15 Jun Secret #15: Don’t Forget Your Hard Hat
A few weeks ago, I found myself in an interesting situation that taught me a lesson that I will never forget.
An Engineer Without a Hard Hat
If you are a design professional on a job site, you should never be without a hard hat.
When I pulled up to the job site, I realized that my hard hat was not in the back of my car. I had been rushing from one appointment to another that I forgot my hard hat back at the office. My heart sank as I thought to myself, “How will people even take me seriously?” Did I mention that this site visit was during a “steel topping off party”? A “steel topping off party” is an event where everybody involved on the project gets together for the placement of the last steel beam on the project. It is a great way for the owner, design team and construction team to mark a project milestone and the project’s success. It’s like the Super Bowl of a construction project… and I forgot my hard hat.
Needless to say that I have never gone to the job site again without a hard hat.
Be Prepared
The main lesson that I learned that day is that you have to be prepared in any situation.
I forgot my hard hat that day, but ever since I have left a hard hat in the back of my car just in case. I want to be prepared for anything that I encounter. Hard hats are not the only thing that we need to remember as engineers. There are other situations that require preparation such as phone calls, project meetings, etc.
Before returning a phone call, it helps to be prepared to answer the questions that your client has. A few ways that I often prepare for a phone call is writing down what questions the client had, crunching some numbers if necessary, looking at our design drawings, then I pick up the phone to make the call.
A project meeting is similar to a phone call. You don’t want to walk into a meeting unprepared with what you have designed and what to discuss. Most times your client will give hints to what they want to discuss. This can be an intense discussion into a particular aspect of the project or it can be a simple run through of the design. Each meeting requires a different level of preparation, so you will have to gauge that for yourself.
Don’t Forget Your Hard Hat
It may seem simple enough to not forget your hard hat, but there are different ways in your career and life that you can stand tall and prepared for any encounter.
What are some ways that you can stand tall, prepared, with your “hard hat” in hand?
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Keep on keepin’ on.
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