Expert CAD Management The Complete Guide phần 4 pps

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CHAPTER 4: MANAGING STANDARDS ■
Documenting What You’ve Found
As you outline your processes and make decisions about 2D and 3D tools, it’s critical
that you write down what you learn and change your standards accordingly. I think
you’ll find that your CAD standards will need to be rewritten—and as CAD manager,
that responsibility will fall to you. I recommend that you combine your existing CAD
standards with some of your new multi-CAD standards findings, like optimal usage of
2D or 3D for a given process, 2D/3D interface points, and visualization tool file types.
As you do so, keep these ideas in mind:
Standards should support needs Your new CAD standards should support the new
2D/3D processes and software tools you’ve discussed with your power-user panel.
Now isn’t the time to create new standards or complexities; write the minimal stan-
dards required to support your needs.
Standard should address 2D and 3D tools Be specific about which tasks will utilize
what software tools, and make this part of your standards. It’s pointless to decide what
software tool is best suited for a process if you don’t standardize the procedures for
doing so.
Control 3D just as you would 2D Just because you have 3D software tools doesn’t
mean your users should be able to run roughshod over you and model things however
they like. Write your 3D CAD standards the same way you would for 2D.
Make it simple Although a multi-CAD environment may seem complicated, your stan-
dards should make it seem simple. Period.
Keep management in the loop Senior management probably doesn’t need to read every
paragraph of your multi-CAD standard, but they should see an executive-level summary
of what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.
Standards Enforcement via Management
In Chapter 3’s section “Explaining Standards to Management,” I talked about how to
introduce the idea of standards to your management team. If you haven’t read this sec-
tion of the book, do so now, because getting management to help you enforce CAD
standards assumes that you’ve already introduced the idea of standards.

The key concepts that management needs to understand are as follows:
• Standards make processes consistent.
• Consistency allows automation.
• Automation saves time.
• Time is money.
• Therefore, standards save money.
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■ STANDARDS ENFORCEMENT VIA MANAGEMENT
When management understands that your attempt to control the CAD work-
place with standards can save them money, they’ll become interested in the concept!
If you don’t believe me on this point, go to management, explain the previous bullet
items, and watch how the tone of your conversation changes.
Now you should connect the lack of standards compliance in your office to a
loss of money. In essence, you need to give management sample cases where poor
standards led to lost money. Here are a few examples you can use as a starting point:
Printing/plotting problems Bring up an example of how plotting various sets of draw-
ings took hours rather than minutes because layering, border, and color standards
weren’t in place during the creation of drawing sets. Then, take a conservative estimate
of wasted man-hours and multiply by your average hourly labor cost to get a valid cost
number.
Temporary labor problems How long does it take you to get a new temporary CAD
technician up to speed on your drawing practices? How much is that costing in lost
productivity for your company? Wouldn’t a firm set of CAD standards cut through all
this uncertainty? You can demonstrate costs in this area by taking the number of train-
ing hours it takes to orient a new employee times the labor rate times the number of
new employees in a given year. If you use temporary labor, you may be able to justify
CAD standardization on this cost savings alone.
Lack of automation possibilities Which manual processes in your company (like plot-
ting) could you automate if your CAD standards made all your drawings perfectly

consistent? This is a powerful argument with upper management because automating
mundane processes would allow their employees to do higher quality work (and more
of it).
Inconsistent look and feel Most CAD managers can produce several different sets of
drawings done by different vendors, engineers, and drafters that don’t look anything
alike. If you throw three drawings on a conference table in front of project/engineering
management and confront them with this reality, they’ll see that standardization would
produce a more uniform look for the company’s drawing product. Placing a dollar
value on the look and feel issue is tough, but the psychology is a powerful motivator.
Getting Help with Enforcement
Now that management understands how CAD standards can enhance productivity and
how much money they’re losing because of the lack of standards, you need to ask for
their help in enforcing CAD standards. By asking for help, you send the message to
management that you’re trying to save them money but that you need their political
clout to do so. When management can save money, they’ll be willing to back you up.
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CHAPTER 4: MANAGING STANDARDS ■
Figure 4.9 By placing management in the standards-enforcement loop and making their motivation financial,the CAD manager
can focus on crafting optimal CAD standards instead of enforcement.
Ask for help by making the following arguments to management:
Users will listen to management Because the CAD manager isn’t the boss of most
users, enforcement is lacking. When management speaks out on standards, everyone
has to listen.
All you need is management clout The CAD manager will formulate the standards,
teach the standards, and enforce the standards. All upper management has to do is
throw their support behind the CAD manager—no extra work is imposed on upper
management.
It’s the cheapest way to gain savings By helping the CAD manager enforce standards,
the company can gain a great return on investment in terms of savings.

