into an overall bigger system to deliver a unique result which is the safe and adequate transmission and distribution of electricity, to sustain communities and economies.

If you are an engineer working in one of the project disciplines, you might fancy to one day lead a big delivery team and make a difference. It takes more skills to be able to manage the delivery of a multi-disciplinary systems engineering project.

Skill 1: Enough breadth in related engineering disciplines

You are probably an expert in one field of many across the project. This will not be enough to guide and direct a team of different expertise.

You have to have enough understanding of other fields around you and experience with managing the interface points with them.

While working as an engineer you have to start gaining knowledge through taking on some responsibilities of managing the interfaces you have of your system with the other different parts of the project.

An example of that would be to learn about the civil and structural engineering requirements from an electrical systems perspective, what sort of dimensions, loads, fixing details, etc.. are involved in terms of the information exchange in order to design a d build different systems that work together.

Skill 2: Knowledge of project management and delivery methodologies

Delivering only one aspect, or system, as part of the overall project is different from delivering a complex project where different areas may compete and interact, differently, with each other.

You have to understand the project management methodology in place around you and work within it.

Start looking at what kind of information, reporting and other data points are usually required from your discipline in order to be controlled and monitored throughout the whole project progress.

Being professional when it comes to plans and programmes of delivery would portrait you as a strong, reliable part of the project that delivers. And progress in project-based organisations is mostly about credibility when it comes to delivering successfully to a defined scope, cost and time constraint.

Skill 3: Commercial and business awareness

You know where to get the needed information to design and build your system. But when you are in charge of a project, you will be exposed to a bigger world with different sources of information, so you need to understand the business environment around you.

It is crucial for you to understand the commercial impact of every decision or point you are looking at.

You can begin small, with showing interest in your budget, and investing more time in learning how that fits within the project and business overall commercial models.

Businesses are established to make profits, and you need to understand, how as an engineer and as a leader, your decisions contribute to the bottomline.

Skill 4: Effective communication and team management

A lot of us engineers got into our fields because we enjoy problem-solving. While technically you might not feel challenged by the engineering-side of the delivery, it is usually the communications and stakeholder engagement aspects that present the biggest challenges.

Poor communication and managing of expectations will considerably contribute to the challenges posed to the project delivery.

You also have to learn working with the different characters out there and get the most out of a team working together. Clear and consistent communication is key to ensuring the team direction is forward.

Team dynamics are an interesting field that you’d need to spend years studying and practically observing. It also keeps on changing with the socio-economic shifts in society around us.

There are many other skills of course but I found that these were the top 4 which are a foundation for developing and moving forward.

Have you got any other skills that helped you in your career in the past? Are there any skills that you struggle with learning? Please share in the comments. Share this with your network if you like it.