Working in Teams

Most CAD Managers and managers in general have to participate and lead teams of employees in efforts that the company wants completed.  Working in teams can be fun, invigorating, productive and profitable for the firm.  It can also be a struggle, conflicts can and will occur and division can make failure seem inevitable. We see teams bring together a diversity of personalities, focuses, agendas and more that can make progress s straining effort.  They can also generate more action, greater creativity and multiply the impact of an initiative when the whole team clicks.

Teamwork is just what the name implies – Teams and Work. Teams take Work.

When you create the team and pull together the members, you stand a better chance of success, but it still takes work.  What happens when you are placed on a team that you did not create? Teams that have been created by others can have even more troubles.  Sometimes management just throws together a team of people based on job title or availability.  When this happens you get a blend that was not tuned to each other and may even have conflict between members that has nothing to do with the others on the team or the topic of discussion.

When this happens a smart manager refines their approach to working with others. They adjust and tune their processes so that they can maximize the productivity, contribute as an individual and bring cohesion to the team.

What is teamwork and how does it really work?  This may sound like a very obvious question, but I have found many that do not really know how to work in teams and what teamwork really means.  So let me throw my thoughts into the air and see where they land.

Good teams work toward a common goal. This may seem like a commonly understood perspective, but I have seen teams drift off track and loose sight of the goal and some that do not agree on the goal at all. So I suggest that everyone first discuss the goal and output of the team.  What questions are we going to answer?  What output are we creating?  These should be the first questions asked and the ones that are reviewed from time to time to see if you are still heading in the right direction.

Good teams share common methods. They are not little robots,programmed to do just one thing, but they do share a common approach to getting things done.  Teams may not start this way, but they need to agree on how the goal will be reached.  Some teams have subcommittees.  Some do everything together.  Some teams do everything in the meetings and nothing outside and some task groups or individuals to work between meetings.  But the teams that operate the best are those that first agree on how they will tackle the process of reaching the goal.  Sometimes the process is defined up front and other times it is defined as you move forward.  Either way works as long as the team understands who is doing what.

Good teams document the process and the results. The goal is not the only milestone that is achieved as teams progress along.  Many landmarks are passed as teams move toward the goal. Many processes are defined as you move along.  You need to write these down in some form of minutes.  It may be formal or informal, but you need to document what is a greed to so that everyone stays on the same page.  Writing it down and distributing it causes you to clarify and review as you go.  Everyone contributes and reads the minutes or notes from a meeting and they are verified so that all agree to the decisions that are written and not just what they think was said.

Good teams work as a team. Another obvious statement, but so often not applied.  Every member of the team stands or falls on the collective outcome of the team.  But many bring personal agendas and goals that counteract that effort.  Those team members can work contrary to the overall goal and seek individual goal, departmental goals or even seek to avoid the main goal.  It all happens as others are working in one direction, others are moving in the opposite direction.  Ferreting out these silent agendas may be tough, but they need to be uncovered and addressed or corrected.

I just returned from Australia where I spoke at the Building Designers Association of Australia’s National Conference in Adelaide, South Australia. My buddy, Bill Adams of AUGI, invited me to speak at the two day event.  Check out Bill’s website.

Bill and Karen (with Jedi the cat)

Lynn Allen, of Autodesk, also presented along with Elrond Burrell from the UK.  The theme was Building with Nature – Building Design in a Changing Environment.

Many speakers addressed the impact of climate changes and natural resource depletion and the need for buildings to respond.  Buildings that are energy efficient and respectful of their environments are needed and so much more can be done.

I spoke on the cycle of Software enabling design and Design pushing software.  We see that creative designers push harder on software and that software responds by becoming more responsive.  Software also enables designers to generate their creative designs in a more productive way.

Speakers also discussed reduce carbon footprints and reductions in energy use.  How building owners and homeowners could reduce their electricity use via changes in habits (turn off that light if not in active use) or unplugging non used appliances like large screen TV’s that have standby power loads.  Larger discussions included residential solar power additions and the troubles of getting the right information to make informed decisions.

The event closed with an Awards Ceremony showcasing top designs in many categories.  You can see the 2010 winners here – http://www.bdasa.com.au/index.php/gallery/design-excellence-awards .  The 2011 winners are not online yet (as far as I know).

Many thanks to the Australian hosts and their generous hospitality and friendliness.  I also saw some kangaroos in the wild – very nice.

While the requirements have not changed much for this release…

If you are not on Windows 7 yet – it may be time to move. If you are not on a 64bit system yet – it may be time to move.  If you have not loaded up your system with RAM – time to slam some more in there.  Older OS’s and 32bit will still work, but the demands of the software keep increasing.  RAM is always a welcome addition and is an inexpensive upgrade for most.

