Trial Seven: Change is Bad
When taking on a new position you will have to balance the need to make changes, but not too many. Change must be needed since they offered you the position. Unless they hired you and specifically said not to change anything and to just maintain what was going on, then you have change in front of you.
You can to this position with ideas for change. Fixes are needed. Adjustments are in order. There many be many or just a few, but there are things that need to be reviewed and refined. That is what a CAD Manager does. They look over the landscape to see where the rough spots are and they look for ways to smooth them out.
You may encounter resistance with the big changes and with the small ones.
Symptoms of this Trial:
People will push back when you suggest changes in the workflow and processes that are in place. Big change and little change will cause concern to some folks. Those closest to the production will most likely share your desire to see change. Those that are a step or two away from the front lines may not see the need. They say “Things are working fine, we do not need to upset the apple cart”. And they start pushing back. They may recruit others to their side and seek to squelch any change that you have in mind.
When this Trial comes your way:
Find out who made the existing rules and who benefits or is “loses” from a change. Often those that seek to keep the status quo are those that defined the work methods prior to you coming on board. They made the rules and they think they still should apply. Their project teams are fully versed in the processes and they don’t want any troubles coming from some change that you might suggest.
Once you know who has invested in the existing environment, you may be able to seek their advice or get their input. Ask them to share what they like about the current flow and what they think might need fixing. Move past the comments of “nothing is needed” and look for some small little change that you can make to get the ball rolling. Once you get one small success or improvement, ask them about your ideas. Get them to allow you to adjust another area. Offer it up as a test. If it fails, you can go back to what was done before.
Start small and make little adjustments as you move to prove your value and then move to larger and larger items. Do not change something gigantic, just make a small change and build on the positive that comes from it. You will soon be trusted with more and be able to move from Change is Bad – to Change is Good.
Trial Six: The Blame Game
Ever get blamed for something that you did not do? Ever try to blame a mistake you made on something or someone else?
The challenge for a new CAD Manager may be either one of these, but I want to assume that you are not the time to always try to shift the blame to something other than yourself. Stepping forward when you have miscalculated or failed is part of being responsible and taking responsibility for your actions. That might be another post, but this one is when you get blamed for things you did not do.
Symptoms of this Trial:
You may or may not actually know that this is happening. When someone else tries to shift the blame for some failure onto your shoulders, they may do it when you are not around. The glances from others and the shot replies to questions is a tip off that something is wrong. You may get a specific call from your supervisor about one thing or another and then a negative comment on your work in one area.
Other times the shift may happen right in front of you with comments like, “This was your responsibility” or “you dropped the ball”.
When this Trial comes your way:
Take a deep breath and compose yourself before responding. If the blame shifter has political power in the company you may be in for a long fight. When you respond keep it cordial and clarify the duties and responsibilities that you have and explain how this was not one of them. Quickly turn the negative into a positive with comments like “This was not my area but I can help get us back on track” or “Let’s not start pointing fingers, although this was not my area of oversight, I can offer some suggestions…”
When someone tries to deflect blame on to you it might actually be an opportunity to take on more responsibility and greater impact in the firm. When blame comes your way, offer to take on that area. When someone else messes up, it might be a chance for you to shine. Don’t purposely insult someone in the process, but if the area has been unassigned and you want it – grab it.
Trial Five: A CAD Meltdown
A nuclear meltdown is a term for a severe nuclear reactor accident that results in core damage from overheating. Accidental damage can happen in CAD also. A meltdown is when the project gets a major derailing, a critical piece of hardware fails at the most inopportune time, software explodes in your face, files become corrupt or people just do not know how to unravel the chaos they may have created. How a CAD Manager reacts under pressure makes or breaks careers. Get it right and you are the hero. Get it wrong and you are the goat.
Symptoms of this Trial:
As mentioned already, there is some failure that happened in the CAD process that has threatened to derail a project deadline. Everyone turns to you first or maybe they come to you after they have tried everything. Either way, you are expected to perform under pressure. Everyone is looking for you to get this derailed train back on the tracks.
When this Trial comes your way:
You may have been here before, but each event has its own set of challenges. You need to act quickly, but also make the best choices.
First: Stop and think. All others are in some form of panic. Don’t lose your head too. Be methodical and calm.
Second: Address they effects of the trouble. If a server crashed, get access to the data first, then start figuring out how to get the server back up. Restore files to local machines or another location. Get the data back. If a plotter has broken, find access to another one (if you have redundancy). Find an outsourced option if need be. The priority is to get past the initial event and get things running again. If it is a desktop hardware failure, get the user on another machine and back to work. Don’t spend too much time initially on finding the root or cause of the problem, get things moving again quickly. Get people back to work. Alleviate the biggest fear (we can’t get the job done on time)
Third: Find the cause of the problem and get it fixed. Once you have the team back at work, you can then turn to getting the “reactor back online”. Now you can slow down a little to investigate what happened and why. Most times it will be obvious, but other times you may have to search for the cause.
