CAD Standards, should I be Politically Correct or a Dictator?

[agentzeros]

I (like many of you), have been assigned to be the lucky/ unlucky person to establish a CAD standard for the office. To complicate matters, we are converting from Toolbars to Palettes. Our existing Layers, Blocks, Dims, Texts, and Pen Assignments are sloppy and inconsistant. Everyone has done their own thing, and its gone out of control. Each project looks like a different Arch firm created it. I am hesitant to use most of our existing stuff for a Template. Is anyone willing to share their ATC files? This would give me a starting point for establishing some Sandards and Palettes. I will appreciate any help or advice. Thank you.

[Opie]

As you review some of the other threads in this sub-forum, you will notice that it will be easier to implement standards if you work with the users and get their feedback. If they don't agree or understand the new standards, they will most likely not use them. Your standards will suffer for this.

[Robert.Hall]

I say, be a dictator. Give them a chance to review the standards and make comments. Then you make the choice to either keep or disregard the comments. Whenever you have a chance to make people feel like they are part of a team, by all means, take it!
Do everything within your power to make your coworkers feel they are important.


Standards are not meant to be broken. Those who do not comply, come and go.

[Maverick91]

I think that educating those who will follow the new standards will be one of your toughest challenges. But like every new release of ACAD, there are things to learn. Hopefully most, if not all of your CAD staff will be willing to learn. But just like other company policy, not following through can have consequences.

[BrenBren]

I (like many of you), have been assigned to be the lucky/ unlucky person to establish a CAD standard for the office. To complicate matters, we are converting from Toolbars to Palettes. Our existing Layers, Blocks, Dims, Texts, and Pen Assignments are sloppy and inconsistant. Everyone has done their own thing, and its gone out of control. Each project looks like a different Arch firm created it. I am hesitant to use most of our existing stuff for a Template. Is anyone willing to share their ATC files? This would give me a starting point for establishing some Sandards and Palettes. I will appreciate any help or advice. Thank you.

Personally, I never cared for forcing someones user interface (toolbars, palettes, buttons, shortcut keys, etc) to all be the same. I know some places like to do that so you can work on anyones computer, but with workspaces and profiles, it is simple enough to quickly change a workstation from one setup to another...

As for an answer to your original question, look through history to see how well dictators do... Seriously, if you push too hard, everyone will rebel and you will end up looking bad...

[johan d]

I think making everyones workspace look the same isn't the big issue here. But what about using the same layers, same dimension styles, same titleblocks, etc... When i arrived where i'm working now, there was no guideline at all. Everyone was doing his thing at his way. i created title blocks, templates, dim- and textstyles... Now, after 2 years the other 3 (THREE) draftsmen are picking up little bits of those created standards.

i can imagine that it must be very hard to do the same with 10 people

And yes, the standard where approved by all of them before implemented.

[Phil Ferguson]

While arriving at the standards that are to be put in place is always difficult, the three things that I try to keep in mind are...

Try to see to it that the users and the management are comfortable and in agreement with the direction things are going. Ultimately, the management will play a number of parts in this transition as well.

Try to make your standards simple at first. Take "baby-steps" until it seems that everyone is grasping the concept...then start finalizing your standards. This way, you can identify where your going to have the most difficulty and make adjustments along the way.

Try to make it easier to comply with the standards than it is to "do your own thing". This often makes things a little more time-consuming and tedious at the beginning but it pays off in the long-run.

[kimlance]

I've been quite fortunate in that I was the first person here (22yrs) before AutoCAD got hot. I have created all of our standards which I introduce to the new people that come & go. I am a stickler when it comes to standards and I dictate this to the new employees. If something is supposed to be on a certain layer then it better be on that layer, etc. I find that alot of the drawings we receive are a mess, it's like what ever layer people are on they just change the color to what they want.But even though I am a stickler I am always open to suggestions, if someone has something new and it works better, than I am willing to change and pass on to the others. This way I don't look like a dictator. Also when drawings leave our office people know it came from our office.

[Birdy]

My .02:
Be a dictator.
If you're a CAD manager, it's your responsiblity to set the standards. IMO, the trick is to make the standards as "invisible" as possible. Templates, tool palletts, etc. really help. Programming automation (LISP/ VBA) can make a lot of things "just happen." Many things can be set up so they are automatically put on the correct layer, for example. When you don't have to think about "what layer does this go on", or "which dimstyle should I use" people can focus more on design, and less on CAD. I find that it makes everyone better, faster, (stronger), and... I'm quick to point out "more valuable!" <-- (That always seems to get their attention.)

For our standards, they go through a process of testing, feedback, improvements....before final implementation. if the standard doesn't make our job easier, then it doesn't become a standard. I always get everyone's input before implementation, and we arrive at a consensus agreement that this is needed and helpful. Once in a while there's minor disagreement, so in the end I make the call, but once done. It's a standard. FOLLOW IT OR DIE!!!

All our layers, dims, text, blocks, and plot styles are on the network in a mapped drive. There's no thinking involved. Everyone is on the same page. We have simple routines to "cleanup" exteraneous layers, and other garbage that make "compliance" painless.

In the last 5 years, we're light years ahead of where we were. And my salary reflects that.
"resistence is futile, you will be assimilated." is one of my favorite quotes that I make less and less these days. But hey, we've got 2 new interns starting in a few weeks!
HTH

[tlewald]

I'm all for doing things behind the scenes - what they don't know, wont hurt them.

Besides that, it does the redundant things that none of us want to do and the money is better spend educating the users on the more advanced topics.