38 CHAPTER 3: MANAGING YOUR MANAGEMENT ■ Figure 3.1 No matter what you do, you can’t succeed without management.Management serves as the filter through which all resources you require must flow. Here are some universal truths about senior management that CAD managers seem to miss given the day-to-day technical environment they operate in: • Management controls the money, and money makes things happen. • Management sets priorities and pushes to get things done. • Management delegates authority, thus enabling you to do your job. • Management loves having their CAD manager work with them. Therefore, it should be obvious that if you don’t have a positive working rela- tionship with your management, it’s going to be much more difficult to do your job. In this chapter, I’ll pass along some techniques you can use to communicate more effec- tively with your management and thus manage the relationship to your advantage. Manage: Not Manipulate By managing your management, I mean that you should know what you need to do, what results your management wants from you, and how to work that relationship in a positive manner. Communication is the key to managing your management staff and their expectations. In this chapter, I’ll introduce some methodologies you can use to identify what management expects from you and how to manage that relationship in the most con- structive and cost-effective manner possible. Another advantage to you is that the more you manage your management staff, the less they have to manage you, and the more freedom you’ll have. Budgets Task Completed Management Involvement - via Budget Approval - via Delegated Authority - via Political Support Your Tasks Enabler Results Training Procurement Processes Efficiency 16531c03.qxd 3/19/07 1:41 PM Page 38 39 ■ DEBUNKING THE MYTHS Debunking the Myths I’ve spoken with many senior managers over the years, and I’ve discovered that many of them believe certain myths about CAD managers. Let me address those myths and give you some strategies for debunking them. First, it’s worth pointing out that when management has a perception of you, it’s immaterial whether you agree with that perception or not. If the perception is erroneous, you must confront it and demonstrate that it isn’t true. The easiest way to do that with senior management is to communicate frequently in a purposeful manner that debunks the myth that senior management has brought into the relationship. Many senior managers don’t know all the duties that the CAD management position entails (technical, managerial, process management, software and hardware administration). If management doesn’t realize the scope of your job responsibilities, they probably have some misconceptions about CAD managers. Let’s consider some of these common misconceptions and discuss strategies for getting rid of them: Myth #1: CAD managers are technical people who don’t understand anything about management Many times, senior management sees you dealing with complex technical issues like installing software or debugging machines. Chances are, the only time they see you in action is when you’re working on a machine or leading a user through a complex technical problem. It’s easy to see how they get the idea that you’re exclusively focused on technical aspects of the work: That’s what they see you doing. To dispel this myth, it’s crucial that management sees you performing managerial tasks. They probably won’t see you working on a budget or talking to the IT staff about future hardware or software plans. Therefore, written communication via a reporting mechanism to senior management is crucial. Over the years, I’ve used a sim- ple reporting format whereby I tell my management what I’ve done during the previous week and what I hope to accomplish during the next week. If your management reads this brief report, they will see the wide variety of tasks that you have to deal with, and they will gain a new perspective of and respect for the job you do. They’ll also see that not everything you do is technical. This will go a long way toward debunking that technical-only myth that I mentioned. For more information about this reporting for- mat, see the section “Reporting to Your Management,” later in this chapter. Myth #2: CAD managers are expensive; they’re always asking for high-end software and hardware The first key to debunking this myth is to admit that it’s partially true. Your software is more expensive than general office tools, and your hardware is more expensive than the $399 loss-leader special from the large computer discounters. But the reason your hardware and software is more expensive isn’t because you have gold- plated tastes: It’s because your software is more complex and requires more hardware to run. To debunk this myth, you have to educate management about the complex 16531c03.qxd 3/19/07 1:41 PM Page 39 40 CHAPTER 3: MANAGING YOUR MANAGEMENT ■ nature of the technical tasks that your software performs and why it requires higher- end hardware. This will help top management understand that you aren’t just asking for more money—you actually need higher-end resources than staff who just check their e-mail or occasionally run a spreadsheet. Every time you ask upper management for something, be it a new piece of soft- ware or hardware, make sure you justify the cost of that object with some sort of pro- ductivity offset. Don’t just ask for the new version of CAD software; say why you need