If the fix is quicker than finding the cause, then get the fix in place first. Examples would be corrupted files where data is lost. Sometimes fixing a bad file will be slower that just redrawing the data. Users may not like it, but there are times when they can recreate a file faster than you can resurrect it. Most times they can do it faster and they even improve the file or the design in the process.
Last: Address the long term issues. Let’s say that your plotter keeps going down at the worst times. Address that replacement of a bad piece of hardware close to the time of failure. Memories will be fresh and your budget may get some extra funds.
All in all, if you keep a cool head and can get people back into production quickly, you can avoid the “overheating” that accompanies a meltdown.
Trial Four: The Smartest Guy in the CAD Room – Thinking you know it all
Sometimes a new CAD Manager will think that they know everything that there is to know about the tools they use. This feeling comes from the fact that they are most likely the smartest guy in the CAD room and that is why they got the position. But if they are overconfident, they may soon find out that they do not actual know it all.
Symptoms of this Trial:
Symptoms of this trail are discovered when you are honest with yourself. Do not let your confidence overshadow reality. You need to pay attention to your reactions. Are you surprised when someone else comes up with a good idea? Do you push back when others have a better way of doing things? Do you cut off conversation or avoid certain people because they are bright? Do you feel jealous or angry when users start asking other people questions? You are struggling to stay ahead of every other person in your office on CAD know how
When this Trial comes your way:
Get real. No one knows everything. And if you think you do know it all, someone will upstage you at some point. This is not a failure – it is a reality. The more you take on management functions, the more you may distance yourself from the daily use of the tools you oversee. The trick it to get to know those bright and creative users that find new ways of doing things. Embrace and extend. Take the good ideas and spread them throughout the company. Give credit to the person who came up with the idea and spread them around. Build a team of super users that share their skills. Make sharing the best way of getting ahead.
Trial Three: Ambiguity of your Duties: What am I supposed to do?
Sometimes new managers really do not have a full understanding of what they are to be doing. Most have a good grip on what it took to get them the position, but if they are growing into the spot, they may not see all the functions that need addressing out of the gate. Even tenured CAD Managers have some ambiguity when stepping into a new firm.
Symptoms of this Trial:
Some indications to look for to see if you are suffering from this difficulty is to listen to others. Do you hear things like “I thought that was your job” or “Weren’t you going to do that?” or maybe even “Obviously we expect you to do that”.
Other indicators might not be so obvious. They include the perceptions by others of what you do on a daily or weekly basis. The perception may be nowhere close to reality and you may not hear anyone saying anything. Under their breath or out of earshot questions may rise like “what does he do all day?” or “It seems like she is not doing much”.
When this Trial comes your way:
While not being able to address the unspoken feelings of others, you can address the comments directed toward you. When someone mentions that it is “your job” to do such and such. Either correct them or admit that you will get to it. You could say “ I thought so and so did that. I would love to take on that issue. Can I get started now?”
The best way to address the areas of influence and control that you may or may not know about is to ask your boss. Have a conversation with them and ask then what they expect from you on a daily, weekly basis. Discuss areas that you think might be yours and ask if they are. Mention all areas that you can think of and then ask if there are any more. Let them know what you think your focus should be and get them to validate your thinking or adjust it. Just ask people what they expect.
To avoid the “what does she do all day” issues, be open and demonstrative about what you are doing each day and week. Provide reports on progress, either formal and written or just informal verbal updates to your boss and others. Chat up what you are doing to others without it sounding boastful. Just drop a few here and there in conversations. “Did you see the new plotting process I wrote down and placed on the plotter? Do you think that might help?” “Did you see the email I sent out about folder setup on the server? Have you noticed any of the concerns that I brought up?”
Be mentioning and reminding and also defining up front, you can get a good feel for the things that people recognize as your job and what they expect from you.
Trial Two: The Constriction of Having No Control
Trial number two is related to number one (The Authority Challenge) but it relates to not having control. You have no control over key areas that impact your success. This relates to people and projects.
Symptoms of this Trial:
The existing workforce that you have to work with is in place. They may need training or support and you have no control over the budget to get them what they need. New hires come into the company and you have no control to interview them and provide input during the hiring process of how well they know CAD or BIM.
New Project start in CAD any you are not informed. You have no control to prevent users from just opening CAD and starting a new project from scratch or by copying an old project that may contain terrible files. The project kickoff does not include a brief discussion of CAD issues and the team runs ahead of you and does whatever they want.