You should leave the discussion with full management support to implement
standards and the assurance that swift support for enforcement will be forthcoming if
you experience any problems. Put out a memo to all users explaining management’s
involvement in enforcement, or have a meeting with management present if need be.
The point is that everyone should now know the vigor with which standards will be
enforced. Take these steps, and watch how user adherence to standards changes for
the better!
Bringing It All Together
Now that you’ve demonstrated how well standards can solve problems and make your
company more efficient, don’t lose momentum. Talk with management and make sure
they know the success you’re having with your new emphasis on standards. Don’t be
bashful in advertising what you’ve been able to achieve, and be sure to point out any
cost savings you’ve gained.
Other Company
(or department)
Internal/External
CAD Standard
Management Enforcement
(Financially Motivated)
CAD Work
(any platform)
CAD Work
(any platform)
Your Company
(or one department)
Communication
Barrier
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■ BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER

I’ve covered a tremendous amount of material in this chapter, but that’s because
the topic of standards is complex. As with most things in CAD management, you need
to balance the needs of your company against the realities of the environment you
work in and do the best you can.
By using the topics I’ve covered, you should be able to figure out what type of
standards (vendor, client, multi-CAD) you need and then utilize the existing standards
available to you (AIA, NCS) to craft a great first cut at a company standard. Moving
forward, you should constantly re-evaluate your company’s needs and environment
and revise your standards accordingly.
CAD standards are never complete because processes and procedures around the
office are always changing. Even if you totally standardize your company’s processes,
sooner or later the software you use will change enough to trigger CAD standards
changes. Stay on top of things, and never stop striving to build a better standard.
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■ TRAINING, HIRING, AND MANAGING USERS
Training, Hiring, and
Managing Users
Probably nothing else you do determines your
success more than the way you manage and train
your CAD users. Even though the users you man-
age and train may not always be your direct staff,
you’re responsible for achieving the highest level
of productivity possible for those users. You’ll
also find, from time to time, that you need to
manage their behavior even if they’re not under
your direct charge. For example, enforcing stan-
dards is one case in which you, the CAD man-
ager, must lead, but not everybody who needs to

follow those standards reports to you.
5
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CHAPTER 5: TRAINING, HIRING, AND MANAGING USERS ■
When you have the responsibility for enforcing standards or processes but not
the authority to do so, managing user behavior can be problematic. Absent enforce-
ment authority to manage user behavior, training becomes the next best way to make
users understand why they should follow CAD standards.
Figure 5.1 The wide variety of users you’ll hire and manage means you need to constantly adjust and revise your training
methods.
Throughout this chapter, I’ll pass along tips about how I’ve used different train-
ing methods and skills diagnostics to get my people to perform at a top level and,
therefore, to ease the burden of managing them over time.
Training Methodology
Today, CAD managers have a wide variety of training methods at their disposal. No
single method is better than any other except one: the school of hard knocks, which
we’ll discuss later. I’ll address the various types of training methods in common use
and explain each one’s strengths and weaknesses. You can draw your own conclusions
about which methods make more sense for you based on your operating environment
and your users:
Method 1: Traditional classroom training In many cases, traditional classroom train-
ing is a process in which you send your CAD users to an external training provider
such as a CAD reseller. This method offers you the advantage of not having to perform
the training yourself, thus preserving your time for other tasks. But it comes at a rela-
tively high price.
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■ TRAINING METHODOLOGY
Remember that whenever you send people to an external training class, the price includes

not only what it costs to send them to the training but also the work time they miss.
Because lost productivity is the number-one cost associated with external or classroom
training, upper management may be skeptical about approving this method of training.
Even when management does support classroom training, they will take keen note of
user non-productivity while the class is run.
Method 2: Leading your own in-house training As with the first method, when you
conduct your own internal training classes, you have the traditional instructor–student
paradigm in which you lead CAD users through a training program that you’ve prepared.
What changes is that your specific knowledge of your users’ strengths and weaknesses
should allow you to produce training that is highly targeted and minimally invasive
with respect to the users’ time.
While leading your in-house training, you’re responsible for producing training
materials and for the instruction time. Users will lose productivity time just as they
would if they were at an external classroom. The real advantage is that when you lead
your own internal training, you can focus tightly on the topics that are being covered
and produce that training in incremental chunks of time—not necessarily entire instruc-
tional days, which helps users stay on schedule with regular work activities.
Particular examples of in-house training methods are lunch-and-learns. In these
one-hour sessions, information is delivered during a lunch break, thus converting
employee spare time (lunch) into a training activity and keeping overhead low. Most
management teams prefer this short-burst in-house training because of its minimal
impact on employee time. It does take time for you to prepare materials for a lunch-
and-learn, but the time regained by training users during their lunch keeps the overall
cost to the company minimal.
Method 3: Computer-based training Increasingly, this type of training is delivered via
CD, DVD, or the Internet with some sort of interactive instruction. Students work
through lessons at their own pace. These courses are usually indexed and divided into
small chunks of learning, not exceeding 5 to 10 minutes each. They’re a good way for
motivated users who will study on their own to learn material at a pace and on a time-
line that makes sense for them, without any involvement from you.

