Okay – Happy New Year – now get back to work…!!! (har har)
Reviewing your CAD Standard should be something that you do constantly. Changing things that are outdated. Adjusting things that need some work. Expanding things that need more clarity.
Here are a few things that you may want to review…
Think of the problems you have had in the past year. Take a look at what I have called BAD CAD to see if any of them are related to how you use the program or what the standard calls for. If the CAD Standard is silent on an area that you have seen problems with, then add some info on that issue.
See if you can make it any simpler. Sometime confusion crops up from too many words. Maybe your standard has too many pages. Large standards can make users hesitant to try to read the whole thing. Less is More!
Ask your users what the CAD Standard says. See if they can tell you without looking. Maybe your standard is great and you just need to have a refresher class in what it covers. Training in the standard is one of the greatest overlooked areas of training.
Ask a new user or non-user if it makes sense. If it is too complicated or written to a level of understanding that your average user does not have, it will not be followed. Again, keep it simple.
Republish it with new formating. Maybe just a face lift on the look and feel of the standard is all you need. Keeping it looking fresh makes a world of difference.
So get out your standard and take another look at it. Even small changes can make a large improvement on productivity.