it and what productivity gain you’ll be able to achieve with it. Back up your conclu- sions and justifications with numbers. By showing your management staff that it costs money to make money—or, more specifically, that it may cost money in the short term to derive long-term productivity gains—you won’t be seen as asking for expensive tools; you’ll be seen as providing new capabilities. Believe me, management under- stands how to look at long-term investments to get long-term gain. The key is that CAD managers need to stop being viewed as employees who always ask for new toys and to start being viewed instead as achievers who are taking a proactive approach toward driving productivity improvement. Myth #3: CAD managers can’t see the big picture In Chapter 2, I discussed in detail how and why you should address this issue by taking stock of your current situation. Specifically, in the “Process and Standards Analysis” section, I urged you to examine your company’s overall work processes and the methodologies and standards you’re using to achieve your work product. This automatically focuses you on examining how things are getting done rather than what is getting done. Many of us function in a day- to-day environment where we’re so engrossed in solving our department’s or CAD users’ technical problems that we only worry about what’s getting done on any given day. Rather than thinking about the overall process, we get bogged down in minutia, and this feeds into Myth #3. To combat this myth, I propose you do the following: • Concentrate on the process(es) by which work gets done. • Draw other people into discussions of the process(es). • Include your analysis of work process(es) and the comments from others in your reporting to, and conversations with, senior management. If you do these things, management will start to see beyond the myths and rec- ognize the bigger picture of the CAD manager’s job. It’s difficult. I personally had trou- ble starting to delegate and looking at how other people worked. And yes, it was hard at first to get away from the technical details and see the bigger picture. But I was able to make the change relatively quickly once I made a conscious effort to do so. If you take the time to focus on the bigger picture and look at work processes and how things are getting done, management will notice. 16531c03.qxd 3/19/07 1:41 PM Page 40 41 ■ DEBUNKING THE MYTHS Figure 3.2 Management’s perception of you controls how they treat you.When management’s perception is based on myth versus reality,you’ll find it difficult to achieve anything. No, you won’t debunk Myth #3 overnight. But it will happen over time if you continue to make these types of changes and look at the bigger picture. I’ve found that when they start paying attention to their companies’ bigger-picture issues, most CAD managers can make a radical change in management’s perception within six months to a year. No matter what you attempt to achieve in your job, you have to break through the common myths your management holds about CAD managers. Use the guide- lines I’ve outlined to take inventory of the myths your management has about CAD managers and take the time to debunk them. Once you’ve shattered management’s improper perceptions, you’ll get more done and enjoy more respect from your management. 16531c03.qxd 3/19/07 1:41 PM Page 41 42 CHAPTER 3: MANAGING YOUR MANAGEMENT ■ Why Management Is out of the Technology Loop I frequently speak to groups of CAD managers, and I ask them this question: “How many of you feel that your management has no idea what you do for a living?” This question is usually greeted with mild laughter and a show of hands typically represent- ing 70–80 percent of the room. This tells me that CAD managers are generally frus- trated that their senior management doesn’t understand the technology challenges they face day-in and day-out. Or, simply put, management doesn’t understand how hard your job is. Many times, CAD managers feel under-appreciated and not understood. I often respond to the audience by asking, “Do you think it’s good that your management doesn’t understand what you do?” Interestingly, most people say no. They expect management to have more understanding of what they’re doing as CAD man- agers. But here is where I tend to buck convention. I think it’s great that upper manage- ment doesn’t know what we’re doing technically: I think they’re out of the loop for a reason. They’re out of the technology loop because they hired us to handle that loop. Between CAD managers and IT management, upper management expects us to handle the technological challenges on a daily basis. They hired us to take care of it, so why should they have to understand it? When you think about it that way, it’s a good thing that management doesn’t understand everything you do. I believe management is the art of dealing with problems. Take a moment to think about that statement and appreciate how true it is. If your management staff doesn’t understand what you do, then they don’t need to. If you’re managing your tasks and responsibilities effectively, they don’t need to understand everything you do. I also believe the reverse is true: When your management does understand everything you do, that indicates there are problems. If management feels that you’re not manag- ing effectively, they’ll begin micromanaging you or somebody within the management ranks will start keeping a close eye on you. So, if