Because users can take computer-based training materials home with them, use
them on lunch break, or use otherwise idle periods of time to train, little lost produc-
tivity time is associated with computer-based training. Even in cases where a user trains
during otherwise billable time, there is no instructor cost because the CAD manager
doesn’t have to run the training.
The only downside to computer-based training materials is that you, the CAD
manager, can’t see how well the user is learning or what they’re having trouble with.
But given the many benefits, computer-based training delivers great benefits; and you
can always check in with a user to see how they’re doing after the fact.
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Figure 5.2 Different training methods work best in varying environments.Here’s a representation of which methods work best
versus the structure required and sizes of groups being trained.
Method 4: Traditional books and handout materials In this learning paradigm, the
user is expected to pick up a book or custom-prepared handout and learn from it. My
experience has shown that most users today are more receptive to computer-based
training that allows them to watch the lesson, but some users learn well from written
materials. Whether a user prefers books, handouts, or computer-based training is
largely a matter of personal preference that you’ll need to observe to get an accurate
gauge. However, written materials, whether you purchase them or produce them your-
self, are a great adjunct to traditional classroom training.
For example, if you run a lunch-and-learn on a specific topic, you should probably
supplement that class with some sort of written material to reinforce your instruction.
The important aspect of traditional printed materials is that the user can take them
away from the training to reference as needed later. Even in cases where you don’t train
users directly from written materials, you should still use them to cross-reference or rein-
force other training.
Note: Publish your training handouts in a secure digital form like Adobe PDF,and place them in a net-
work location available to all users.That way,you’ll build an electronic library of training materials for those

who may have missed a session.
Large
Groups
Self
Learner
Learning Style
More Instruction
More Book/DVD
Classroom
Learner
Small
Groups
Single
Users
Size
Tutor/Book
Hybrid
Instructor
Training
Books/DVDs
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■ TRAINING METHODOLOGY
Method 5: Learning by the school of hard knocks Unfortunately, this method is still
the most prevalent in the CAD world. Typically, this type of training puts a user in a
situation in which they don’t know what they’re doing—you turn them loose to figure
out what to do. Although users do learn in this scenario, it’s the least efficient training
method because in order to learn, the user has to ask a co-worker or the CAD manager
for help. This results in an interruption in productivity for both people.
Doesn’t it make sense to train people by showing them the right way to do

things rather than turning them loose and hoping they’ll figure it out? I mention
this method because it’s so prevalent, yet few people stop to think about the wasted
productivity it causes. No matter how many users you have, and no matter what
their learning styles are, the school of hard knocks is the least effective way to teach
anybody anything.
Sorting Out the Methods
If you put all these methods together, you’ll see a mixed palette of ways that you can
deal with user training. I encourage you to think about your user base from a stand-
point of how many users you have, how they seem to learn best, and how self-directed
they are. Having put in some thought, you can draw conclusions about the best method-
ologies. Here are a few brief examples so you can get a feel for what I mean:
Many users who aren’t self learners If you have a relatively high number of users who
seem to need classroom instruction to understand what’s being taught, you should use
the traditional classroom methodology. Doing so allows you to lead users through an
aggressive training program on a fixed timeline, thus forcing users who don’t self-learn
to absorb the material presented.
Smaller groups of those who self learn fairly well If you have smaller groups of users
who learn a bit more on their own but still need interaction and a classic training envi-
ronment, consider leading your own shorter-format courses. I’ve found lunch-and-learn
style training programs to be effective in these environments because you have an
instructor-led training method presented in short segments.
Highly motivated self learners or small offices If you have users who are self-directed,
or if you have a small staff and therefore can’t realize the economies of training many
users at once, look at more computer-based training or one-on-one tutelage.
Now that you have some guidelines for what methods work in what environ-
ments, I encourage you to map out the best training methods for your users, decide
who will present the training (you or a professional trainer), and get a preliminary
training schedule in place. Taking these steps will help optimize the training process,
deliver training to your users in the manner best for them, and minimize the time
demands on you.

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Building a Training Plan
What should you teach your users? This is an excellent question that merits some real
thought. After all, if you don’t plan what you’ll teach your users, you can’t be sure of
achieving the productivity-boosting results your users desire and your management
team desperately wants. Some CAD managers perform major training tasks like prod-
uct version upgrades, new features coverage, employee training, and so on. For these
managers, it becomes imperative to deliver training efficiently so they aren’t bogged
down to the point that the rest of their job suffers. Other CAD managers have to per-
form a patchwork quilt of training that embraces coverage of standards, common com-
pany procedures, lunch-and-learn topics, and so on.
It’s imperative that you figure out what your training program will consist of
and what type of trainer you need to be to meet the demands. Although figuring out
what you’ll train is a task in and of itself, I’ve found that the delivery of training is
essentially the same no matter what the content is. Therefore, I’ll pass along tips that
are helpful for everyone and highlight specifics for varying types of training environ-
ments as I go.
Figure 5.3 Training based on job need is directly proportional to productivity gained.
Identifying Training Needs
Once you’ve received support for a training program, you need to develop your list of
training objectives and prioritize them. How do you know what topics to train users
on, and how do you prioritize those topics?
The first place to look for training topics is in your e-mail inbox. Search through
your e-mails, and take the time to identify what sorts of questions you’re being asked.
If the number-one user question you receive is how to use your company’s external ref-
erence file (XREF) standards, then a tutorial on the proper use of XREFs should be the
first training class you run. If the next most popular question is how to access a partic-
ular plotting device, that tells you what your second training class should be. Analyzing