Here are the AutoCAD 2012 32bit requirements for AutoCAD:

• Microsoft® Windows® 7 Enterprise, Ultimate, Professional, or Home Premium (compare Windows 7 versions); Microsoft® Windows Vista® Enterprise, Business, Ultimate, or Home Premium (SP2 or later) (compare Windows Vista versions); or Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional or Home edition (SP3 or later)
• For Windows Vista or Windows 7: Intel® Pentium® 4 or AMD Athlon® dual-core processor, 3.0 GHz or higher with SSE2 technology; for Windows XP: Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon dual-core processor, 1.6 GHz or higher with SSE2 technology
• 2 GB RAM
• 2 GB free disk space for installation
• 1,024 x 768 display resolution with true color
• Microsoft® Internet Explorer® 7.0 or later
• Install from download or DVD

And the 64bit requirements:

• Microsoft Windows 7 Enterprise, Ultimate, Professional, or Home Premium (compare Windows 7 versions); Microsoft Windows Vista Enterprise, Business, Ultimate, or Home Premium (SP2 or later) (compare Windows Vista versions); or Microsoft Windows XP Professional (SP2 or later)
• AMD Athlon 64 with SSE2 technology, AMD Opteron® processor with SSE2 technology, Intel® Xeon® processor with Intel EM64T support and SSE2 technology, or Intel Pentium 4 with Intel EM64T support and SSE2 technology
• 2 GB RAM
• 2 GB free space for installation
• 1,024 x 768 display resolution with true color
• Internet Explorer 7.0 or later
• Install from download or DVD

If you are going to delve heavily into the 3D side of things:

• Intel Pentium 4 processor or AMD Athlon, 3 GHz or greater; or Intel or AMD dual-core processor, 2 GHz or greater
• 2 GB RAM or more
• 2 GB hard disk space available in addition to free space required for installation
• 1,280 x 1,024 true color video display adapter 128 MB or greater, Pixel Shader 3.0 or greater, Microsoft® Direct3D®-capable workstation-class graphics card

My personal recommendations for any new machine:

64bit – Windows 7 – 8 gigs of RAM (or more) – Kick up the GPU strength also

I am a big baseball fan.  I love to watch the games unfold.  I see the strategy and execution of the players and managers work and at times fail.  I see errors cause losses and luck initiate wins.  I see great teams come and go.  I see star players retire and new players replace them.

At this time of year the teams gather in the warmer climate cities for Spring Training.  It is a time when the veterans get back into shape, coaxing their bodies into one more season.  It is the time when rookies try hard to make the squad.  It is time when player selections are made, work on the fundamentals is renewed and strategies begin to take shape that prep teams for the regular season.

(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

This is also the time of year when new software starts rolling out from Autodesk and we start prepping for the new releases.  Older software that is replaced with new releases.

It is time to start thinking about your CAD environment and the health of your veteran software, the value of the rookie programs and the strategy of how you will embrace this possible change.

Here is a little chalk talk about what you need to do to get in shape for the coming season of rollouts.

Listen for the start:

First you will hear from Autodesk about the official kickoff of the season with the lifting of the embargo on discussions. There have been hints and nods and winking of the tech eyes at what might be in the shipping products,but no one is really allowed to discuss it openly yet.  Autodesk requires Alpha and Beta testers to be under a Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA) in order to participate.  One requirement is that the person respect the date that Autodesk sets of official discussions to begin.  Start talking early and you might suffer the disdain of Autodesk and a lot of others who are respecting the “gag order”.

Let the talks begin:

You will soon start hearing from the reviewers about the next release of software. Some have spent countless hours fiddling with Alpha and Beta releases of the platform. Some have taken the time to test and retest the software. They do not move forward with the reviews until the embargo is lifted but once it is, they unleash their pent up wealth of knowledge and experience with the newest release.

Look for the best at places where you typically find discussions.  Bloggers, press outlets, Social Media, AUGI and many more will start sharing the info.

Look for the Leaders:

Once the spring training is well underway you will start hearing from the early adopters.  These are the folks that buy early and implement quickly.  They will spot the bumps in the road and the potholes to avoid.  They will soon be sharing.or ranting, on the virtues and foibles of the software in the real world.  Go to the AUGI Forums to find these people chatting it up over the next month or so.

As the new release takes hold and starts to move forward,we will move from Spring Season in the Regular Season.  That is when you start thinking about adopting it yourself.

From their press release…

“Bentley Systems, Incorporated, the leading company dedicated to providing comprehensive software solutions for sustaining infrastructure, today introduced, during its first Annual Corporate Update conference call, an innovative new “sustainable licensing” business model based on annual Portfolio Balancing. With this industry milestone, users no longer need to settle for software investments that depreciate in value due to changing technology, project mix, or operations needs. Through Portfolio Balancing, new purchasers of Bentley product licenses, along with existing Bentley SELECT subscribers, can annually exchange underutilized Bentley software for software of equal value (based on current list price) that meets existing or upcoming needs.”

It goes on to say…

…With Portfolio Balancing, our users can annually exchange their current combination of applications for a new combination of equal value.”

Read the press release HERE

Your objectives are the Action Plans you will take to meet your goals. (the How and When)  Now you get down to the actionable definitions of what you are going to be doing.  This is the time to add measurable targets and time frames.

Include Specific, Measurable objectives that have a Due Date.

Here are some examples:

1. BIM

• Get 4 projects started in Revit by June 1 2011

2. Detail Library

• Create a standard location for all details in 30 days
• Develop a library of Details by adding 30 details per month – one per day
• Define a method for laying out a Detail Sheet in under 30 minutes by retrieving standard details via our Intranet by May 30th

You could hang some memorable name on your goals – #2 above could be the 30-30-30 Plan.

