How do you make your case without seeming pushy or overstepping boundaries?

If this scenario sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Many engineers who excel at technical problem solving struggle with the interpersonal dynamics of “managing up,” a term that refers to the art of influencing superiors to make decisions that benefit both the project and the organization.

At CrossGroup, we’ve worked with hundreds of engineers who’ve transformed their ability to influence upward in their organizations. The key lies in genuine yet strategic relationship-building based on mutual benefit and genuine business value.

The Strategic Approach to Managing Up

Managing up effectively requires shifting from a transactional mindset (“I need something”) to a strategic one (“How can I help my boss be successful while achieving my goals?”). This approach builds on several key principles that we teach in our leadership development programs.

Step 1:  Keep Your Intent in Mind

Before any important conversation with your supervisor, examine your true motivation. Yes, you have personal reasons for your request, so list those honestly. But then dig deeper: How will your suggestion benefit your team, your boss, and the organization?

For example, if you’re requesting new project management software, don’t just focus on how it will make your life easier. Research how it could improve client satisfaction, reduce project delays, or enhance the firm’s competitive position. Until you can make a compelling business argument, you’re not ready for a productive discussion.

Step 2: Do Your Homework

Gather objective data to support your position. If you’re asking for additional staffing, research industry benchmarks for similar projects. If you’re proposing process improvements, quantify the potential time savings and quality improvements.

Step 3: Think Big Picture

Your boss operates within constraints and pressures you may not fully understand. Take time to learn about their priorities, concerns, and the challenges they face in their role. What keeps them up at night? What metrics do they need to improve? How does your request fit into their larger objectives?

Listen actively during your interactions. Ask questions like: “What are your main concerns about this approach?” or “How do you see this fitting with our Q4 priorities?” This demonstrates that you’re thinking beyond your immediate needs.

Step 4: Create Win-Win Scenarios

The most successful managing up conversations result in outcomes that benefit everyone involved. Frame your requests in terms of mutual success rather than personal gain.

Instead of: “I need more feedback on my performance.”

Try: “I’d like to discuss how regular check-ins might help me contribute more effectively to the team’s goals and support your objectives for the department.”

Instead of: “Can I get approval for this training?”

Try: “I’ve identified a skill development opportunity that could help me take on more complex projects and reduce the time you spend reviewing my work.”

Step 5: Master the Art of Strategic Conversation

When you’re ready for the discussion, approach it as a collaborative problem-solving session rather than a one-sided pitch. Come prepared with:

• Clear business rationale for your request
• Specific implementation ideas that show you’ve thought through the details
• Acknowledgment of potential concerns and proposed solutions
• Openness to alternative approaches that achieve similar outcomes

Real-World Application: A Case Study

Consider this example: James is a transportation engineer who needed approval for additional project resources. His initial instinct was to focus on his overwhelming workload, but our coaching helped him reframe the conversation around business impact.

His preparation included:

• Data on project timelines showing how current resource constraints were affecting delivery schedules
• Client satisfaction scores indicating that rushed deliverables were impacting relationships
• Competitive analysis showing how peer firms were handling similar projects
• Proposed resource allocation with specific ROI projections

When James met with his supervisor, he positioned the conversation around the firm’s strategic goals: maintaining excellent client relationships and delivering projects on time and within budget. The additional resources were focused on the firm’s reputation and competitive position.

Not only did James get the resources he requested, but his boss began involving him in higher-level strategic discussions, recognizing his ability to think beyond individual projects.

Building Long-Term Influence & Patience to Match

Effective managing up requires building sustained influence over time, including:

• Consistent follow-through on commitments you make during these discussions. If you promise to provide additional data or take specific actions, deliver promptly and thoroughly.
• Regular relationship maintenance through informal check-ins and status updates. Don’t only approach your boss when you need something.
• Demonstrated value through excellent work and proactive problem-solving. The best foundation for influence is a track record of reliable performance and valuable contributions.

Remember that difficult conversations rarely resolve in a single discussion. Your boss may need time to gather information, consult with others, or consider budget implications. Respect this process while maintaining appropriate follow-up.

Schedule next steps during your initial conversation: “I understand you’ll need time to review this with the team. Would it be helpful if I scheduled a follow up in two weeks?” This shows professionalism and maintains momentum without being pushy.