Everything from
start to finish
is perceived as
a single process
Task Assigned Task Assigned
Task Completed
Best
Feature
Usage
Best
Standards
Usage
Task Trained
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■ BUILDING A TRAINING PLAN
your training needs based on questions from users is a blessing in disguise because
you’re taking the time to see what confuses your users, which in turn should give you
keen insight into how to improve your procedures and standards as you train.
You’ll most likely notice that the training topics you compile have a close corre-
lation to how people work with CAD tools in your environment. The question won’t
be, “What is an XREF?” but rather, “How do I use XREFs on a given project to meet
our CAD standards?” Note the distinction between these two questions: Your training
challenge becomes teaching people how to use CAD tools in your particular environ-
ment rather than a generic usage of a given set of commands.
Connecting Training and Standards
Whenever you perform any sort of training, you can best emphasize concepts by relat-
ing examples in your training program to their use in your operating environment. One
powerful way to do this is to demonstrate your use of standards in all training exercises.
Here are a few examples you can use:

• If you’re showing users how to properly attach, scale, and XCLIP an external
reference in AutoCAD, make note of your company standards and use an actual
XREF that users see in their daily routine.
• If you have custom programs in your CAD environment that staff can use to
ease standards usage, demonstrate those programs in training exercises.
• If you invoke standards via startup files or automated configurations, point them
out at the beginning of your training exercises.
• In all cases, take a few minutes to explain why standards are important, and
solicit user questions on standards.
The end result should be that users learn the right way to do things (via stan-
dards), why it’s important to do things the right way, and how you’re helping them to
do this. You may find that a conversation about standards will start to happen between
you and your users, allowing you to tap into their expertise and debug your own stan-
dards. More on that in the next section.
Figure 5.4 The inclusion of standards in your software training program teaches good habits from the beginning and prevents
nonstandard habits from taking root.
Task Trained
Seen as one
continuous process
Software
Skills
Standards
Emphasis
Excellent
Results
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Fixing Processes/Standards (If Required)
If your list of training topics or classroom experience indicates that inability to compre-

hend standards is the number-one cause of confusion in your company, it may be time
to examine your standards. Bottom line: If it’s hard for you to train people on how to
use a feature, imagine how hard it will be for users to learn that feature.
You may find that embarking on a training program will give you a great oppor-
tunity to update and tweak company standards and procedures. Because your training
program is supposed to raise user productivity and cause minimal intrusion on work
schedules, everyone involved should support your desire to simplify work processes via
training.
Delivering Your Own Training
Many CAD managers I know are pressed into delivering their own training classes.
Whether on a regular basis or periodically, doing your own training requires prepara-
tion and discipline but can reward you many times over in the form of smarter, savvier
users. No two CAD managers run training the same way, but good self-delivered train-
ing programs have some elements in common that are worth covering.
Prepare with Good Materials
Running a training class without training materials is, in my experience, a waste of
time. Because most people don’t take good notes during a class, it becomes the instruc-
tor’s responsibility to provide a handout or workbook that chronicles the training. As
soon as someone walks out of a training class, the only resources they have to fall back
on are their memory and the handouts you provide.
Because I’ve advocated targeted training that solves your company’s specific
problems, it becomes obvious that you can’t go to Borders and buy a training work-
book for your company. That means you must create your own training materials.
Before you panic, I’d like to give you some suggestions for creating quality handout
materials in an easy manner. You don’t need anything other than your CAD application
and a good word-processing tool to build your own training materials:
Get the software Purchase some software tools to help compile, record, and publish your
training materials. My favorite tools are Camtasia Studio and SnagIt, both from Tech-
smith Software (
www.techsmith.com). Camtasia Studio essentially functions as an audio/

video recorder for your computer, allowing you to create your own voice-annotated video
segments to use in training environments. The companion SnagIt utility provides ultimate
flexibility in capturing still graphics from your screen, such as dialog boxes or cascading
menus that you can then easily paste into word-processing applications.
Both these tools have a free downloadable test version that you can use to gauge
how well they’ll work for you.
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Create some basic examples Conceptualize what you’ll be teaching, and then come up
with example files you can use to illustrate/demonstrate the concept. Don’t worry about
anything polished at this point; just make sure you can convey the information to your
students with the example files you created.
Rehearse and record Turn on Camtasia Studio, put on your headset microphone, and
record your presentation as you run through your lesson just as if you were conducting
a training class. If you flub up, don’t worry—keep going as if you were in a real class.
I recommend taking a laptop into a conference room or working at home so you won’t
have to deal with phone interruptions while recording your lessons. When you’re done,
save the file so you can find it later.
Create written handouts Using your recorded presentation as a guide, open your word-
processing program and then work through your lesson, transcribing your text and
capturing graphics into the open document. Don’t forget to save often! Don’t worry
about spelling or polished formatting; just get the content into your word-processing
document.
Polish and finalize Finish your handout by spell-checking, adjusting syntax, and for-
matting your document to make it look good. Do several printouts, and keep adjusting
the handout until you’re happy with it. Congratulations—you’re finished.
As you create training materials, always strive for concise wording, illustrative
screen captures, and clean layout as the most important attributes. If your materials are
easy to read and visually rich, people will look forward to attending your training.