your management staff doesn’t seem to understand what you do, they’re most likely not concerned and are giving you the freedom to move forward and do your job—and that’s a blessing. You should celebrate rather than be upset. Meeting Company Needs—Not User Wants One basic thing you need to understand about your management staff is that they have their eye on what’s useful for the entire company. They aren’t predisposed to thinking Note: Remember that management is comfortable delegating and has,accordingly,delegated the process of CAD management to you.If they don’t understand what you do,it’s because they don’t need to! 16531c03.qxd 3/19/07 1:41 PM Page 42 43 ■ MEETING COMPANY NEEDS—NOT USER WANTS about what the average CAD user in their company wants. They’re not thinking about the latest technology tool that may make your job easier or about the latest server that may make the network run faster. Instead, they’re thinking about global business objectives like how to sell more work, how to get more productivity per person, and other issues. They’re thinking on a higher business plane than we typically are as CAD managers. What’s important isn’t whether you agree or disagree with that concept but rather that you accept it, deal with it, and manage your relationship with management accordingly. You need to determine management’s expectations for you. In Chapter 1, I talked about management’s perspective. I outlined the idea of managerial principles overriding and sometimes being at odds with what CAD users want. If there are occasions when user needs and user wants come in direct conflict with management needs or wants, we all know that management has to win. The rea- son is simple: Management funds your budget requests, and they’re the only people who can enable you and empower you to do your job. Therefore, as CAD manager, you need to place an emphasis on understanding management’s needs and put those company needs above everything else. I would argue that a truly effective CAD manager does the following: • Looks at the big picture of overall company needs • Helps meet company objectives like sales targets and productivity quotas • Considers CAD users’ wants and needs into the mix • Focuses on technology solutions for the common good Figure 3.3 Management’s perceptions of what the company needs represent the critical path of the CAD manager.User wants are represented as a block in parallel with company needs.You can work to accommodate user wants as much as possible,but never to the detriment of meeting critical path needs. If you can find a common denominator by which facilitating CAD users’ wants and needs meets a management need or objective, then you’ve won on both counts. Communicate this with your management. Make this an ongoing dialogue, and discuss Task Assigned Critical Path User Wants Perform Design Document Design Deliver to Client 16531c03.qxd 3/19/07 1:41 PM Page 43 44 CHAPTER 3: MANAGING YOUR MANAGEMENT ■ it as frequently as you can. The key component is that through your reports and con- versations with your management staff, you demonstrate to them continually that you understand your job, which is to facilitate the overall productivity and functionality of your company, and that this is the foremost goal in your mind. If you communicate that on a regular basis, you’ll establish a much better relationship with senior manage- ment and be seen as a more competent, task-oriented manager. Explaining Standards to Management The conversation starts innocently enough: Management asks you to explain why you need CAD standards. To explain a little about what CAD standards are, you launch into a discussion that includes any number of technical criteria for CAD standards such as layers, colors, fonts, dimensional standards, sheet set-ups, and so on. In reality, man- agement wants to know not so much what CAD standards are but why they’re neces- sary. What good are CAD standards for the company? Why should you expend effort to manage CAD standards? Why should you worry about whether CAD users are utilizing CAD standards? These are all good questions from an upper-management standpoint. The problem typically is that CAD managers are stuck in the technical while upper management is thinking about process. This fundamental breakdown in commu- nication generates problems for the CAD manager. To remedy this situation, I recom- mend explaining to management exactly why CAD standards make sense. Here are some tips for communicating the importance of standards to management: Having standards allows the company to stay consistent When work is consistent, outcomes become more predictable, less fraught with error, and easier to manage. When procedures are consistent, they can be automated And when procedures are automated via programming or customization, they become faster and smoother, the company gets more work done with the same number of people, error rates drop, and productivity generally goes up. This is the point in the discussion at which you should have your management’s full attention. This is where you get on their radar screen and keep going. Once procedures are automated, you can revisit the automation to fine-tune and improve CAD processes even more. Here’s an example: After automating the cre- ation of correct layers, colors, linetypes, and fonts, you could expand your automation to set up drawing sheets or plotting assistance, because these functions depend on