Leverage Your Quality System to Combat Burnout

Burnout is real, take care of yourself

I was concerned about where the civil engineering industry was in March 2020 as shutdowns and emergency directives from the government sought to limit the spread of COVID-19. My mind reverted to the housing bubble pop of 2008. I remember the lack of development engineering work that was experienced, lasting well after the initial collapse. Yet as we move toward two full years of a pandemic that has taken the lives of more than 800,000 Americans*, the engineering and construction industries are strong and growing. For many, 2021 proved to be a year of challenges to deliver the work on time to clients. Keep in mind, that as workload increases, so does the possibility of employee burnout.

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4 Great Traits My Kids Remind Me to Embrace

Learning new things can be hard in itself, let alone implementing new policies and guidelines in the workplace. I have the privilege of raising two wonderful children with my wife. My oldest is 9* and she is showing what I believe is an engineering brain with her inquisitive and curious nature. My youngest is 6* and he constantly seeks our approval in both doing what is right and letting him do things to help around the house. After spending a wonderful long holiday weekend with my family, during a bit of a time of reflection, I realized four traits that my children show over and over again in their daily routines and they are things that we, as adults, can learn from. Let me describe how my kids reminded me how important perseverance, patience, asking questions, and trying are to our success in life.

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A 5 part Framework for GREAT Quality Deliverables

As a professional service firm that creates and provides clients with deliverables, you are more than just a consultant or service firm. You are more than simply an opinion, clients are paying for a product that they will use to make decisions, apply for permits, or construct from among hundreds of other possibilities. Like any purchase we make, you will certainly judge your experience. A positive experience, a GREAT Quality deliverable, will create the opportunity to bring you back for more but a negative experience will make you think twice. A poor experience is two to three times more likely to receive an angry review which would require 12 positive reviews to offset the side effects of one negative review.

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Todd Burrier: How His 3 Circles Changed My Life

In the fall of 2018, I began Leadership Carroll, a professional learning course provided by the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce. The first two days of the course are at a retreat focused on team building and personal development as a leader. The second day of the workshop-style sessions literally changed my life forever: Because was introduced to Mr. Todd Burrier.

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Three Simple ways Your ISO 9001 Certification is Falling Short

The International Organization for Standardization known as ISO has a family of quality management systems (QMS). The set of standards is known as ISO 9000 series and we are specifically talking about ISO 9001:2015. This standard specifies requirements for an organization’s QMS. Certification requires the candidate company to demonstrate its ability to provide consistent services to meet client requirements and is designed to enhance the customer experience.

ISO 9001 is used by more than one million companies in more than 170 countries around the world. These range from manufacturing, pharmaceutical, construction, and civil engineering firms among many others. Having experience working for civil engineering firms both under the guidelines of ISO 9001 and without it, I offer my take on how your certification may be falling short for you and your clients.

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The Challenges of Waiting on Your PE Exam Results

f through the experience of taking the Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) exam. You spent countless hours studying and preparing followed then an exhausting day working through the 80 questions that stand between you and licensure as a Professional Engineer. Now you wait. As I think about my experience waiting weeks for the exam results, I think about the roller coaster of emotions I experienced in the time between giving it my all and passing the PE exam.

First off, no matter the discipline you choose, sitting for the exam is an accomplishment in itself. Whether it was 4-years of college, a decade or more of experience, or a combination of different paths, give yourself credit. Your hard work has provided you with an opportunity to advance your career. You earned it, don’t forget that!

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How Does Your Team Compare to Cookies?

With the holidays just around the corner, I look forward every year to making cookies with my children. I am normally responsible for the chocolate chip cookies while my wife and her siblings handled the sugar cookie creations.

If you know me and have spent time with me, especially working with me, you will know that my mind flows in a million different directions at any given time. It is no different when doing things around the house including baking cookies. When making cookies last year, I noticed the various ingredients spread across the kitchen counter, ready to be mixed for the next batch of batter when I literally thought, “is the team of people I work with like a cookie?” In that moment, I began to want the team I work on to be a cookie.

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The 3 Types of People Exceptional Leaders Embrace

Throughout my career, I have had the privilege of working directly with hundreds of people and indirectly acquainted with thousands. I have had the opportunity to learn from a diverse variety of managers and leaders in several different organizations. The end result is the development of a concept that considers the similarities and differences of human personality. It further challenges each employee and manager to be a STAR.

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3 Thoughts for a New Professional Engineer

CONGRATULATIONS to you if you recently sat for the Professional Engineer (PE) exam. Just getting to the testing room is an accomplishment, and should you be one of the many that pass, you will be one of the newest engineers in the world and you should be very proud of your accomplishment.

The FE and PE exams were two of the hardest things I ever did. After spending countless hours trying to prepare for the test, I believe the only thing that allows you to pass is your ability to be an engineer and execute under stress. I spent about 12 hours on-site the day of my PE exam. It was exhausting and stressful. I remember walking out and sitting in my car, reflecting on the day after I loaded my two crates of books into the trunk. At that moment I had a new appreciation for anyone who has passed that exam.

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