Delivering Training
Now that you know what topics you’ll be training on, and you have your materials,
you have to deploy your training program using either formal instructor-led training
sessions or informal meetings like lunch-and-learn sessions. I recommend the following
steps to make your training sessions go smoothly:
Figure 5.5 Training requires
a mix of written, verbal, and
video presentation techniques
to achieve maximum compre-
hension.Keeping these three
components in balance is
tough but essential.
Training Method
Learning results
User perception
of preference
Measured
Objectives
(Reality)
Written materials
Instructor-led training
Audio/Video reinforcement
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Prepare yourself Do a private rehearsal of the key points of your training so you’ll be
more on top of the details and less nervous. Even short periods of preparation time will
give you a noticeably easier style of delivery when you enter the classroom.
Also make sure to run through any training examples you’ll use to be sure they
work. Nothing is more embarrassing than leading a training class with exercises that

don’t work for the user. Make going through your training exercises part of your class-
room preparation.
Keep it brief Allocate the time you’ll need to train any given topic, and allow only a
short period of time for questions. In cases like lunch-and-learns, you’ll be restricted to
a known period of time; but in other cases, it’s key to avoid the “never-ending training
session” where questions abound and you can’t escape the training room.
Use a good projector I’ve learned there’s no way to train without showing people what
you’re doing. A picture is worth a thousand words, and a good data projector with
good resolution and brightness is the only way to go. By showing the user the exact
sequence of steps in the exact CAD software they’ll be using, they’ll see what they
should be doing rather than interpreting those steps from a book.
Don’t own a projector? Buy one! Look at the money you’re saving your com-
pany on training classes—that alone should foot the bill.
Have your materials ready Don’t start training until you have the materials copied,
bound, and ready, and the software you’ll be teaching users about installed. Give a
handout to each user as they enter the room, and take the opportunity to welcome
them to the training.
Insist on timeliness Set a starting time, and stick to it. Late arrivers should be expected
to make up for lost time on their own. Set the tone that training is valuable and so is
your time as the instructor.
Have their undivided attention Insist on cell phones off, IM clients off, no checking
e-mail, and so on. If a student wants to surf eBay or IM their colleagues, why are they
in class in the first place? Again, set the tone that training is time well spent before you
start your lesson.
Have a sign-in sheet This documents who was there and who wasn’t. It also makes it
easy to spot those who say they want training but don’t show up for it. You’ll also
be able to demonstrate to your management that people are coming to your training
sessions.
Have an evaluation sheet This way, you know how you did, how you can get better,
and who stayed to the end of class! You can make your own evaluation sheet any way

you like, but ask the following questions at minimum:
What was most helpful to you?
What topics could be covered better?
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What topics could be added to make the class better?
Were the learning materials helpful? If not, why?
What can the instructor do to run the class better?
By focusing on what can be done better, you’ll get valuable feedback that you
can use to revise course materials, plan for the next class more thoroughly, and become
a better instructor.
Record what you do As long as you’re doing an instructor-led training session, why
not record your training and make it available later to those who missed class, new
employees, or those who want a refresher course? Using a utility like Camtasia Studio
or connecting a video/audio line out from your computer to a DVD/hard disk recorder
makes recording simple. The clear advantage of video capture is that it can be burned
to DVD or placed on your network so users can replay it whenever they want. I’ve
used Camtasia Studio with great success over the years to create audio/video files that
can be played using Windows Media Player.
Do a wrap-up write-up After your training is complete, summarize how it went, and
forward a copy to your manager. This is a small bit of self promotion that you need to
do so management knows what you’ve accomplished.
Recycling Training for Maximum Effect
Now that you’ve completed your training session, be sure you get maximum value
from your effort by utilizing some of the following ideas:
Organize your recordings Take all the training recording sessions you made and burn a
copy to several DVDs as well as placing electronic forms on your networks that can be
replayed in the future. Making these resources available will cut down on follow-up
questions and will be invaluable in training new employees at a future date.

