As with most things in CAD management, you need to balance the needs of your company against the realities of the environment you work in and do the best you can.. Figure 5.1 The wide va
Trang 1Documenting What You’ve Found
As you outline your processes and make decisions about 2D and 3D tools, it’s criticalthat you write down what you learn and change your standards accordingly I thinkyou’ll find that your CAD standards will need to be rewritten—and as CAD manager,that responsibility will fall to you I recommend that you combine your existing CADstandards with some of your new multi-CAD standards findings, like optimal usage of2D or 3D for a given process, 2D/3D interface points, and visualization tool file types
As you do so, keep these ideas in mind:
Standards should support needs Your new CAD standards should support the new
2D/3D processes and software tools you’ve discussed with your power-user panel Now isn’t the time to create new standards or complexities; write the minimal stan-dards required to support your needs
Standard should address 2D and 3D tools Be specific about which tasks will utilize
what software tools, and make this part of your standards It’s pointless to decide whatsoftware tool is best suited for a process if you don’t standardize the procedures fordoing so
Control 3D just as you would 2D Just because you have 3D software tools doesn’t
mean your users should be able to run roughshod over you and model things howeverthey like Write your 3D CAD standards the same way you would for 2D
Make it simple Although a multi-CAD environment may seem complicated, your
stan-dards should make it seem simple Period
Keep management in the loop Senior management probably doesn’t need to read every
paragraph of your multi-CAD standard, but they should see an executive-level summary
of what you’re doing and why you’re doing it
Standards Enforcement via Management
In Chapter 3’s section “Explaining Standards to Management,” I talked about how tointroduce the idea of standards to your management team If you haven’t read this sec-tion of the book, do so now, because getting management to help you enforce CADstandards assumes that you’ve already introduced the idea of standards
The key concepts that management needs to understand are as follows:
• Standards make processes consistent
• Consistency allows automation
• Therefore, standards save money
Trang 2When management understands that your attempt to control the CAD place with standards can save them money, they’ll become interested in the concept!
work-If you don’t believe me on this point, go to management, explain the previous bullet
items, and watch how the tone of your conversation changes
Now you should connect the lack of standards compliance in your office to aloss of money In essence, you need to give management sample cases where poor
standards led to lost money Here are a few examples you can use as a starting point:
Printing/plotting problems Bring up an example of how plotting various sets of
draw-ings took hours rather than minutes because layering, border, and color standards
weren’t in place during the creation of drawing sets Then, take a conservative estimate
of wasted man-hours and multiply by your average hourly labor cost to get a valid cost
number
Temporary labor problems How long does it take you to get a new temporary CAD
technician up to speed on your drawing practices? How much is that costing in lost
productivity for your company? Wouldn’t a firm set of CAD standards cut through all
this uncertainty? You can demonstrate costs in this area by taking the number of
train-ing hours it takes to orient a new employee times the labor rate times the number of
new employees in a given year If you use temporary labor, you may be able to justify
CAD standardization on this cost savings alone
Lack of automation possibilities Which manual processes in your company (like
plot-ting) could you automate if your CAD standards made all your drawings perfectly
consistent? This is a powerful argument with upper management because automating
mundane processes would allow their employees to do higher quality work (and more
of it)
Inconsistent look and feel Most CAD managers can produce several different sets of
drawings done by different vendors, engineers, and drafters that don’t look anything
alike If you throw three drawings on a conference table in front of project/engineering
management and confront them with this reality, they’ll see that standardization would
produce a more uniform look for the company’s drawing product Placing a dollar
value on the look and feel issue is tough, but the psychology is a powerful motivator
Getting Help with Enforcement
Now that management understands how CAD standards can enhance productivity and
how much money they’re losing because of the lack of standards, you need to ask for
their help in enforcing CAD standards By asking for help, you send the message to
management that you’re trying to save them money but that you need their political
clout to do so When management can save money, they’ll be willing to back you up
Trang 3Figure 4.9 By placing management in the standards-enforcement loop and making their motivation financial, the CAD manager
can focus on crafting optimal CAD standards instead of enforcement
Ask for help by making the following arguments to management:
Users will listen to management Because the CAD manager isn’t the boss of most
users, enforcement is lacking When management speaks out on standards, everyonehas to listen
All you need is management clout The CAD manager will formulate the standards,
teach the standards, and enforce the standards All upper management has to do isthrow their support behind the CAD manager—no extra work is imposed on uppermanagement
It’s the cheapest way to gain savings By helping the CAD manager enforce standards,
the company can gain a great return on investment in terms of savings
You should leave the discussion with full management support to implementstandards and the assurance that swift support for enforcement will be forthcoming ifyou experience any problems Put out a memo to all users explaining management’sinvolvement in enforcement, or have a meeting with management present if need be.The point is that everyone should now know the vigor with which standards will beenforced Take these steps, and watch how user adherence to standards changes for the better!
