Cadalyst - July 2008 - (Page 33)

cadmanager By Robert Green Gaining Independence and Influence Obtaining the trust and support of your users will enable you to gain the latitude to operate as you choose. o matter how many users you support or CAD programs you work with, every CAD manager can beneﬁt from having more inﬂuence over his or her CAD environment and more independence in which to operate. After all, the more independence you gain, the greater latitude you’ll have to pursue new technologies, create timesaving processes for your users, and inﬂuence your company’s productivities, right? So how do you set a course to achieve more independence and attain the influence that great CAD managers want? I’ll endeavor to answer that question in this month’s column. N Users and Management The blunt truth is that CAD managers must serve two distinct groups: CAD users and senior management. Many times you may feel it impossible to serve both well, but that’s not the case if you plan carefully. For most CAD managers, serving the relatively technical needs of users comes more naturally, so let’s begin the quest by setting priorities that will help to gain credibility and influence with users. Then, as mastery of the technical or user side of the CAD management task becomes natural, you’ll complete your acquisition of independence by tackling the long-range priorities your management cares about. Only by approaching the CAD management job in this progressive manner can you build the grass-roots user support you’ll need to impress your management. Influence over CAD Users To wield influence in your company, you need to show your users that you know what you’re doing and that you’re in control. I’ve found that CAD users — be they engineers, architects, designers, or company presidents — respect CAD managers who can perform the following functions: Be production ready. Have a crunch deadline? Do some production work to help catch up even if you normally never do production work. The worst thing users can ever say about the CAD manager is that they don’t understand their needs. If you can jump right into production work, you’ll never be criticized for not knowing your stuff and you’ll gain respect. Make things fast. Find new or unused software features that can shave clicks and picks from your user’s dayJuly 2008 cadalyst www.cadalyst.com to-day tasks. Automate boring repetitive tasks with macros, programs, or custom toolbars. Most users are under pressure to produce more in less time, and they’re not going to complain when you make things faster for them. Find enough of these timesaving features and processes, and users will start coming to you with other ideas — and a productivity snowball will start rolling. Evangelize about new technology. Users will only be enthused about new technology if you are. In fact, some users might not be excited even when you are, so you’ll have to put on your marketing hat and make them understand what the benefits are. There’s nothing more powerful than a group of CAD users who want to learn, and only you can get them pumped up to do so. The way to get them pumped up is to show them what you know. Take the training lead. Great CAD managers take responsibility for user knowledge and training, whether they perform the training or not. The point is, if you simply drop new software on users’ desktops without showing them how it works, those users aren’t motivated to follow your lead. By facilitating user training, no matter how formal or casual, users know that you’re on their side. Be a user advocate. Make sure that CAD users’ concerns are heard up the management ladder whenever appropriate. I’ve found that simply pushing for fast hardware and basic training goes a very long way toward gaining user trust because those topics are key frustrations in many environments. If users know you’ll stick up for them, they’re much more likely to listen to and respect you. User Conclusions I’d like to point out that every action item I’ve outlined for gaining influence with your users will help you run a smoother, more productive CAD environment, so there’s no reason not to use them. Taking these steps yields a win for you because you’ll stay saner and happier. It’s a win for your users because they will be better supported and more ready to learn from you. There’s simply no downside in using these techniques to gain positive influence with your users. The other thing to note is that when you have a stable CAD user base you can begin to focus your attention more on the managerial side of your job to gain trust and 33 http://www.cadalyst.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cadalyst - July 2008

Cadalyst - July 2008 Editor’s Window CAD Central FIRST Robotic Beasts Draw Students to Engineering Power! Speed! Action! — Mighty Mobile Workstations are Packed and Ready for Adventure! Vico Virtual Construction Suite 2008 AMD ATI FireGL V8600 and FireGL V8650 — 1-GB and 2-GB Graphics Cards Gaining Independence and Influence The Current State of MCAD Rewriting the Rules of PDM BIM Goes Residential CAD Cartoon Issue Indexes Pleasures of Customization

Cadalyst - July 2008

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