Over the past few Journals we have looked into many different types of
CAD Managers. We looked at three styles of management in
June, three more in
July and
concluded with three in
August.
Most of the traits we looked at
were from the negative perspective. We now turn our gaze
toward the positives. Working from your positive strengths
is a sure way to make advancements. We will look at a few
characteristics, practices or perspectives that you might bring
to the table. You may not have them all, but by using
these characteristics as a starting point we will look at how
you can leverage them to make progress in another area. I
approach each one as if you have this strength and what you
could do to use more effectively.
1. You are Dependable
Maybe one of the simplest and yet easily overlooked strengths is
that of dependability. If you have this strength, you can be
depended on. I think everyone understands this. The
meaning is clear enough. It starts with the power to perform the
duties associated with your position. You are on time. You
complete your tasks. You do what you say you are going to
do. People will notice that you are a dependable person.
They are watching, even when you don't think they are.
They notice it because when you consistently deliver, on time,
it makes an impact. Got deadlines - you meet them (better
yet, you beat them). Got meetings - you are there early.
Got Action Items from those meetings - you get them done.
Leveraging this Strength: Offer to take on some
tasks that are outside your area of responsibility. Your
firm will want to give you more because they have seen your
successful deliveries in the past. This means that you may
be stretched, but your boss will appreciate your willingness to
take on additional duties. The first step in moving up the
ladder is to start doing some of the tasks on the next rung.
So offer to prep for the meetings. Offer to lead a meeting or
two. Offer to follow up on a meeting item that others are
avoiding. By offering your services and being dependable
on the delivery, you elevate yourself in everyone's mind and
they will seek you out for promotion.
2. You are
Organized
Being organized is an extremely valuable
talent. Some of us are born with it. Some of us work
at it. Others obsess over it, avoid it, wish they were
better at it or have given up trying. Any way you look at
it, if you have this strength, you are making a valuable impact
on your firm. You are scheduling tasks, working out
timelines, sorting priorities and making things happen.
Organizing lets you and your firm have less stress, more time,
earn extra money, have pride in your work and increase
productivity.
Leveraging this Strength:
Reach out to others who are not as organized and suggest
improvements. Pass on your organizational tips and tricks
to your staff. Pump your organizational efforts into the
CAD Standard. Expand your influence by moving into other
areas of technology that touch CAD, but are not directly under
your direction. This may include organizing your FTP site,
the server data stores, the use of third party document
repositories (like Buzzsaw). Don't limit yourself to just
your job description.
3. You are Investigational
One of the indispensable strengths of a CAD Manager is that of
investigative talents. You know how to break down a large
problem into smaller ones, searching for the small bits of
information that when taken together show you the answer to the
larger problems. You look for repeatable patterns that
signal some larger distress signal for coming troubles.
You keep track of who has had similar problems and trace what
appear to be disconnected issues into a common thread.
Leveraging this Strength: Because you are good at
seeing the bigger picture and connecting smaller events to
larger issues, you can see other areas of production and
workflow that have troubles. You can see the disjointed
efforts of others and the disconnections that cause slowdowns.
Tactfully bring these up to others. Point out ripples in
the fabric of your processes outside of CAD. Keep looking
at areas outside of your own for problems that might be fixable.
Don't step on toes, but bring these areas up to management as
possible focused review.