The Differences That Leadership Makes in Business

Everybody has heard that strong leadership is critical in business, but not everyone understands why or how to recognize it. Merely having a leader doesn’t assure that a business has effective leadership, and this can be a crucial distinction. If you’d like to know the true qualities of good leadership, the following points will help make it more clear.

Leaders have a profound effect on the work and efforts of others. Self motivation is a somewhat unusual quality, and most people must be externally motivated. If you’ve worked around other individuals for any period of time, you’re well aware of this. This means that the majority of people need a good leader to support them and keep them enthusiastic about the task at hand. For this reason, a company devoid of strong leadership predictably fails. Two leaders will evoke different results from the exact same room full of people. A good leader will bring out the best in them, while a poor leader will cause them to perform in a below average or indifferent manner.

It’s well known that good teamwork can make a huge difference in any company. If people come together as a team, they perform much more effectively than if everyone is merely looking out for himself. Teamwork just isn’t, however, something that comes about by luck or because of a particularly cooperative group. One of the secrets of a strong leader is that he knows how to get people to band together as a team. It typically takes a concerted effort to create teamwork, and a leader has the right intuition to do this. The ability to establish a good work environment is one of the hallmarks of a leader, and a reason why effective leadership is so important.

A business that’s got effective leadership will exhibit this in a number of ways, some of them apparently insignificant. If you add together all of the little things that every person does (or fails to do) in a business, you get the important big picture. When efficient leadership is lacking, there’s a feeling of apathy or a low morale that saps the energy out of a business. Usually, people will call out sick often, put things off, surf the web or chitchat around the water cooler instead of getting things done. Things are a lot more effective and goal-oriented when leadership is good, and everybody takes his/her responsibilities seriously. That’s how you can see the results of either good or bad leadership in any kind of company.

Leadership plays an important role in every business, however large or small. Excellent leaders know how to create an atmosphere of cohesiveness, teamwork and a shared sense of purpose. The quality of leadership in a business has an influence, not only on its sales and profits, but also in the way people behave and relate to each other within the organization. So leadership can be one of the core factors that determine a business’s results.

Effective Habits for Effective Civil Engineering Study

Succeeding in civil engineering education can be a difficult process. As we pass through the education system our bodies, minds and peers are all going through changes, which means that understanding priorities can become a very difficult task. Managing habits to maintain a focus is one of the most important elements of schooling but it is not always easy. Here is a list of ways in which you can maintain a focus on the education resources which are available to you, before it’s too late:

Take responsibility

In order to succeed in school and later in life it’s essential that you realise that you need to take responsibility for yourself. If you rely on your parents and teachers to make you work then you will spend more time fighting it, than learning. Having a keen sense of focus and determination is the only way that you will be able to utilise school resources to their full potential.

Use your own values as a centre

Friends and peers can undoubtedly be a bad influence on you and can hinder your learning significantly. It’s vitally important to remember your own values and avoid being told what you should care about by peers. This can be a difficult process but maintaining your own values is a vitally important part of growing up.

Prioritise

Put your own values above everything. If you are determined to complete something first and relax later, then it’s essential that you do so. If you allow yourself to be swayed once then it’s very likely that it will soon become a habit.

When do you work best?

Everyone has a different style of learning and it is important that you know yours. Try to discern when you work best and develop a study schedule which fits this. Try to focus on your key learning challenges during the periods when you are most focussed.

Try to understand others before expressing yourself

In any given situation it is important to attempt to understand what other people are saying before weighing in with your opinions. Obtaining a level of understanding will give more weight to your argument and allow you to express yourself meaningfully. When questioning a grade, try to understand it from the teacher’s perspective before challenging it.

Search for better solutions

If you don’t have the understanding to complete something then don’t just keep re-reading the same explanation. Try doing something different and it may just make everything clear to you. Ask a teacher or seek an alternative explanation from different source.