Your Influence Advantage

As an engineer, you have natural advantages in managing up that many other professionals lack. You’re trained in systematic problem-solving, data analysis, and logical reasoning. You understand the importance of thorough preparation and evidence-based decision-making.

Apply these same skills to your professional relationships. Approach managing up with the same methodical care you’d bring to a complex design challenge or technical analysis.

The goal isn’t to manipulate or pressure your boss into compliance. It’s to create conversations where business value is clear, mutual benefit is obvious, and decisions can be made confidently. When you master this approach, you’ll find that managing up becomes less about being pushy and more about being genuinely helpful to everyone involved.

Your technical expertise got you where you are today. But your ability to influence upward will determine where you go tomorrow. Start practicing these strategies in your next important conversation, and discover how much more effective you can become when you combine engineering precision with interpersonal skill.

Join us for our upcoming webinar: Leading Without Authority: 5 Ways Engineers Can Increase Impact in 30 Days. We’re hosting a free webinar for junior-level professionals at AEC firms on October 28th at 12:00 PM CST. Register here to save your seat!

This incisive grasp of the industry inspired us not only to interview Jake, but also to start a new series of posts we’re calling Industry Insights. Keep an eye out for future interviews featuring different perspectives on AEC and how the industry is navigating change and shaping the future. 

Here’s our interview with Jake:

Jake, thanks for talking with us. First of all, how would you describe SkillScout and your approach to recruiting? 

Skill Scout is a civil engineering and architecture-focused recruitment company that focuses on partnerships over transactional relationships. Our approach goes beyond getting a job description and searching through job boards for a match. Instead, we embed ourselves with our partners by meeting with employees at multiple levels to understand their culture, uncover the real reasons behind their openings, and highlight their unique strengths.

We find that identifying a hirable candidate for one of our partners is only a result of being an extension of their organization, not just an outside vendor.

What is unique about your experience and perspective?

What makes my perspective unique is my prior experience working inside a top civil engineering firm. That gave me firsthand insight into the nuances of why positions open up in the AEC industries, and how the right hire can shift a team’s trajectory. I bring that lens into recruiting, ensuring every search is informed by industry context rather than guesswork.

What insights can you share into industry trends and other issues impacting AEC firms’ recruiting efforts currently?

The TxDOT slowdown has put a lot of pressure on transportation-focused companies in Texas. The slowdown has given real insight into how critical diversification really is. Groups that have business lines in both aviation and land development have seen an uptick in work this year, which has consequentially resulted in an uptick in recruitment.

Beyond client/backlog demand, there are two major factors firms need to address to stay competitive in recruiting:

1. Compensation: Pay has always been a key driver in recruiting and retention, but the gaps I’m seeing now are wider than ever. For example, offers for mid-level licensed engineers can vary by as much as 25% between the low and high end. This creates a clear disconnect between general market salary data and what some firms are actually offering. With cumulative inflation from 2021 through August 2025 at 24%, offers that haven’t adjusted accordingly are often declined in favor of those that have.
2. Local vs. flexible hiring: Pre-pandemic, the standard approach in engineering was to hire staff directly into the office where they’d be working. On paper this makes sense, but in practice it slows projects down when talent in that specific geography is limited. The result becomes delayed schedules, work being turned down, and existing teams stretched too thin.

What’s different in 2025 is the rise of technology and workflows that make remote or satellite collaboration viable. The firms winning in recruitment are opening roles beyond just one office. For instance, if a client needs a Project Engineer in Houston, they’ll now consider candidates across all of their Texas offices. This widens the talent pool and increases the odds of finding someone who’s a strong technical and cultural fit.

What are the biggest recruitment and retention challenges firms are facing right now?