Archive materials to your training library Make copies of all handouts, course materi-
als, electronic reference materials, and so on, and locate them in your office for check-
out to any staff member who wants them. Providing materials for motivated self
learners will gain you a better staff with almost zero further effort on your part.
Pay attention to class evaluations Take time to read through the student evaluations
now that you’ve had some time to reflect on the training you’ve performed. Sometimes,
another quick read exposes ideas for improving your future training sessions. You
never know: You can get great ideas from people if you take the time to think about
what they tell you.
I know full well that being responsible for training CAD users is no easy task.
And when you add the extra burden of developing materials and delivering the training
yourself, the task becomes even more complex. It’s my hope that by utilizing some of
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the techniques I’ve listed combined with your own custom handouts and video cap-
tures, you’ll be able to meet the challenge head-on and achieve professional results
with minimum incremental effort.
If you deliver your own training, perform your training based on delivering
benefit to your company, and catalog your training work for maximum recycling and
reuse, you’ll do a great job. And as an added bonus, if you follow these metrics, you
should have a much easier time getting the respect and credit you deserve for undertak-
ing a tough job.
Hiring and Testing Staff
I’m sure many of you have had to manage people you didn’t hire. I’m equally sure that
most of you have had to manage somebody who wasn’t well qualified from a CAD
standpoint. It’s obvious that you spend more time supporting, teaching, and coddling a
bad hire than a good hire, right? And in the case where a bad hire has to be released or
ultimately fired, everyone can see how much time, effort, and money that cost the com-
pany, right?

Figure 5.6 How do you know whether a prospective candidate actually knows what they say they know?
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Your challenge is to take these obvious truths to your management team and
craft an argument for your involvement in the interviewing and hiring process. I recom-
mend using the following strategies to start the conversation:
Emphasize bad-hire horror stories from the past Recall the people who were not pro-
ductive, had to be let go, or misrepresented themselves during the interview process.
Make the argument that if the interviewing process were more technically centered,
such errors would be caught prior to the individual’s hiring.
Equate bad hiring with needless support Illustrate how every hour you spend support-
ing a bad hire is a wasted hour for you plus a nonproductive hour for the bad hire.
When your company starts to understand how much money they’re losing by support-
ing bad hires, they’ll see the value in preventing those bad hires.
Offer to fix the problem Now that your management team understands the problem,
offer to fix it by revamping the interviewing and hiring process. You can use a combi-
nation of your own ideas and those presented in this chapter to form a plan that pre-
vents bad hires from happening.
Avoiding Bad Hires
The hiring process usually starts with an advertisement in a print publication or on a
web site. Make sure any advertising you do emphasizes that all candidates will be
screened for CAD competency via multiple-choice and practical testing (more on this
shortly). By stating clearly that anyone who applies will be evaluated, you send a strong
signal to those who would misrepresent their skill set, thus avoiding needless interview-
ing of bad candidates. The following sections describe the metrics you can use when
testing candidates.
Testing by Multiple Choice
First, deploy a multiple-choice testing platform to quickly assess basic competency.
The purpose of a multiple-choice test is to cull the pretenders from those with real

knowledge and cut them out of the interview process immediately. You may even want
to position the multiple-choice test as a qualifier for a more in-depth interview, thus
saving you the time of interviewing those who do poorly.
Note: For more information on multiple-choice testing,see the “Deploying a Test”section in Chapter 2.
Note: Be sure to get your ad approved by your human resources department.Policies for job-candidate
evaluation and testing vary in different countries and municipalities.
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Testing by practical example
Candidates who survive the multiple-choice test may now be tested for drawing pro-
ficiency. Use a real-world problem the user would encounter in your work environ-
ment as the basis for your test. You can then use your typical task to craft a test that
gives the candidate a short but challenging project to complete. Creating the practical
drawing example will require time and thought but will be well worth your effort
later, so take the time to do a good job. Be sure to include the following components
at minimum:
An itemized task list The candidate should know exactly what the task is. If objects
need to be on certain layers, or certain text or object styles need to be used, make sure
you list the specifics in a clear and concise manner.
Prints of the completed task The candidate should be able to see what the result
should look like. This is critically important because CAD users tend to be more visu-
ally oriented than text oriented.
Have a test machine with standard software ready to go This way, the candidate can
work on the standard version of whatever your CAD software platform is without
worrying about any tweaks or changes you may have made. If you have a highly cus-
tomized CAD environment, take some time to orient the candidate so they aren’t con-
fused before they start.
Include scaling and geometry concepts in the task Make sure the candidate can per-
form scale-oriented tasks like attaching XREFs, combining files to common origin

points, and so on. The point is to be sure the candidate understands what they’re
doing.
Test for plotting competency My experience shows that more time is wasted support-
ing users who don’t know how to plot than any other single task. Verify plotting com-
petency by including a requirement to output a certain view or drawing on a set sheet
size with a specific scale. If somebody can’t plot now, it’ll mean trouble later!
Grading the Practical Example Test
When you give the practical drawing test to candidates, I recommend using a timing
device so the user knows that they’re being evaluated for time to completion. I believe
that timing candidates shows who functions well under pressure and, more important,
who doesn’t. Some people say I’m cruel for introducing even more pressure into the job
interview process, but I’ve found that time to completion is a important part of ranking
candidates. I also recommend recording the test using a video-capture utility like Cam-
tasia Studio so you can replay the user’s test session later.
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To evaluate the results of your practical drawing test, use the following metrics:
Check for accuracy Was everything done in accordance with the task list? Were objects
drawn to scale and to dimensions? Was the plotting output correct? Assign an accuracy
score based on how many parts of the task the user completed correctly.
For AutoCAD, use Undo In AutoCAD environments, you can go backward through
the drawing process using the Undo function to see how the candidate created the
drawing. It’s amazing what you can learn about an AutoCAD user this way.
Review the video capture of the exam By watching the candidate’s approach, you’ll
learn a lot about how they work. For non-AutoCAD platforms, this is the only way
I’ve found to evaluate how the user performed.
Prioritizing the Candidates
Now that you’ve qualified, screened, and tested the applicants using multiple-choice
and practical drawing techniques, it’s time to rank your candidates and present your

