Managing hindrance stressors in an engineering management environment

The daily focus of many Engineering Management (EM) practitioners is in constant sway between operations and projects. Operational matters require solutions that relate to efficiency and effectiveness while project issues, mostly without deference, requires solutions that just get the job done. The requirement for switching between two such disparate mindsets can be a major hindrance stressor, especially when the resolution of multiple issues requires a number of solutions to be simultaneously planned and executed. Controlling of this environment may be further complicated by inconsistent monitoring mechanisms, often due to separate project and operational systems. Strategic Management (SM) is the silver thread that ties these two disparate world views together, allowing the Engineering Manager to retain a consistent approach to successful management of operations and projects. However, for this thread to be visible, the operational manager needs to lift his or her head out of the trees for long enough to be able to discern the complexity and inter-relatedness of the forest. The current research therefore proposes a model for the combined use of OPM and Systems Thinking as a means for implementing Strategic Management, with the goal of empowering the Engineering Manager to maintain a homogeneous mindset while overseeing the contiguous implementation of both subtle operational and bold project solutions, through effective management of the hindrance stressors associated with such activities.