1. Industry Consolidation and Acquisitions: One of the biggest hurdles for small and mid-size firms is the uptick in acquisitions. Larger, national consultants often have the financial resources to outbid smaller firms when it comes to offers. This makes it difficult for independents and regional players to compete purely on salary or benefits. As a result, they must get creative- differentiating through culture, flexibility, career progression, or specialized project opportunities. You will also give yourself an advantage by having a more personalized and timely hiring process than the large consultant outfits- more on this below.
2. Licensure: Another issue I consistently hear from candidates is the challenge of pursuing licensure while meeting the demands of project work. Many motivated engineers want to earn their P.E., but the lack of time to properly prepare for the exam holds them back. For firms, this creates a bottleneck at the mid-senior level where licensed engineers are essential for project leadership. Supporting staff with study resources, mentorship, or time off to prepare can make a real difference in both retention and advancement.
3. Long Hiring Processes: Finally, one of the most immediate challenges is how drawn-out hiring processes turn top candidates away. We’ve all heard the sayings: “time kills all deals” and “strike while the iron’s hot.” There’s truth to these cliches. Candidates tell me things like:

• “It seems like they don’t really want me. They just want my technical skills.”
• “They seem unorganized, and it makes me less interested.”
• “They’re taking too long and might not even meet my expectations on salary or flexibility. I think I’ll pass.”

The fix to this is simple- define everything when hiring. A quick whiteboard session with your hiring authorities can save weeks of frustration and increase your chances of landing top talent. A few practical steps:

• Set a clear timeline. In my experience, 2-3 weeks is the sweet spot for most successful hires.
• Outline the process. Based on my 2025 offer data, firms are about 70% more likely to have offers accepted when their process includes at least two touchpoints between team leaders and staff.
• Establish a salary range. Transparency attracts talent. I consistently get more responses when salary ranges are included in outreach, which means more viable candidates for firms.
• Define the career path. Nobody wants to feel pigeonholed. The firms winning in today’s market are clear about what advancement looks like, and some even provide rough timelines for growth.

What matters most to top-level talent? Does it differ by generation or length of tenure?

Oftentimes, what matters to top-level talent changes as experience increases.

Entry-Level Engineers: Exploration

For those just starting their careers, the top priority is exploration. These engineers want exposure to multiple disciplines before committing to a single track. I regularly speak with young engineers who accepted their first job without giving much thought to specialization, only to realize later that another discipline might be a better fit. The earlier they’re given the opportunity to rotate through different types of work, the more likely they are to find the right fit and stick with an employer long term.

Midlevel and Mid-Senior Engineers: Compensation, Benefits, Flexibility

As engineers move into their late 20s and 30s, their priorities shift. This is often the stage where they’re buying homes, starting families, or taking on bigger financial responsibilities.

At this point, competitive compensation packages, strong benefits, and workplace flexibility become the deciding factors. A supportive environment that allows them to balance professional growth with personal responsibilities can make all the difference in retention. Firms that recognize this balance stand out in a competitive market.

Senior-Level Engineers: Leadership and Legacy

For senior professionals, the focus shifts again. At this stage, it’s more about impact. Senior engineers want a seat at the table. They’re seeking opportunities to lead regional teams, shape strategy, and leave a legacy within the organization. Many are motivated by the chance to mentor younger engineers and take on firm-wide or region-wide leadership roles. Recognition, influence, and the ability to contribute to long-term organizational direction often outweigh other considerations.

To learn more about Jake’s services and SkillScout, LLC, email jbosley@skillscoutllc.com, follow Jake on LinkedIn or visit skillscoutllc.com.

Interested in learning more about how CrossGroup can help you develop your people? Follow us on LinkedIn to be notified about our next event! 

1. Reframe Conflict.

At its core, conflict arises from differences in perspectives, ideas, and approaches. These differences, when acknowledged and addressed, can lead to better decision-making and problem-solving. When team members engage in healthy debate, they bring their unique insights to the table, challenging assumptions and pushing each other to think differently. This diversity of thought is invaluable in today’s complex business environment, where agility, efficiency and creativity are key to staying competitive.

2. Make it safe.

Healthy conflict starts with fostering open communication and mutual respect. Team members should feel comfortable expressing their opinions without fear of judgment or reprisal. As a leader, it’s essential to set the tone by demonstrating active listening and a willingness to consider different viewpoints. It’s equally important to set an example by encouraging your team to challenge your ideas and give you honest feedback. This creates a safe space for productive dialogue to flourish.

3. Establish conflict norms.

Teams should establish norms for managing conflict before it arises. Do we have differing personal or cultural perspectives on conflict? Is it ok to raise our voices? Use strong language or sarcasm? We might agree to use facts to support our arguments, focus on one problem at a time, and strive for win-win solutions whenever possible. By providing structure around conflict, you empower team members to navigate disagreements and buy into team decisions without reservation.

