Do Engineers Need Management Skills Training?

It was great to be back at Maju Holdings. As in all previous occasions when I had the good fortune to meet the staff of Maju in my training programs, last week's group did not fail my expectations. They were energetic, lively and passionate. The highly technical and tough issue of Managing Change was discussed and debated in a open and professional manner. Syabas ladies and gentleman of Maju! One of the issues that we discussed was whether an engineer who has been made to be a manager need to go for management skills training? If you recall, that's what MBAs were created for isn't it? The very first MBAs were in response to demands from manufacturing companies in the US and Europe that were slowly experiencing leadership change. At that time, the founders and/or original movers of some of the most well known organizations were gradually being replaced by their long time staffs who for the most part were involved directly in the manufacturing/product component of the business. It appeared perfectly logical for Henry Ford, for example, to designate his chief technical men or his chief engineers to take over some of the key positions in the company. After all who better to run the company than the guys who knew the product like the back of their hands? Once these technical wizards ascended the power structure of their respective organizations, they inevitably realized that managing a group of production workers as the CEO or GM was a completely different ball game compared to managing the day-to-day running of the production line. They needed much more than their technical expertise. Hence, the MBAs were developed as a bridging for them to enter the world of management. Of course, over the years the MBAs have taken on an entirely different appearance. So, the answer is yes. Engineers and other technical experts going into management functions should be exposed to management skills training. It should be something that they experience way before they take the hot seat not after the fact. That way, they will have more time to internalize and find their footing before actually taking on the real responsibilities of a manager.