hav- ing correct layers and colors in the first place. Once you’ve automated standard processes and procedures, you’ll realize the full productivity benefit of getting more work done with the same number of people, thus achieving lower unit costs for every job you do. When you’ve made this point, 16531c03.qxd 3/19/07 1:41 PM Page 44 45 ■ EXPLAINING STANDARDS TO MANAGEMENT management should fully understand what standards mean to the company: more pro- ductivity. They mean getting more done with the same number of people—and getting more done with no more staff will always be popular with management. As I’ve tried to emphasize throughout this book, by approaching management from a more process-driven viewpoint, by talking less about technical details and more about productivity, you’ll get management’s attention. They, in turn, will give you the authority to make the changes in CAD standards that you need, because they under- stand the benefit of doing so. It’s also sometimes useful to have a discussion with management and explain some of the problems and inconsistencies that have popped up because you haven’t had CAD standards. These may include jobs that required excessive CAD hours because plotting wasn’t automated, or contract suppliers or vendors that provided CAD in a Figure 3.4 Think of CAD standards as a transmission that allows the efficient flow of CAD energy.Like the gears pictured here, each portion of the CAD standards environ- ment (consistency,automation, and better processes) links to those before it and after it to achieve optimal productivity. 16531c03.qxd 3/19/07 1:41 PM Page 45 46 CHAPTER 3: MANAGING YOUR MANAGEMENT ■ nonstandard format, and so on. I find it particularly useful to have a positive conversa- tion with management about the benefits of standardization and then contrast that positive conversation with negative examples in which productivity or money was lost due to of lack of standards. This gives management a view of both sides of CAD stan- dards and ensures that you’re on the same managerial page. Managing Management’s Expectations As I discussed in Chapter 1, management has a perception of what you do on a daily basis. Management’s expectations of you are largely colored by how difficult they per- ceive your job to be. If they believe you have a relatively small number of tasks on your plate, they’re going to think your job is easy, and they’re going to expect you to do more. On the other hand, if they understand the complexities of what you’re trying to accomplish—if, as I outlined in Chapter 1, you articulate the real tasks associated with each perceived task in your job—then management will come to understand what a multifaceted and complex job CAD management is and will have more realistic expectations. A big part of dealing with management is showing them what’s involved and what you have to do every day. By doing this, you manage their expectations. And by managing their expectations, you ensure that you’re both on the same page. You won’t feel overworked, and management won’t feel like you’re under-performing. This is why I continue to emphasize that you should develop a task list, as detailed in Chapter 1, and re-evaluate that task list on an ongoing basis. Don’t be afraid to adjust the real tasks associated with your job on a quarterly basis, or as often as needed. Be sure you go back and communicate the changes to your management staff. Telling them what you’re doing, what you’re up against, and what you have to deal with daily is the only way to ensure that management’s expecta- tions of you are realistic. Remember to focus on tasks and goals rather than technical minutia so that you get your message across clearly. The burden of communication is on you, the CAD manager. By communicating effectively, you’ll set management’s expectations realistically. If you don’t tell them, they can’t know, can they? Reporting to Your Management Communicating with your supervisor isn’t easy. Any number of barriers to good com- munication exist, including scheduling conflicts and travel or other obligations that take you out of the office, to name a few. But regular communication—ideally in person—is crucial, and a good CAD manager must establish a reporting process and stick with it. After all, senior managers won’t know what you’re doing unless you tell them. 16531c03.qxd 3/19/07 1:41 PM Page 46 47 ■ REPORTING TO YOUR MANAGEMENT Figure 3.5 Reporting your progress represents the final step of perception management because it’s the only formal communica- tion in the process.Without efficient reporting,management doesn’t know what a great job you’re doing for them. Here are some reporting techniques I’ve found very valuable over the years, many of which I still follow today: Create a weekly report This weekly report is a quick read, typically no more than one page in a word-processing document or e-mail message. This report allows you to accomplish two things. First, you delineate what you’ve done in the past week (this reporting interval) so that management knows what you’ve achieved. Second, you state what you hope to achieve in the following week (your next reporting interval) so that management has a look ahead at what you’ll be working on. The following week, you build on the first report to relay what you accomplished, and you project one more week into the future. As you get going, you prepare a nice checklist for yourself so you stay on task. By looking at what you hope to accomplish next week, you’ll automatically be more focused on working on the right tasks. That way, you can report in your next commu- nication to management that you achieved most of your objectives. What’s important here is that you’re providing a quick status update, easy to read, in an executive summary format, so your boss can see what you’re doing within three to four minutes and tell whether you’re on track. This opens all sorts of commu- nications. Of course, if you can have a personal conversation with your management to follow up this report, that’s optimal. But if you can’t, having the information in writing ensures that management gets the message. 