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Win Over Your Users
24 Feb, 2010 By: Robert GreenAs a CAD manager, getting the hearts and minds of your users on your side will make your job easier, and your efforts more effective.
CAD managers are often charged with controlling user behavior. You may find yourself having to impose standards, create training programs, resolve problems, coordinate between departments, or any manner of other tasks that involve dealing with the CAD users in your company. And as many of you have discovered, coordinating a diverse group of users with varied priorities is not easy.
So how can you not only deal with your company's CAD users, but win them over and make them your fans? This is the question we'll explore in the next two issues of the CAD Manager's Newsletter. Here goes.
Examining User Interaction
Let's start the conversation about winning over your users with a few questions, some of which you may have already asked yourself. As I propose my answers to these questions, I hope to provoke you into thinking about your own answers as well.
Can you make all users happy all the time? No. It just isn't realistic to believe that you can make everything perfect for everyone all the time. And if you do strive to create a utopia for your users, you'll become frustrated and discouraged as you realize it can't be done.
Should you strive to make most users happy most of the time? Absolutely! If you succeed in creating an environment that most users enjoy working in, you'll notice less arguing about standards, better productivity, and lower error rates — all things that you want anyway, right?
Can you provide technical solutions to user problems that will allow the users to get their jobs done faster? Typically, yes. Simple customization, job-specific tools, templates, and automated procedures are just a few ways that you can leverage CAD technology to achieve time savings. And usually, when users finish their work faster, they're happier!
Is it worth your while to try making your users happy? Within reason, you bet! Happy users typically equate to a happier CAD manager, which is just fine with me — and you, no doubt.
Shouldn't users just do their jobs and follow the established standards without question? In theory, yes, but in reality it never works that way, does it? The bottom line appears to be that users will do whatever they think will get their work done faster, whether you like it or not.
Tips for User Interaction
Once you've resolved to start working more with your users to make them happier and more productive, what do you do next? Here are some tips that I've employed at client companies; they've always helped me win over the users, so I think you'll find them useful.
Become a User Advocate
Often, CAD users feel that the computing environment and CAD software they work in hinder their productivity. Users often make comments like "the management doesn't know how messed up this is" or "these standards slow me down" out of frustration, but many times, those complaints don't reach decision makers. By becoming a CAD user advocate you can carry user complaints to the IT department or project management teams, where you can actually make a difference.
When users realize their CAD manager understands their concerns and is trying to help them, the grumbling will turn into a conversation between you and the users. CAD managers should rejoice when users actually share what their core frustrations are, because the users are giving you great ideas for improving workplace productivity — something senior management should like.
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