Bringing It All Together
Now that you’ve demonstrated how well standards can solve problems and make yourcompany more efficient, don’t lose momentum Talk with management and make surethey know the success you’re having with your new emphasis on standards Don’t bebashful in advertising what you’ve been able to achieve, and be sure to point out anycost savings you’ve gained
Other Company (or department)
Internal/External CAD Standard
Management Enforcement (Financially Motivated)
CAD Work (any platform)
CAD Work (any platform)
Your Company (or one department)
Communication Barrier
Trang 4I’ve covered a tremendous amount of material in this chapter, but that’s becausethe topic of standards is complex As with most things in CAD management, you need
to balance the needs of your company against the realities of the environment you
work in and do the best you can
By using the topics I’ve covered, you should be able to figure out what type ofstandards (vendor, client, multi-CAD) you need and then utilize the existing standards
available to you (AIA, NCS) to craft a great first cut at a company standard Moving
forward, you should constantly re-evaluate your company’s needs and environment
and revise your standards accordingly
CAD standards are never complete because processes and procedures around theoffice are always changing Even if you totally standardize your company’s processes,
sooner or later the software you use will change enough to trigger CAD standards
changes Stay on top of things, and never stop striving to build a better standard
Trang 6Training, Hiring, and Managing Users
Probably nothing else you do determines your success more than the way you manage and train your CAD users Even though the users you man- age and train may not always be your direct staff, you’re responsible for achieving the highest level
of productivity possible for those users You’ll also find, from time to time, that you need to manage their behavior even if they’re not under your direct charge For example, enforcing stan- dards is one case in which you, the CAD man- ager, must lead, but not everybody who needs to follow those standards reports to you.
5
Trang 7Figure 5.1 The wide variety of users you’ll hire and manage means you need to constantly adjust and revise your training
methods
Throughout this chapter, I’ll pass along tips about how I’ve used different ing methods and skills diagnostics to get my people to perform at a top level and,therefore, to ease the burden of managing them over time
train-Training Methodology
Today, CAD managers have a wide variety of training methods at their disposal Nosingle method is better than any other except one: the school of hard knocks, whichwe’ll discuss later I’ll address the various types of training methods in common use and explain each one’s strengths and weaknesses You can draw your own conclusionsabout which methods make more sense for you based on your operating environmentand your users:
Method 1: Traditional classroom training In many cases, traditional classroom
train-ing is a process in which you send your CAD users to an external traintrain-ing providersuch as a CAD reseller This method offers you the advantage of not having to performthe training yourself, thus preserving your time for other tasks But it comes at a rela-tively high price
Trang 8Remember that whenever you send people to an external training class, the price includes
not only what it costs to send them to the training but also the work time they miss
Because lost productivity is the number-one cost associated with external or classroom
training, upper management may be skeptical about approving this method of training
Even when management does support classroom training, they will take keen note of
user non-productivity while the class is run
Method 2: Leading your own in-house training As with the first method, when you
conduct your own internal training classes, you have the traditional instructor–student
paradigm in which you lead CAD users through a training program that you’ve prepared
What changes is that your specific knowledge of your users’ strengths and weaknesses
should allow you to produce training that is highly targeted and minimally invasive
with respect to the users’ time
While leading your in-house training, you’re responsible for producing trainingmaterials and for the instruction time Users will lose productivity time just as they
would if they were at an external classroom The real advantage is that when you lead
your own internal training, you can focus tightly on the topics that are being covered
and produce that training in incremental chunks of time—not necessarily entire
instruc-tional days, which helps users stay on schedule with regular work activities
Particular examples of in-house training methods are lunch-and-learns In theseone-hour sessions, information is delivered during a lunch break, thus converting
employee spare time (lunch) into a training activity and keeping overhead low Most
management teams prefer this short-burst in-house training because of its minimal
impact on employee time It does take time for you to prepare materials for a
lunch-and-learn, but the time regained by training users during their lunch keeps the overall
cost to the company minimal
Method 3: Computer-based training Increasingly, this type of training is delivered via
CD, DVD, or the Internet with some sort of interactive instruction Students work
through lessons at their own pace These courses are usually indexed and divided into
small chunks of learning, not exceeding 5 to 10 minutes each They’re a good way for
motivated users who will study on their own to learn material at a pace and on a
time-line that makes sense for them, without any involvement from you
Because users can take computer-based training materials home with them, usethem on lunch break, or use otherwise idle periods of time to train, little lost produc-
tivity time is associated with computer-based training Even in cases where a user trains
during otherwise billable time, there is no instructor cost because the CAD manager