Look to continually challenge

The best way to learn is to keep pushing yourself harder. Just as sports players improve faster against better opponents, you too will improve faster against greater challenges. Look to find more complex tasks to complete at all times and you will always remain ahead of the rest of your peers. It’s also important to continually challenge accepted beliefs and norms. If you merely accept what you are told then you are not thinking analytically. Try to poke a hole in all learning that you are given and challenge them with reasoned arguments to state your point.

Learning is all about continuing to grow, expanding our knowledge and challenging ourselves in civil engineering industry. As long as we realise that we never really stop learning, we can tackle our education with curiosity and a real willingness to get involved.

The 10 Habits of Highly Effective Construction Manager

Are you deciding whether it’s time to pursue your construction management degree? As you research your decision, consider some of the best habits effective construction managers must cultivate to be successful in the field.

Communication

Good construction managers must be strong communicators. You’ll work with an array of people on your team, in addition to upper management and the clients or stakeholders in a project. Become comfortable with going to meetings and buildan ability to convey your ideas clearly and effectively. Your presence on a project will often be essential to keeping it on track, and your communication skills will be a major part of getting this done.

Facilitation

While related to communication skills in many ways, becoming a good facilitator is an art in itself as AIGA, the professional association for design, has explained. With training, a manager can learn how to negotiate conflict, lead meetings, cultivate good team and group dynamics, and encourage creative thought processes. Skills like these enable managers to set up a project—and their career—for great success.

Leadership

Communication abilities and leadership work together. A construction manager should have a vision for a project, and be able to define roles and responsibilities for team members so there isn’t confusion on how to complete a job. From day one, the project manager must know his or her end goal and how to best utilize resources and team members’ talents to reach an optimum end result.

Goal Setting

From the beginning, project managers have to understand the client’s ultimate vision for a project and set appropriate smaller goals to make the desired end result a reality. Project managersformulate plans to reach those goals and employ the best strategies for the results they desire.

Details

But knowing the big picture isn’t enough. Scores of small parts must come together to make a construction project successful.With large goals in place, project managers have to sort through and handle all the small components of a project without becoming overwhelmed. Fortunately, the manager isn’t actually performing work to create the project, which can make this job a little simpler.

Delegation

Particularly on more sizeable projects, managers realize when they can’t extend themselves too far. They delegate responsibilities to trustworthy team members who will be able to handle the tasks they receive. Prioritization is key, and managers must know which tasks are most deserving of their attention at the moment and which can wait until later.

Teamwork

Naturally, to lead a team, a project manager must function well as part of one. He or she must also encourage a collaborative work environment so people’s various communication and work styles mesh well. Project managers help individuals see their role in a big picture, rather than just allowing them to think of themselves as an independent entity.

Thinking Skills

Project managers push themselves to be creative, whether dealing with the details of a project, or trying to handle problems as they arise. They know how to manage not only the intricate portions of their project, but also how to make adjustments along the way to account for any changes that must take place.

Flexibility

A construction environment can be fast-paced and sometimeshigh-pressure. Strong managers are braced for change, and know that unexpected events happen. They learn to manage several activities at once, even while focusing on more specific issues which must be addressed. They instill confidence in their team, the managers above them, and the client that they can cope with difficulties that arise and still see that a good product is produced in the end.

Education

Project managers aren’t content with what they know right now. They push themselves to learn more, possibly earning a construction management degree if necessary, to see that they have skills and knowledge relevant to today’s industry standard. They understand the many aspects of construction, including engineering, architecture, computer software, cost estimating, and even Spanish (as it’s a first language for many construction workers) to be most useful on the job.

Design of the RCC Concrete Plants

Automatic Feeding System

Dumpers or belts convey the coarse aggregates via feeding hopper and conveyor belts to the stock pile. From the stock pile the particular fractions are conveyed via conveying troughs onto the corresponding belts. Each specific grain size can be batched onto each belt. With these two belts the coarse aggregates are conveyed to the 150 m long cooling gallery.

