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CAD

Coping with Standards Violators, Follow-Up (CAD Manager’s Toolbox)

10 Jun, 2008 By: Robert Green

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Diligent enforcement ensures compliance with CAD standards.

I received a great response to my Coping with Standards Violators discussion from the last newsletter. I want to share this CAD management perspective and tips with you. Reader ZW, from California, wrote:

My experience with many engineers has been that when they don't want to work with a specific individual or on a specific job, they will purposely ignore the rules.

If I must work with these individuals again, I personally train them. Once they complete their particular task. I review it personally and stop it at my desk. I open the files, I measure, I check layers, etc. If anything is wrong, I take it back to that person. If it takes five days and 10 reviews, I do it.

I can now show all the wasted time on the user's timecard and job accounts. Since nobody wants to show 40 hours of labor for an eight-hour task, the user is motivated to follow standards so their time card doesn't draw undue attention.

By taking this in-their-face approach, users don't submit bad work to me because they know that they will have to fix it.

ZW has taken charge and is using aggressive enforcement combined with financial accountability to deal with users who purposely ignore standards compliance. His willingness to audit CAD work thoroughly (and repeatedly if necessary) until the standards violations stop allows him to confront those who create standards compliance problems. If you have the time to take this approach, it will certainly pay dividends.

Do you have a suggestion/tip that should be in the CAD Manager's Toolbox? Send it to me at rgreen@cad-manager.com, and you might get a cool Cadalyst souvenir if I use your idea.