recommendations to your management staff. Here’s the methodology I use:
Accuracy first Use the accuracy score you compiled to list candidates as the first filter.
Speed second If two candidates have the same accuracy score, use their time of com-
pletion as a tie breaker, and reprioritize. The purpose is to hire someone who is “good
and fast” before somebody who’s simply good.
Approach third In cases where accuracy and speed are tied, go back to the video
recording of the practical drawing test, and use the user’s approach to the task as your
decision maker. Admittedly, you’ll need to use your best judgment to see which candi-
date performed best.
Write up your list of candidates, scores, times, completed drawings, and your
personal notes about each candidate, and submit the list to management. By including
this level of information, you’ll show your management team that you’re enhancing
the interview process tremendously. This should go a long way toward eliminating any
doubts management had about including you in the hiring process.
Note: By becoming actively involved in verifying crucial skills for new hires,you save yourself headaches
and deliver value to your company as well.
Note: For all topics referenced in this section, it’s a good idea to talk with your human resources depart-
ment to see if any local regulations govern the practices of employee testing or video recording.
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Selling the Value
You should now be able to use some of the strategies and tools presented in this
chapter to make the interviewing and hiring process easier for you and more produc-
tive for your company by helping you skip over poor candidates and prioritize those
who remain.
Figure 5.7 Building stronger staffs and making better hires is a key aspect of management.Do what it takes to be involved,and
watch your company’s staff get stronger.
If you’re not involved in your company’s hiring processes, now’s the time to get
involved. If you’re already involved in the process, why not use some of these ideas to

maximize the value of your involvement? Either way, I guarantee that management will
view you in a new way as you help your company hire better staff and prevent bad
hires. And who knows—you may even enjoy your job more when you’re more involved
with staffing decisions.
Diagnosing Existing User Skills
Now that you’ve seen how to become more involved in the diagnostic aspect of hiring,
why not use the same techniques to see how well existing users are doing? To trans-
form your hiring process into a diagnostic tool for those you already employ, use the
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techniques discussed in the “Hiring and Testing Staff” section earlier in this chapter,
with the following slight modifications:
• Stress that the process is all about finding areas where employees need improve-
ment so you can help them.
• Stress the importance/duty of all CAD users to help formulate the most effective
training plan possible.
If you don’t directly measure user skills, then you’re guessing at user needs. By
measuring, you know exactly where your users’ skill sets are and what you can do, via
your training program, to help them.
Encouraging Self Study
In any operating environment, no matter what your training requirements or methods
are, it’s always worth your while to get users to study on their own. I call this trait of
highly motivated people the motivation to self-study, and it’s something you should try
to foster throughout your user base. Any training you perform will get better results
and will stick in users’ minds if they’re willing to put forth some effort on their own to
study materials and be more proactive, productive students in your classroom. Therefore,
it’s no accident that I tend to focus the entire self-study method on getting ready for
instructor-led training and making more diligent use of computer-based and written
training materials.

To motivate your users to study independently as much as possible, take the
following courses of action:
Establish a training library Make a library of written and computer-based materials
available for checkout to anybody who wants to borrow them. Implement a sign-out
sheet so that anybody can get copies of DVDs, CDs, or books and take them home
for a night or weekend. Also make these materials available during lunch breaks. This
makes it easy for people to study independently even in short blocks of time. It also
allows them to utilize their own off-work time so that they’re not only studying inde-
pendently; they’re doing so without losing work productivity.
Make it public After you implement your training library, make sure everybody sees
the sign-out list. By making the sign-out list public information and keeping it visible
to everyone, your users will be able to see who else has been checking out the training
materials. This is a subtle hint you can use to motivate users to keep up with their
peers. The aspect of peer pressure in this method seems to work wonders, especially
for your more competitive power users.
Offer a reward Consider providing small incentives for users who complete self-study
courses. For example, anyone who takes a computer-based training DVD, goes through
the entire course, and demonstrates proficiency at the end of it might qualify for a $50
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gift card from Best Buy or a similar store. You’d be surprised how relatively small
payoffs sometimes motivate people to study independently far more than any other
method you can use. Put a reward out there, and watch people strive to reach the goal.
Recognize self-study efforts Consider providing customized follow-up training, led by
you, in small bursts for those who have self-studied. In essence, you’ll promote this
type of training as “special advanced course studies for those who have already self-
studied.” By making this course publicly available and acknowledging everyone who
has taken the time to study independently and get up to speed prior to training classes,
you demonstrate to the entire office which people have strived, struggled, and learned