4. Build a feedback culture.

Effective leaders create an environment where ideas are rigorously scrutinized while the individuals presenting them are respected. These leaders go first by putting their own ideas up for review, asking for candid comments, and acting on the feedback they receive. They may even mine for conflict by asking questions like, “What is one way you’d argue against this idea?” or “If you were the client, how would you poke holes in this proposal?” When we’re comfortable giving and receiving feedback, we welcome others’ ideas as tools to sharpen our own.

4. Strike a balance.

Some of us avoid conflict (flight) while others attack (fight). Both tendencies can harm relationships and kill good ideas. Avoiding conflict allows resentments to fester, while personal attacks put everyone on the defensive. The leader’s job is to carve a middle path: Ask those who always speak up first to hold back until others have spoken, or to elicit feedback from quieter colleagues. Encourage quiet team members to play devil’s advocate or make an agreement that everyone present in a meeting will share their honest opinion. When the extremes are kept in check, conflict stays constructive.

In conclusion, remember that while conflict in the workplace may initially seem disruptive or uncomfortable, it has the potential to drive performance and boost productivity. By fostering a culture of open communication and mutual respect, leaders can encourage healthy conflict within teams. Embracing diversity of thought and providing structured guidelines for conflict resolution are also key in creating an environment where productive conflict can thrive. Ultimately, by viewing conflict as an opportunity rather than a threat, organizations can harness its power to achieve greater collaboration, creativity and success.

Most leaders are aware of the importance of emotional intelligence, but often focus their efforts solely on cultivating their personal “EQ.” Imagine how much more impactful we could be by building the emotional intelligence of our entire team! Emotionally intelligent teams inspire high levels of employee engagement and loyalty. They also get better, faster results.

Here are two research-based strategies to help you grow your team’s emotional intelligence:

1. Assess your team’s baseline and build trust.

How would you gauge your team’s current EQ? It’s tempting to think that an emotionally intelligent team is one on which everyone keeps their head down, focuses on their own work, and quietly gets along. Think again. Many such teams have a case of what Patrick Lencioni calls “artificial harmony.” That is, team members go along to get along, and are either fearful of speaking up or don’t care enough to do so.

A better measurement of emotional intelligence is how comfortable team members are disagreeing with each other or offering out-of-the-box solutions to problems. Teams who trust each other express opinions, ask questions, take risks, and own up to mistakes without fearing that they’ll be punished or humiliated. A climate of trust means your team has your back, so you can push yourself out of your comfort zone and encourage others to do the same.

To start building trust on your team:

• Get familiar with your team members’ personal histories, passions, values and motivations beyond their career goals. Talk about them during both informal and formal 1:1s.
• Create opportunities for team members to share their personal histories and passions with each other (for example, by taking turns planning team-building activities that reflect their backgrounds or interests).
• Model genuine vulnerability, curiosity, and openness.
• Use your own mistakes as learning opportunities for the team.
• Be honest about and request your team’s feedback on the areas in which you are striving to grow as a leader.

2. Improve your team meetings.

Meetings offer an invaluable window into how well a team works together. Are your team meetings boring? Does one person tend to dominate the discussion? Are there a few quiet folks who never speak up? Is it always up to you to keep things moving? Honest answers to these questions will likely reveal at least one or two growth areas. Meetings are the perfect place to plant seeds of emotional intelligence by encouraging openness, building trust, and engaging in constructive conflict.

When you’re aware of the specific issues you want to address, consider creative solutions. For example, to avoid artificial harmony, ask team members to play devil’s advocate and argue against an idea they would otherwise support. If one person always speaks up first and loudest, ask them to use their voice to solicit feedback from the quieter team members. If you run every meeting, start rotating leadership duties among all members. Other EQ-boosting meeting strategies include:

• Start meetings with a simple icebreaker that creates personal connection (A few examples: “What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?” “What’s one personal or professional win you’ve experienced since our last meeting?”)
• In virtual meetings, ask team members to agree to a “cameras on and no multitasking” policy.
• Rotate one person in the role of note-taker during meetings to free up other team members to be fully engaged (The authors of Emotional Intelligence 2.0 argue that note-taking causes us to “miss the critical clues that shed some major light on how others are feeling or what they may be thinking.”)
• Create space for team members to appreciate each other’s contributions out loud.
• As trust grows on your team, model and encourage the sharing of honest feedback, mistakes, and lessons learned from failures. This paves the way for teams to hold each other mutually accountable.