You will further break these down into manageable and distributable chunk in the Project Management phase.  This comes after all of the strategic planning is done.

Business Alignment is something you may hear about at your firm or in general conversations about planning.  Your main CAD initiatives, in terms of budget and resources, should be directly linked to business goals and objectives. This means that when you articulate your objectives they should reflect the same targets as some of the business goals.

(This is a republish with edits of an article I did for AUGIWorld magazine in March 2008.  It is germane to the issues we are discussing so I revisiting it)

Business goals are defined in the firms Strategic Plan.  Get a copy and read it.

The business managers should drive major CAD initiatives in conjunction with you. So when you develop your goals you should be working with the front line and upper level managers. This would be done by running your ideas past them. Get their input as you develop your approach and the end results of your efforts. Solicit their agreement as you move forward. Ask them to assist in your efforts to convince others.

Your IT strategy and planning must be directly linked to your firms strategy and planning processes. You need to get involved with the process of the firm creating their plans or at least get your hands on a copy as soon as possible. If you have direct input you should try to get you agenda items discussed in the company’s strategy and planning sessions. If you cannot do that, you should wrap your goals around theirs.

What does Alignment look like?

Understand that not all of the goals that your firm develops will be connected to CAD. In fact there may be very few that really can be used to create alignment. The point is not quantity but quality. If you can align to several specific strategic goals then others will be able to help you achieve them.

Let’s take a look at how we can match up your CAD goals with the firm’s goals. We will do this by taking a firm goal and developing a CAD goal from that statement. Most firms go through a yearly process of creating strategic goals. Goals that they hope to achieve in order to better serve their customers, gain market share, control spending and more. Each of these goals is created by taking into account the firms resources, financial situation, opportunities and challenges. Working these all together, the top “think tank” folks at your firm come up with the objectives for the firm’s year.

Here is what you might see…

Firm Goal: We will extend our ability to deliver project expertise by sharing staff among offices. Each project will be staffed with the best talent from differing offices.
The reality and work-flow of this goal means that office staff will be relocating between offices, sending project files back and forth, opening CAD files from remote servers and possibly storing files on laptops.

If you fight these issues, then you will have trouble getting things done. You could try to get them to not do some of these things, but the reality is they will happen in spite of you. You should try to manage these kinds of things no matter what and get others to agree that some data exchange and storage methods are not safe or effective. Let’s see how embracing the goal would work and better yet what we can do to enable it.

Here is what you might put forward…

CAD Goal: We will enable secure file sharing between offices by establishing guidelines for file transfer, remote file sharing, laptop storage and backup requirements. To assist knowledge workers in traveling between offices we will standardize folder structures and system setups so that they can use any machine in any office and see the same setup.

By setting your goal in alignment with the ones that the firm has, you stand a much better chance of getting them done. This does not mean that you have to throw out all of the stuff you want to get done. It just means that you need to rethink what the focus of your efforts should be. If you find that everything you want to do does not even come close to what they firm wants done then you will soon find yourself at odds with most of your coworkers.

Here is another example:

Firm Goal: We will reduce our project delivery time by 10% by increasing our employee’s productivity.

Hidden in this goal is a wealth of opportunity. The CAD environment is one that is primed for productivity and poised for enhancement. Here are a few goals that will support the firm’s efforts.

CAD Goal: We will customize our interface to provide 15% improvement in speed of the user’s processes.
CAD Goal: We will create custom content that will alleviate the need for each project to create content which will reduce production time for CAD files.
CAD Goal: We will unify the support folders on the server so that every project can reuse existing project details that have been reviewed and approved.

These three are a good start. You can most likely think of several more.

By bringing your purposes in parallel with the company objectives you will make it possible for others to rally around the efforts.

Where to start

Get your hands on the firm’s strategic plan. Review it and formulate your CAD objectives that fall in step with that plan. Look for anything in the firm’s goals that is related to CAD, productivity, time savings, design processes, standardization or improvements. Start thinking like the top level managers and leaders of your firm.

In Step Four, you take your list that was created in Step Three and pick the ones that you want to focus on.

In Step Three you made a quick list of at least 20-30, then we started narrowing it down to 5-7 ideas that might be the best. Now is the time to start looking deeper at the 5-7 that you have.

If you have noticed, some of these steps start blending together.  They overlap and you may go back and forth between them filling in the blanks as you go. It is fine that they blend together as long as you stop at some point to make sure that you have completed each step.

This is also the step where you start looking at the firms overall goals and plans to see where your best efforts need to be. We will discuss that in further posts.

The Product of this Step:

Define the main goals you will want to reach.  You can think of these as Focus Statements.  They define the general targets that you want to hit.

Example:

• Get projects started in Revit
• Develop a library of Details

You may think that you just want to start at step 4 – don’t do it.  Do not forget to do step 1-3.  They are the groundwork that bring your targets into focus.  If you do not do steps 1-3 then you will just be striving after the issues of the moment and may undercut your long term progress.