When this Trial comes your way:
There is not much you can do if you inherit a user base that is not what you might hope in production and software understanding. You get what you get. But moving them toward a better understanding of the tools and processes must include training. Work toward getting a budget and start free lunch and learn sessions that will instruct them on the proper way of getting things done. Create a new hire checklist that includes some form of testing (written test) or evaluation (there are tools out there for that) and press for it to be adopted. Evaluation and education are life long efforts. Get them started as soon as you can. Little by little you can move mountains
Create a Project Kickoff checklist that includes all of the needed functions one or two pages. Add things like project folder structure, standard symbol and block locations, where to get the proper border, etc. The list can be used by anyone, but if needed you can step in and offer to create the project for them. It may take a couple of hours, but getting the team going in the right direction will reap benefits.
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Becoming a new CAD Manager can be a joyous time in your career path. You have finally achieved something that you have sought after for years. You have been recognized by the firm for all of the contributions you have made. You have gotten a title that you were seeking and know that you can serve the firm with success.
But once the title is bestowed, the troubles may begin. Hopefully you may not see some of the trial that await you in your new position. Hopefully smooth waters are ahead of you. Hopefully your experiences will not mirror what I am about to discuss.
CAD Managers have trials. Seasoned CAD Managers know how to navigate the choppy water that comes their way. Early career CAD Managers who have to work through them as they come up without the depth of experiences can have troubles. Trials come in the form of technology, timing, people, resistance to change and so much more.
Trial One: The Authority Challenge
When stepping into a new CAD Manager role you can expect challenge to your authority. Sure, there might be some authority invested in the position, but it may not carry much weight. If the position is new to the firm and no one has held the title before, it may have little or no authority.
Symptoms of this Trial: Troubles in this area may display themselves in the following scenarios.
You are in a meeting with management and discussions of CAD process troubles and methods come up. Everyone tosses out ideas as to how to fix the troubles. When all the ideas are out there (including yours) you are told what to do by your boss or a project manager. Even if you do not think the idea will work, even if you have a better idea, you have to do it their way.
You are talking with the front line employees and design team and they stumble over some early project setup methods. They want to create some new ways of getting a project going. They want to just jump in without planning or forethought. You mention that you have been there before and can assist them, but they do not want to allow you that option and continue to move forward willy-nilly even when you state the flaws in their plans.
Your CAD Standard is solid and working yet you still see teams that avoid using it, set it aside and ignore the guidelines. You go to their manager and outline your concerns, but the manager sides with his team and suggests that you find something else to worry about.
When this Trial comes your way:
Don’t lose heart. Continue to provide input and advice. Wait for opportunities to assist when your ideas are not followed. When the team encounters troubles that you knew may come along, just give them assistance without rubbing their noses in it.
Look for understanding of their perspectives and ideas and see if they have merit. When your ideas are not followed keep tabs on the team and see what they do that works. Maybe your ideas were not the best.
Do not sulk and write off those that do not give you the authority to impact the flow of work. Stay engaged. Keep offering help.
Look for teams that do appreciate your help and build into them. Those teams will interact with others and start promoting you and you CAD wisdom to others. Soon the word will spread that you are a good person to have around.
Coming to the end of this series with just a few more items to post.
7. Procedures are a means to an end, not written in stone.
Average CAD Managers usually have good CAD Standards. They know their stuff and they get the document created and distributed. They also get people to follow the standards. Where they may go wrong is becoming inflexible in the application of that standard and refusal to update it.
Extraordinary CAD Managers know that nothing it so perfect that it should never be changed. They build flexibility into the CAD Standard or the process in such a way that the projects can get completed. They also know that every so often they need to update the standard to reflect what has been learned and what people are actually doing. They realize that the standard is just a standardization of the methods and products that CAD produces. The standard is a means to an end.
8. Work is fun, not toil, but you have to work at making it fun.
Average CAD Managers buy into the notion that work is only a means to a paycheck. They may fully expect everyone to be serious, totally focused, and devoted 100 percent to working hard and never loosing focus. They expect everyone to have the same work ethic as they do and to take things as seriously as they do. The CAD Manager does have to take their work and product seriously because no one will care about it more than they do, bu the do have to lighten up at times.
Extraordinary CAD Managers see work as something that should be inherently enjoyable. They believe that they can and should assist everyone in getting along and having a good time doing it. Getting the job done can be fun. Without acting like Mary Poppins or necessarily whistling while they work, they do need to blow off the steam of project deadlines and hardware failures. Sometimes laughing when things are getting tough is healthy. Come on – crack a joke every now and then. Make fun of yourself in front of others. Help others get through a tough day with a smile and encouragement. Make work Fun!!
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