doesn’t have to run the training
The only downside to computer-based training materials is that you, the CADmanager, can’t see how well the user is learning or what they’re having trouble with
But given the many benefits, computer-based training delivers great benefits; and you
can always check in with a user to see how they’re doing after the fact
Trang 9Figure 5.2 Different training methods work best in varying environments Here’s a representation of which methods work best
versus the structure required and sizes of groups being trained
Method 4: Traditional books and handout materials In this learning paradigm, the
user is expected to pick up a book or custom-prepared handout and learn from it Myexperience has shown that most users today are more receptive to computer-basedtraining that allows them to watch the lesson, but some users learn well from writtenmaterials Whether a user prefers books, handouts, or computer-based training islargely a matter of personal preference that you’ll need to observe to get an accurategauge However, written materials, whether you purchase them or produce them your-self, are a great adjunct to traditional classroom training
For example, if you run a lunch-and-learn on a specific topic, you should probablysupplement that class with some sort of written material to reinforce your instruction.The important aspect of traditional printed materials is that the user can take themaway from the training to reference as needed later Even in cases where you don’t trainusers directly from written materials, you should still use them to cross-reference or rein-force other training
Note: Publish your training handouts in a secure digital form like Adobe PDF, and place them in a work location available to all users.That way, you’ll build an electronic library of training materials for thosewho may have missed a session
net-Large Groups
Self Learner
Learning Style
More Instruction More Book/DVD
Classroom Learner
Small Groups
Single Users
Hybrid
Instructor Training
Books/DVDs
Trang 10Method 5: Learning by the school of hard knocks Unfortunately, this method is still
the most prevalent in the CAD world Typically, this type of training puts a user in a
situation in which they don’t know what they’re doing—you turn them loose to figure
out what to do Although users do learn in this scenario, it’s the least efficient training
method because in order to learn, the user has to ask a co-worker or the CAD manager
for help This results in an interruption in productivity for both people
Doesn’t it make sense to train people by showing them the right way to dothings rather than turning them loose and hoping they’ll figure it out? I mention
this method because it’s so prevalent, yet few people stop to think about the wasted
productivity it causes No matter how many users you have, and no matter what
their learning styles are, the school of hard knocks is the least effective way to teach
anybody anything
Sorting Out the Methods
If you put all these methods together, you’ll see a mixed palette of ways that you can
deal with user training I encourage you to think about your user base from a
stand-point of how many users you have, how they seem to learn best, and how self-directed
they are Having put in some thought, you can draw conclusions about the best
method-ologies Here are a few brief examples so you can get a feel for what I mean:
Many users who aren’t self learners If you have a relatively high number of users who
seem to need classroom instruction to understand what’s being taught, you should use
the traditional classroom methodology Doing so allows you to lead users through an
aggressive training program on a fixed timeline, thus forcing users who don’t self-learn
to absorb the material presented
Smaller groups of those who self learn fairly well If you have smaller groups of users
who learn a bit more on their own but still need interaction and a classic training
envi-ronment, consider leading your own shorter-format courses I’ve found lunch-and-learn
style training programs to be effective in these environments because you have an
instructor-led training method presented in short segments
Highly motivated self learners or small offices If you have users who are self-directed,
or if you have a small staff and therefore can’t realize the economies of training many
users at once, look at more computer-based training or one-on-one tutelage
Now that you have some guidelines for what methods work in what ments, I encourage you to map out the best training methods for your users, decide
environ-who will present the training (you or a professional trainer), and get a preliminary
training schedule in place Taking these steps will help optimize the training process,
deliver training to your users in the manner best for them, and minimize the time
demands on you
Trang 11Building a Training Plan
What should you teach your users? This is an excellent question that merits some realthought After all, if you don’t plan what you’ll teach your users, you can’t be sure ofachieving the productivity-boosting results your users desire and your managementteam desperately wants Some CAD managers perform major training tasks like prod-uct version upgrades, new features coverage, employee training, and so on For thesemanagers, it becomes imperative to deliver training efficiently so they aren’t boggeddown to the point that the rest of their job suffers Other CAD managers have to per-form a patchwork quilt of training that embraces coverage of standards, common com-pany procedures, lunch-and-learn topics, and so on
It’s imperative that you figure out what your training program will consist ofand what type of trainer you need to be to meet the demands Although figuring outwhat you’ll train is a task in and of itself, I’ve found that the delivery of training isessentially the same no matter what the content is Therefore, I’ll pass along tips thatare helpful for everyone and highlight specifics for varying types of training environ-ments as I go
Figure 5.3 Training based on job need is directly proportional to productivity gained.