The fine aggregates as well are conveyed via feeding hopper and belt to the stock pile. The fine aggregates are conveyed to the inline silo without being chilled.
Cooling of Coarse Aggregates

Water chillers produce large quantities of cold water at + 4 degree C. The cold water is sprayed via nozzles across the total length of the cooling gallery onto the rock grains greater than 5 mm. At the end of the cooling gallery we obtain a temperature of the graining of approx. + 7 degree C. The aggregates are dewatered at selected points. At the end of the cooling gallery dewatering screens dewater the material to a residual moisture of 2 %. This method is very effective because much water is accumulated in the coarse grain.

Water is then led into the sedimentation tank to have the flushed floating particles deposited. The cleaned water is now cooled again and added to the circuit.

Alternatively for other projects and according to the requirements the cooling of the aggregates can be effected in an aggregate cooling silo.

The particular cooled components are conveyed into separate compartments of the insulated inline silos. The sizes of the separate compartments of the inline silo have been dimensioned to take up the total capacity of the belt. It is important for safety requirements that each component can be conveyed via each belt into each compartment of the inline silo.
Production and Handling of Ice Flakes

Two containerized flake ice plants produce 24 hours continuously flake ice into both ice storage tanks. The requested ice is conveyed with screws from these ice storage tanks into the day tanks which provide the ice to the particular ice weighers for weighing. The requested ice can be supplied from each day tank into each of the 4 ice weighers.
Water Chillers

The water chillers have been containerized as well. They provide the cooling of the aggregates, the ice treatment and the requested mixing water for the concrete.
Storage and Transportation of Cementitious Materials

To guarantee a sufficient quantity of cement and pozzolan on site all in all 10 x 1000 t storage silos have been installed. Pneumatic cement blower systems provide the corresponding service silos – per plant 2 silos à 150 t – from these storage silos.
Concrete Batching and Concrete Production

To obtain the requested nominal plant capacity of 500 m³/h compacted concrete 2 twin plants with a total of 4 x3 m³ twin shaft mixers have been installed.

Each twin plant is equipped with an inline silo of 4 x 100 m³. From this inline silo the particular fractions are -according to the recipe – weighed additively on the weighing belt. All materials, such as aggregates, cement, pozzolan, admixtures, cold water and ice are weighed and conveyed into the mixer.

For a homogeneous mixing of the concrete Liebherr exclusively uses twin shaft mixers from internal production. These mixers stand out for short mixing times and short discharge times. Due to special wear plates these mixers have a very long durability. The maintenance works are reduced due to a central lubrication system.
Concrete Delivery System

Below each high performance mixer an especially developed rotary system has been installed which allows feeding the high speed belt and the dumpers as well which are filled from 2 mixers at the same time. The high speed belt has been equipped with a discharge point to provide further tipping of dumpers.

Types of Concrete Admixtures

Chemical concrete admixtures are material in the form of powder or fluids that are added to concrete to give it certain characteristics not obtainable with plain concrete mixes. In normal use, admixture dosages are less than 5% by mass of cement and are added to the the concrete at the time of batching/mixing. The most common types of concrete admixtures are:

1. Accelerators speed up the hydration (hardening) of the concrete.

2. Retarders slow the hydration (hardening) of the concrete, and are used in large or difficult pours where partial setting before the pour is complete is undesirable.

3. Air-entrainers add and distribute tiny air bubbles in the concrete, which will reduce damage during freeze-thaw cycles thereby increase the concrete’s durability.

4. Plasticizers (water-reducing admixtures) increase the workability of plastic of fresh concrete, allowing it be placed more easily with less consolidating effort.

5. Superplasticizers ( high-range water-reducing admixtures)are a class of plasticizers which have fewer deleterious effects when use to significantly increase workability. Alternatively; plasicizers can be used to reduce the water content of a concrete (and have been called water reducer due to this application) while maintaining workability. This improves its strength and durability characteristics.

6. Pigments can be used to change the color of concrete, for aesthetics. Mainly they are ferrous oxides.

7. Corrosion inhibitors are used to minimize the corrosion of steel and steel bars in concrete.

8. Bonding agent are used to create a bond between old and new concrete.

9. Pumping aids improve pumpability, thicken the paste and reduce dewatering of the paste.

Thus, chemical admixture is one ingredient creating concrete that provide the differentiation of concrete types.