16531c03.qxd 3/19/07 1:41 PM Page 47 [...]... work to them? Standardize their software, and watch what happens Managing the Multi -CAD Office As more companies move toward 3D design software, yet still have to support common 2D CAD, the phenomenon of the “multi -CAD office” has become more common My CAD- manager surveys over the last five years have shown these 2D/3D multi -CAD environments to now be the norm It seems the question isn’t whether you’ll... and more the domain of the CAD manager It’s common now for the CAD manager to author CAD standards, document them in written or electronic form, educate users in the proper use of the standards, and, at the end of the process, verify that standards were followed Sometimes CAD managers even have to resort to formal enforcement procedures to make sure CAD standards are being followed Every CAD manager... , A N D O T H E R S Industry CAD Standards 55 16 531 c04.qxd 3/ 19/07 1:41 PM Page 56 Most CAD managers create a hybrid CAD standard by borrowing from existing CAD standards as a starting point, or template, and then adjusting them to cover only the topics that are necessary There’s no perfect way to write a CAD standard, and there’s no such thing as the absolute standard CAD standard However, by using... between the technical and managerial aspects of your CAD management job, you’ll find that technology and management can coexist nicely You may enjoy it once you get the hang of it ■ AVOIDING THE TECHNOLOGY VS MANAGEMENT TRAP VIA CLEAR COMMUNICATION It’s All About Balance 49 16 531 c 03. qxd 3/ 19/07 1:41 PM Page 50 16 531 c04.qxd 3/ 19/07 1:41 PM Page 51 Managing Standards There’s an old story that says, when the. .. graphic software products because they work in conjunction with CAD tools What will your game plan be for managing these additional software tools? 2D CAD Users 3D CAD Users CAD Workstation CAD Workstation 2D and 3D Standards Invoked from Server CAD Workstation CAD Workstation Figure 4.8 By standardizing which tasks will be performed on which CAD system in the multi -CAD office, you can minimize translation... National CAD Standard (www.nationalcadstandard.org) .The NCS is the only comprehensive U.S CAD standard for the design, construction, and facility management industries The program’s goal is broad voluntary adoption of the NCS by the building design, construction, and operation sectors, thereby establishing a common language for the building design and documentation process Use of NCS eliminates the overhead... targeted at someone using 2D AutoCAD, then you should restrict the standard to addressing commands that are familiar to that level of AutoCAD operator By targeting the standard at the expertise level of the person who will use it, you’ll guarantee the best possible accepted comprehension of the standard and therefore the best possible chance that it will be followed Use the three bears approach: Not too... controlled by the software applications, leaving far less for the user to control and standardize 16 531 c04.qxd 3/ 19/07 1:41 PM Page 55 The problem with this effort to standardize has been, and continues to be, that these super CAD standards are so large and complex in their reach and scope that small companies may have difficulty using them Therefore, I recommend that you think of these CAD standards... to 3D CAD all at once Lack of time is the number-one reason for the multi -CAD office, according to my CAD- manager surveys over the years Switching users over to new CAD systems takes time for training, support, and ramp-up to full productivity A switch doesn’t happen immediately, but over time Again, the multi -CAD office just happens, due to natural factors It’s economic Delaying the cost of a full 3D... investigate them, or even download them to see what style of documentation they use Even if you never use these CAD standards, you can learn a lot from how they’re written, targeted, and focused, and you can use their sample language as a mechanism to start your own CAD standards On the other hand, if your projects are sufficiently large and complex, you may be able to utilize these standards out of the box . debunk this myth, you have to educate management about the complex 16 531 c 03. qxd 3/ 19/07 1:41 PM Page 39 40 CHAPTER 3: MANAGING YOUR MANAGEMENT ■ nature of the technical tasks that your software. things are getting done, management will notice. 16 531 c 03. qxd 3/ 19/07 1:41 PM Page 40 41 ■ DEBUNKING THE MYTHS Figure 3. 2 Management s perception of you controls how they treat you.When management s perception. myths your management holds about CAD managers. Use the guide- lines I’ve outlined to take inventory of the myths your management has about CAD managers and take the time to debunk them. Once