In Conclusion…

Emotionally intelligent teams are effective, productive, and even fun. But the best news about emotional intelligence is that it’s contagious. Leaders who model behaviors and implement strategies like these will see results: teams who trust each other and feel safe and supported challenging themselves and others to grow. Investing in your team’s emotional intelligence might just be the most impactful leadership decision you make.

Maybe it’s a top-tier athletic coach, or someone who coached you as a youth. Maybe you’ve received skillful coaching from a work supervisor or mentor. Whatever the context, all great coaches invest time and energy in developing the skills and confidence of others. They excel at cultivating the potential of individuals and teams. The mission of a great coach is to help others succeed.

Watching a great coach in action is inspiring, but it’s not always easy to translate their techniques into actionable steps that help us lead better at work. We’re busy. Our teams are complex, and our goals aren’t as black-and-white as the numbers on a scoreboard. But I believe all great coaches have four skills in common, and any leader can level up their own coaching game by putting them into practice:

1. Start with your own mindset.

Employees naturally look to their manager to set the tone for the team. Do you blame and complain, or take ownership? Is it a crisis or an opportunity? When you make a mistake, do you cover it up or honestly put it out there as an example for the whole team to learn from? Your attitude about questions like these is contagious, which means your own mindset can be your greatest asset. Be honest with your self-assessment. By virtue of your position as a leader, your influence is magnified. If you project a negative, disengaged, or victimhood mindset, it will spread to those you lead. But if you are genuinely curious, growth-oriented, and solutions-driven, those qualities will become the team’s gold standard.

2. Ask more and better questions.

Think of the last time someone asked you a good question–one that made you stop and think. Questions do more than elicit information. They can build trust, spark creative ideas, mine for conflict, and prompt honest self-assessment and feedback. To ask more and better questions, first cultivate genuine curiosity and then plan your questions accordingly. If you think you already know the answer, ask yourself, Do I really? What could I be missing? Challenge yourself to convert yes/no questions into more thoughtful, open-ended questions. Pick an unexpected icebreaker to start your next meeting. Finally, put Michael Bungay Stanier’s seven key questions from The Coaching Habit into rotation when you dialogue with team members. They can be used to set up almost any coaching conversation for success.

3. Give frequent informal feedback.

Have you ever watched an elite coach make multiple, tiny adjustments to an athlete’s stance? Dramatic improvements in performance require focused attention and continuous feedback. Similarly, annual performance reviews are not sufficient feedback for anyone who truly wants to grow, and those are the only people you want on your team. Emotional intelligence researcher Daniel Goleman says that leaders who excel at coaching engage in steady, informal dialogue with employees about their performance and goals. This provides employees with clarity about what’s expected of them and how their tasks support the overall vision or strategy. They trust that they’ll receive timely, helpful feedback as they stretch themselves, which builds confidence. Best of all, the support of continuous feedback increases commitment. Goleman says, “(The) implicit message is, ‘I believe in you, I’m investing in you, and I expect your best efforts.’ Employees often rise to that challenge with their heart, mind, and soul.”[1]

4. Take the training wheels off and let go.

Remember that the number one goal of a great coach is to help others succeed. As you build your team members’ skills and confidence, they grow in their capacity to perform independently, and perhaps even to surpass you in certain skills or accomplishments. It challenges many of us–who have spent years, if not decades, refining processes and becoming subject matter experts–to let go and trust our team to get the job done without us. Other managers are beloved because they are always there, providing solutions, expert advice, and a path forward, but that’s helicopter management, not coaching. Coaches use a technique called scaffolding to gradually remove support and guidance as team members become more competent. A similar approach allows managers to plan work assignments that engage their teams in continuous learning.

So ask yourself… Am I a model of the mindset I want my team to embody? Am I asking questions that dig deeper? Am I giving the kind of feedback that inspires growth, confidence, and commitment? And finally, am I cultivating team players who will eventually be able to get results without me? These four aims are the ultimate measure of a great coach.

[1]  Goleman, Daniel. “Leadership that Gets Results.” Harvard Business Review, March-April 2000.