Identifying Training Needs
Once you’ve received support for a training program, you need to develop your list oftraining objectives and prioritize them How do you know what topics to train users
on, and how do you prioritize those topics?
The first place to look for training topics is in your e-mail inbox Search throughyour e-mails, and take the time to identify what sorts of questions you’re being asked
If the number-one user question you receive is how to use your company’s external erence file (XREF) standards, then a tutorial on the proper use of XREFs should be thefirst training class you run If the next most popular question is how to access a partic-ular plotting device, that tells you what your second training class should be Analyzing
ref-Everything from start to finish
Best Standards Usage Task Trained
Trang 12your training needs based on questions from users is a blessing in disguise because
you’re taking the time to see what confuses your users, which in turn should give you
keen insight into how to improve your procedures and standards as you train
You’ll most likely notice that the training topics you compile have a close lation to how people work with CAD tools in your environment The question won’t
corre-be, “What is an XREF?” but rather, “How do I use XREFs on a given project to meet
our CAD standards?” Note the distinction between these two questions: Your training
challenge becomes teaching people how to use CAD tools in your particular
environ-ment rather than a generic usage of a given set of commands
Connecting Training and Standards
Whenever you perform any sort of training, you can best emphasize concepts by
relat-ing examples in your trainrelat-ing program to their use in your operatrelat-ing environment One
powerful way to do this is to demonstrate your use of standards in all training exercises
Here are a few examples you can use:
• If you’re showing users how to properly attach, scale, and XCLIP an external
reference in AutoCAD, make note of your company standards and use an actualXREF that users see in their daily routine
• If you have custom programs in your CAD environment that staff can use to
ease standards usage, demonstrate those programs in training exercises
• If you invoke standards via startup files or automated configurations, point them
out at the beginning of your training exercises
• In all cases, take a few minutes to explain why standards are important, and
solicit user questions on standards
The end result should be that users learn the right way to do things (via dards), why it’s important to do things the right way, and how you’re helping them to
stan-do this You may find that a conversation about standards will start to happen between
you and your users, allowing you to tap into their expertise and debug your own
stan-dards More on that in the next section
Figure 5.4 The inclusion of standards in your software training program teaches good habits from the beginning and prevents
nonstandard habits from taking root
Task Trained
Seen as one continuous process
Software Skills
Standards Emphasis
Excellent Results
Trang 13Fixing Processes/Standards (If Required)
If your list of training topics or classroom experience indicates that inability to hend standards is the number-one cause of confusion in your company, it may be time
compre-to examine your standards Botcompre-tom line: If it’s hard for you compre-to train people on how compre-touse a feature, imagine how hard it will be for users to learn that feature
You may find that embarking on a training program will give you a great tunity to update and tweak company standards and procedures Because your trainingprogram is supposed to raise user productivity and cause minimal intrusion on workschedules, everyone involved should support your desire to simplify work processes viatraining
oppor-Delivering Your Own Training
Many CAD managers I know are pressed into delivering their own training classes.Whether on a regular basis or periodically, doing your own training requires prepara-tion and discipline but can reward you many times over in the form of smarter, savvierusers No two CAD managers run training the same way, but good self-delivered train-ing programs have some elements in common that are worth covering
Prepare with Good Materials
Running a training class without training materials is, in my experience, a waste oftime Because most people don’t take good notes during a class, it becomes the instruc-tor’s responsibility to provide a handout or workbook that chronicles the training Assoon as someone walks out of a training class, the only resources they have to fall back
on are their memory and the handouts you provide
Because I’ve advocated targeted training that solves your company’s specificproblems, it becomes obvious that you can’t go to Borders and buy a training work-book for your company That means you must create your own training materials.Before you panic, I’d like to give you some suggestions for creating quality handoutmaterials in an easy manner You don’t need anything other than your CAD applicationand a good word-processing tool to build your own training materials:
Get the software Purchase some software tools to help compile, record, and publish your