Standard Method of Measurement of Building Works

Data Required for Preparing an Estimate:

In order to prepare a detailed estimate the estimator must have with him the following data:
1. Plans, sections and other relevant details of the work.
2. Specifications indicating the exact nature and class of materials to be used.
3. The rates at which the different items of work are carried out.
To enable an estimator to take out the quantities accurately, the drawings must themselves be clear, true to the fact and scale, complete, and fully dimensioned. The estimator has also to bear in mind certain principles of taking out quantities.

. Steps in Preparation of an Estimate:

There are three clearly defined steps in the preparation of an estimate.
1 . Taking out quantities
In the first step of taking out quantities, the measurements are taken off from the drawings and entered on measurement sheet or dimension paper. The measurements to be taken out would depend upon the unit of measurement. For example, in the case of stone masonry in superstructure, length, thickness and height of the walls above plinth level would be taken out from the drawings and entered on the measurement sheet, whereas, in the case of plastering only the lengths and heights of the walls would be entered. Obviously, the unit of measurement in the first case is cubic meter and that in the second case is square meter
2. Squaring out
The second step consists of working out volumes, areas, etc. and casting up their total in recognized units.
3. Abstracting
In the third step all the items along with the net results obtained in the second step are transferred from measurement sheets to specially ruled sheets having rate column ready for pricing.
The second and third steps above are known as working up. All calculations in these stages and every entry transferred should be checked by another person to ensure that no mathematical or copying error occurs.

. Standard Method of Measurement of Building Works:

The different methods of measuring used by various Central and State Government departments and by construction agencies were found to be a serious difficulty to estimators and a standing cause of disputes. For this reason a unification of the various systems at the technical level had been accept­ed as very desirable and wanting.
Although the standard has no legal sanction and as such need not be adopted unless it is referred to in the contracts.

. Principles of Deciding Unit of Measurement:

A beginner may find it difficult to remember the units of measurement of different items. Memorizing of units of measurement would be greatly simplified if he knows the principles kept in view while selecting the units of measurements. Following are the most important principles of selection of unit of measurement:
1. The unit of measurement should be simple and convenient to measure, record and understand.
2. It should be one, which provides for fair payment for the work involved.
3. In the result it should yield quantities, which are neither too minute nor too large.
4. The price per unit should not be a very small figure or a very large one, that is, generally costlier items will be measured in smaller units, cheaper ones in larger units.
5. The unit of measurement may sometimes depend upon the unit for the raw material and/or labor and/or import­ant dimensions. For example, stone masonry is measured in cubic meters because raw materials are measured in cubic meters plastering or pointing is measured in square meters, as the labor is considerable.

The demand for Civil Engineering

Unlike many engineering branches, the demand for Civil Engineering has a direct relation with population growth. In fact, this is why Civil Engineering continues to be the largest engineering branch in terms of employment, compared with equally conventional branches like Mechanical Engineering or modern branches like Computer Science, which is mainly due to this direct relation with population growth. More people mean more apartments, and more people also eventually lead to a larger employee pool – thereby increasing both residential and commercial construction.

The demand for Civil Engineering also has a direct correlation with economic growth. This is because, periods of economic slowdown will leave no funds for infrastructure development, while periods of economic growth will provide surplus funds that will be gobbled up in no time by the pending infrastructure needs. In the coming years and decades, economic slowdowns will be better predicted, if not avoided, thanks to the better interventional strategies by institutions like the Federal Reserve. This will leave funds ever available for infrastructure development, and will generate steady demand for Civil Engineers in the coming years.

Most Civil Engineering projects like roads, bridges, tunnels, dams, railway lines, airports, seaports, water supplies, sewage systems, buildings, etc. are also heavy on maintenance and repair, and such regular work contributes to the great demand for Civil Engineers. The need for high-speed, highly-safe mass transportation systems like underground or undersea railways is another major driver for the advancement of Civil Engineering.