the most on their own. Again, you can use this aspect of peer pressure to influence
other users to study independently. They will want to be involved in the next advanced
class and be praised for working the hardest.
The main aspect of all these strategies for motivating users to study independ-
ently is that the cost to you is extremely low. All you have to do as CAD manager is
make some training materials available. For the price of a few hundred dollars for
computer-based training and/or printed books and some time to organize any custom
materials you’ve created, you can establish a check-out training library that allows
people to utilize their own time to study. You can even encourage users to learn about
topics you haven’t trained them on by providing a wide selection of materials to choose
from. And believe me when I say your management loves that.
Once you’ve made the resources available, you motivate people by providing
special acknowledgments or gifts to reward them for what they’ve achieved. Treating
your self-study stars to a special training track or special treatment clearly shows others
that independent study affords a real career benefit. They will see that hustle and learn-
ing on their own pays off much better than sitting by and waiting for someone else to
train them, and you’ll see change in users’ behavior as a result.
Making the Most of Your Power Users
When you think about training and managing your CAD users, there’s one group that
you probably pay less attention to than any other. I call that group your power users.
These are the people who are most likely to learn a new technology on their own and
the most likely to study independently. They achieve a high level of proficiency with
your CAD tools with almost no action on your part. Why should we talk about how
to make use of these power users when it comes to training and managing other users?
Because they have a wealth of knowledge, they’re well versed in the software your
company uses, and they can serve as the greatest example to everyone else within your
organization about how to achieve the best possible results with your CAD tools.
Power users also can help you with the training and management of other users.
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Here are a couple of characteristics of power users, which you can take advan-
tage of in the training and management arenas:
Power users learn a lot on their own They’re driven by competency and the ability to
be productive, so they become independent quickly and serve as a model to other users.
Power users diagnose problems They don’t just point out problems; they find problems
and figure out work-arounds and ways to make the CAD work flow smoother
throughout your entire company.
Power users are always ahead of the information curve in terms of new knowl-
edge, new software, and reading industry-provided information. Because power users
can answer the odd question or casual inquiry from another CAD user, they function
as your first line of support. You probably don’t even know how much your power
users help you, because the questions they answer never reach your desktop.
Figure 5.8 Power users exhibit several key skills that you can use to leverage yourself.
These attributes and characteristics of power users give you, the CAD manager,
an opportunity to do your job more effectively. Consider the following possible uses of
power user talent:
Pick their brains If power users study independently and figure out new technology on
their own, ask them how they do it. Ask them what resources they use. Ask them what
sort of information they recommend placing in your training library so that other users
can follow their example and self-study more efficiently. In fact, why not recruit your
power users to run the training library and provide mentoring to other users who are
interested in learning more and becoming more self-sufficient? The power user is the
perfect role model to hold forward for self-study, so why not ask them?
Power Users
Traits that favor
CAD management
User respect
(credibility)
Skills

Observed
Independence
Problem solving
Communication ability
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Tap into their skills In identifying problems or finding new and creative ways to deal
with workplace CAD problems, power users have already worked out the solutions.
Why not recruit them to help you formulate your training handouts and procedures
documents? Frequently, you’ll find that solutions power users have come up with can
form the basis for your short-format training courses. By tapping into this reservoir of
user knowledge, you can accomplish your job more easily and know that the topics
you’re training other users on have been battle-tested and proven by the power users
you’ve recruited to help you perform the training.
Let them teach others If power users are always out in front of the learning curve find-
ing neat creative resources on the Internet or in CAD publications, ask them if they
would consider running some training or orientation classes for other users. This will
not only free up your time but also more fully realize the potential of your power users.
To run an effective training program, you should use a variety of different trainers.
Your users can probably benefit from gaining a power-user perspective.
Make them junior CAD managers More on this valuable technique in the next section.
Tapping into your power users’ abilities is a win-win scenario for everyone. A
lot of power users would love to be running training classes and doing some of the
CAD management things that you typically do—becoming more involved in the training
and management aspect of what’s going on in your company can be viewed as a pro-
motion or at least a step up. This is tremendously motivational for your power users.
Creating Junior CAD Managers
In the prior section, I talked about utilizing your power users more effectively. I recom-
mend bringing your power users almost up to the level of a junior CAD manager.

When you recruit power users to help you perform tasks like leading training classes,
producing training handouts, or documenting creative new procedures they’ve found to
generate better productivity around your workplace, you’re essentially growing a vari-
ety of junior CAD managers to assist you. I heartily encourage this approach. The
main benefits I see for cultivating junior CAD managers are as follows:
Smart people can help you more It’s never bad to have more intelligent people around
you, helping you do your job.
Power users can act as a diagnostic tool The more you educate your power users up to
a CAD manager level, the more they’ll help you find mistakes and problems in your
department. More important, they can help you solve the problems they find. In a real
sense, two heads (or three or even four) are better than one.
How else can you delegate? The only way you can achieve more time to do higher-
value tasks for your company is to delegate lower-value tasks. By offloading repetitive
tasks to a power user, you’re simultaneously cross-training an assistant, thus freeing up
more of your time.
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