“No, Grandma, I’m sure you didn’t turn off the Internet.” This sentence was repeatedly used as a joke and shows us one thing: digitalization is new and different. There are people who have to get used to this change. The same applies to managers: They have to learn how to use digital media properly in order to delegate tasks to employees.

Leadership in the digital world

Digitization offers many tools for distributing information and documenting project progress. However, these should not be misused one-sidedly as control instruments or tempt to constantly distribute messages thoughtlessly.

Rather, the digital leader should use the distance to enable freedom and scope. If you don’t keep a cool head as a manager here, you not only deprive your employees of growth opportunities, you also massively disrupt their work.

A good TEAM is unbeatable – this is true and applies everywhere: Whether in sports, politics or in the company – good teams perform and strive for more! So it’s no wonder that the ability to work in a team is advertised, desired and coveted in any job advertisement. But often the desire is the father of the thought. The reality in many companies is quite different: Everyone thinks (only) of himself, a common goal is not pursued or only very insufficiently pursued. What needs to be done together in today’s world?

High-performance teams are good role models because they have special characteristics:

• The team members are aligned to the goals to be achieved together.
• The distribution of roles and tasks is based on skills and strengths
• The relationships of the team members are characterized by respect, esteem, and trust.
• The team members have developed accepted rules of conduct and adhere to them.

The question for any responsible leader is: How do I turn a group into a team with the above characteristics? Team development is one of the greatest challenges for companies because the overall clout is determined by the quality of the cooperation between the people involved. Exaggerated individualism and blind individualism do immense damage. The performance and the will to perform of most employees depend to a large extent on the conditions of the respective working environment and on the nature and quality of the relationships with the immediate colleagues.

Social competence is often regarded as secondary by technical professionals. Expertise, quality awareness, methodical project skills, perseverance and as much attention to detail as possible are high on the course and that’s a good thing. However, technical competence alone is no longer enough to compete in the fast-moving world of development. More than ever the ability to deal with oneself (time, goal and self-management) and others (communication and conflict, customer orientation, cooperation, leadership, etc.) is part of the requirement profile of the modern development engineer. This is precisely where typical fields of learning for technical professionals lie.

Nearly all markets in the automotive, mechanical and plant engineering and IT sectors present the following picture:

• Developments have to be made overnight
• in interdisciplinary teams
• in international composition
• in close communication and
• close cooperation with the customer

Due to the dynamics of international economic and social developments, the pace and the associated pressure to perform on the project staff involved will continue to increase in the future.

“We have always done it this way,” is the safest way to lose customers. The demands on innovation and flexibility of the people involved are immense. If the development engineers lack self-management and communication and negotiation skills, some projects are mercilessly put on the short side. The central success factors are the cooperation in the project team as well as the communication quality with the customers.