training materials My favorite tools are Camtasia Studio and SnagIt, both from smith Software (www.techsmith.com) Camtasia Studio essentially functions as an audio/video recorder for your computer, allowing you to create your own voice-annotated videosegments to use in training environments The companion SnagIt utility provides ultimateflexibility in capturing still graphics from your screen, such as dialog boxes or cascadingmenus that you can then easily paste into word-processing applications
Tech-Both these tools have a free downloadable test version that you can use to gaugehow well they’ll work for you
Trang 14Create some basic examples Conceptualize what you’ll be teaching, and then come up
with example files you can use to illustrate/demonstrate the concept Don’t worry about
anything polished at this point; just make sure you can convey the information to your
students with the example files you created
Rehearse and record Turn on Camtasia Studio, put on your headset microphone, and
record your presentation as you run through your lesson just as if you were conducting
a training class If you flub up, don’t worry—keep going as if you were in a real class
I recommend taking a laptop into a conference room or working at home so you won’t
have to deal with phone interruptions while recording your lessons When you’re done,
save the file so you can find it later
Create written handouts Using your recorded presentation as a guide, open your
word-processing program and then work through your lesson, transcribing your text and
capturing graphics into the open document Don’t forget to save often! Don’t worry
about spelling or polished formatting; just get the content into your word-processing
document
Polish and finalize Finish your handout by spell-checking, adjusting syntax, and
for-matting your document to make it look good Do several printouts, and keep adjusting
the handout until you’re happy with it Congratulations—you’re finished
As you create training materials, always strive for concise wording, illustrativescreen captures, and clean layout as the most important attributes If your materials are
easy to read and visually rich, people will look forward to attending your training
Delivering Training
Now that you know what topics you’ll be training on, and you have your materials,
you have to deploy your training program using either formal instructor-led training
sessions or informal meetings like lunch-and-learn sessions I recommend the following
steps to make your training sessions go smoothly:
Figure 5.5 Training requires
a mix of written, verbal, andvideo presentation techniques
to achieve maximum hension Keeping these threecomponents in balance istough but essential
Written materials
Instructor-led training
Audio/Video reinforcement
Trang 15Prepare yourself Do a private rehearsal of the key points of your training so you’ll be
more on top of the details and less nervous Even short periods of preparation time willgive you a noticeably easier style of delivery when you enter the classroom
Also make sure to run through any training examples you’ll use to be sure theywork Nothing is more embarrassing than leading a training class with exercises thatdon’t work for the user Make going through your training exercises part of your class-room preparation
Keep it brief Allocate the time you’ll need to train any given topic, and allow only a
short period of time for questions In cases like lunch-and-learns, you’ll be restricted to
a known period of time; but in other cases, it’s key to avoid the “never-ending trainingsession” where questions abound and you can’t escape the training room
Use a good projector I’ve learned there’s no way to train without showing people what
you’re doing A picture is worth a thousand words, and a good data projector withgood resolution and brightness is the only way to go By showing the user the exactsequence of steps in the exact CAD software they’ll be using, they’ll see what theyshould be doing rather than interpreting those steps from a book
Don’t own a projector? Buy one! Look at the money you’re saving your pany on training classes—that alone should foot the bill
com-Have your materials ready Don’t start training until you have the materials copied,
bound, and ready, and the software you’ll be teaching users about installed Give ahandout to each user as they enter the room, and take the opportunity to welcomethem to the training
Insist on timeliness Set a starting time, and stick to it Late arrivers should be expected
to make up for lost time on their own Set the tone that training is valuable and so isyour time as the instructor
Have their undivided attention Insist on cell phones off, IM clients off, no checking
e-mail, and so on If a student wants to surf eBay or IM their colleagues, why are they
in class in the first place? Again, set the tone that training is time well spent before youstart your lesson
Have a sign-in sheet This documents who was there and who wasn’t It also makes it
easy to spot those who say they want training but don’t show up for it You’ll also
be able to demonstrate to your management that people are coming to your trainingsessions
Have an evaluation sheet This way, you know how you did, how you can get better,
and who stayed to the end of class! You can make your own evaluation sheet any wayyou like, but ask the following questions at minimum:
What was most helpful to you?
What topics could be covered better?