Civil Engineering of today is also a professionally satisfying career, with good salaries and technologically updated work. Though average salaries of Civil Engineers are not very high, many of them draw as much as US $95,000 and none of them draw below US $43,500. They also get to work in high-tech areas like earthquake-resistant designs, and make heavy use of tools like Computer Aided Design / Engineering (CAD/CAE).

Six Sigma Project Management

Six Sigma Project Management

Employing Six Sigma for the business environment is for achieving well-defined goals. The project selected for deploying Six Sigma is not self-sustaining and can develop tendencies to get off target following even the slightest let up in its management. The focus of the Six Sigma management committee is to steer the project implementation to meet those stated goals within budget and time constraints.

Six Sigma Project Management Stages

Project management in Six Sigma begins even before selecting a project. In the run up to the implementation, the right kinds of people, who have proven track records, are selected for Black Belt positions. Since Black Belts are the pillars of managing six sigma, it essential that candidates have proven qualities such as attention to detail, tendency toward problem solving and a proclivity for dedicated work.

Organizational clearances, essential for project implementation, have to be sorted out at this stage. Project selection that has a potential for a high payoff cannot be missed out on any account. For example, because of lack of funds or because of organizational stumbling blocks.

Defining Project Goals And ROI

Defining project goals and estimating pragmatic ROI is essential at this stage to set the course for project implementation and for bringing it back to course if an audit shows that deviations occurred during the implementation. This is really important – if deviations are missed it will produce endless financial and customer base losses to the company. Another key aspect is setting practical ROI targets without getting carried away. The bar shouldn’t be set too high and certainly what has not evolved from the “Voice of the Customer”.

Getting Down To Measurements

Measurements are the watchdogs of a project and demand total integrity. This is the area where Master Black Belts and Champions need to concentrate completely. Black Belts can encounter undesirable pressures for misrepresenting facts, which would otherwise expose a few poor performances.

Another issue that needs to be tackled is of a more serious nature. The consultant teams have their interests in keeping the project going on for as long as possible. This fact may be seen in the fact that Black Belts employed at the company do not measure up to the reputation of the consulting firm. From this point of view, it becomes important to double check and get back to the basics to negotiate the names of professionals who are going to be deployed.

Six Sigma Audit By Internal Committee

The internal audit committee must not the audit exercise lightly, as there is much at stake. The audit committee, besides inspecting process records and documented measurements, must place a lot of emphasis on interviewing the internal customers. The interviews should focus on finding the status of efforts at minimizing customer complaints. This is clearly an exercise of contrasting the condition ‘as is’ against ‘should be’, which is the goal. The Champion will then take over the matter for brainstorming with the Master Black Belts and Black Belts. The agenda of the brainstorming session should not deviate from discussing the findings of the audit committee

Roller Compacted Concrete RCC

Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) is, as it name implies, concrete compacted by roller. It is therefore differs from conventional concrete in its consistence as it must support rollers in its unhardened state.

The RCC concrete mix must be dry enough to prevent the sinking of the roller but wet enough to permit adequate distribution of the binder during mixing and compaction operations. The development of RCC has caused a major shift in the practice of constructing mass concrete dams which can now be finished as much as 1 to 2 years earlier than conventional mass concrete dams. Up tp 18 000 cubic meter of RCC can be placed in one day.

RCC is constructed similarly to layer-works in road construction and using similar equipment. RCC is placed using dump trucks or conveyors, spread by bulldozers or special modified asphalt pavers. Extenders are extensively used in RCC to reduce costs and to control temperature rises during hydration of cement. RCC is proportioned by using both soil compaction principle and basic concrete technology.

The first Roller Compacted Concrete RCC dam built in the USA was the Willow Creek Dam on Willow Creek, a tributary in Oregon of the Columbia River. RCC is also extensively used for concrete pavements, particular in Canada and Spain. Some low-volume roads have been build in South Africa.

Get more knowledge on RCC placement and other specifications for hydropower plants.