How to promote REVIT

[Chirag Mistry]

In our office currently we have a split, amongst people who like REVIT and want to further it...and some old school people with AutoCAD who have been doing it for 10-15 yrs and don't want to leave it....I really like REVIT and will want to promote it...please give me some suggestions to do this.

Thanks

[kpaxton]

In our office currently we have a split, amongst people who like REVIT and want to further it..and some old school people with AutoCAD...
Chiragmistry,

Personally... I like the "Speak softly and carry a Big Stick" method.

However, this is a very fine point you raise. We too are running into this as I'm sure other offices are also. I think the only exceptions are the smaller or the younger offices. It's unclear to me as if this is a result of the frustration of the inherent learning curve or the lack of desire to learn the software. For sure, these people are out of their comfort zone.

I think this is something that will get better over time as we can show them 'how it works', and as the program evolves. Many of these same people ought to remember the early days of AutoCad (~release 2 comes to mind), and we hardly had the hardware to run the software. It was a bit of a leap from hand drafting to CAD drafting. But then again... they're just drawings lines, arc and circles. Oh wait... that's what they're doing now!

I'd love to hear from the other larger offices as to how they're treating 'The Great Divide' .

-Kyle

[Andre Baros]

I've always had the full backing of the partners in implementing Revit, so things here were a bit easier, but the tipping point was when one of the partners themselves learned Revit. It carried a very different weight when someone more "senior" in the firm with many years of hand drafting and AutoCAD experience switched then when I did since I've always been known as the computer guy who can use programs no one else can. Having a role model who people though couldn't learn pushed the hold-outs. I recommend focusing on just one or two key individuals and then watch the dominoes fall.

[sbrown]

Work away and after you've completed a couple cd sets where management has seen the benefit(you were quicker, less people on the team and a better set of documents than what has come out of the office before) people will start to come around by necessity. Those that don't have their personal reasons and are very hard to sway. I was at a BIM conf. and asked this very question and the response was just to wait for them to die off.

[Scott D Davis]

More or less "survivial of the fittest"...those that do have the Revit skills will perservere, those that don't will leave the 'gene pool.'

Ultimately, I think it takes the 'hard-liners' some proof that it works. Do some Revit projects and show that you are doing twice the work in half the time and doubling your profits. Soon, the management will take notice, and those that are on Revit are good, those that are willing to switch are fine, and those that are still resistant to change can find somewhere else to work, or retire.

[Wes Macaulay]

The most important thing is to have support from principals who understand what's at stake. They can provide the mandate (or the order!) "from the top". The idea that more work can get done (and at that, with fewer errors) ought to make them put some teeth into it.

You don't necessarily need everyone to switch; now do you need them to switch immediately. The switch-over takes about one-two years. Seems like a long time, but that's reality.

[hand471037]

It's 2005, and where is my jet-pack?

Seriously. Bear with me. We've all been promised over and over about how great some new technology is, or how some bit of kit will be able to do what we want 'any day now'. Many old timers lived through all the hype of past CAD systems, including many from Autodesk, about how they were going to save time, and how they were going to make things better. Most of the time those systems have probably only been somewhat successful within those offices. Sure, the Computer Guy in the office can Make it go, but they don't see it helping the rank-and-file much. So some old timers are going to be naturally skeptical because what a few years ago was promised to be 'great' and 'better' turned out to be more of the same, why should you talking about this new system called 'Revit' be any different at all?

Also keep in mind that some senior people and old timers think that they were more profitable or faster or did better work when hand drafting. I've met several. CAD systems never fit their needs before, for the last 15 years it's been a 'nessary evil' to these folks, so, again, why is your new system any different?

Especially when it comes from the very same company that gave us AutoCAD and ADT?

What you need to prove is that this time, it really is different, it really is what it says it is. That it really does save time, lets you do more, lets you do better work, and makes your job more fun.

When I worked for a reseller, and was showing folks Revit, I always tried to not talk about how it was great, or even why you'd want to use it. I tried to focus on showing them how you work with the tool, HOW IT HELPS THEM WITH THEIR JOB, and let them come to their own conclusions. While the AutoCAD/ADT die-hards at the table were debating things (sometimes loudly) with me, the heads of the company were watching how some random kid with a laptop just walked in and pretty much did the work during the half-hour sales demo that it takes one of his own team hours to produce, and did it with a tool that works the way they would want to work and looks much more accessible to boot.

Despite our human nature, you can't really convince anyone of anything. You can only have them convince themselves, if you will, by showing them. Debating with them doesn't help, showing them what's really going on does. So I'd focus on what you can do now because of Revit. Focus on what you no longer have to do because of Revit. Focus on doing great work with Revit.

[MikeJarosz]

In our office currently we have a split, amongst people who like REVIT and want to further it...and some old school people with AutoCAD who have been doing it for 10-15 yrs and don't want to leave it....
Thanks

First of all, find out if any of them remember HOK DRAW. Tell them they should go back to THAT, as it was infinitely superior to ACAD....

Then find out if they are still thinking in ACAD r12. I bet they are.....

Then the big question: Are they drafters who don't want to have to think architecture? The real resistance to Revit in my experience, comes from users who are thinking in projective geometry, i.e. 2D. They can't or won't make the jump from 2D to 3D. This is a very big stretch for many people.

Here's what I think will happen. I am old enough to have witnessed the change from pencil and paper to first generation CAD. The pencil and paper types were the distinguished seniors of the office well along in their careers. But all the new hires had PC's. Slowly, they replaced the previous generation and slowly CAD replaced pencil and paper.

This will happen with the r12 types. The new generation of architects have Maya, Revit, FormZ, Rhino and other systems under their belts besides Acad. The r12s speak only one declining language. Slowly, the new generation will repace the old. Right now in my office the newest hires use Autocad only as a translation device.

Even Autodesk knows this. Why else would they have bought Maya? And before that, Revit? What next Rhino? Catia?

[Rols]

One thing we've strived to do is to keep the switch a voluntary one for now. I've done some live demos for the office to show them what Revit can do. From there, it's up to the project managers to come to me with potential Revit projects.
The challenge has been to get quality people staffed full time on these projects. I've done my best, but then the project gets put on hold for a few weeks and then I lose those good people to other projects. When the project starts up again, I don't always get my volunteers back. Instead, I have a couple of newbies who are essentially being forced to learn Revit.
This has been a real problem with me in the last couple of weeks. It's really incredible how fast a discouraging word from a frustrated Revit user spreads around the office! I feel like I'm constantly being put on the spot to defend Revit, which I don't mind doing, but it does wear you down after a while. I'm just counting the days until AU, when I can recharge my batteries!

[aaronrumple]

First of all, find out if any of them remember HOK DRAW. Tell them they should go back to THAT, as it was infinitely superior to ACAD....

ummm... I think some of them still use HOK Draw.

[mlgatzke]

I agree with what's already been said: keep using Revit, keep producing projects. The "nay-sayers" will run out of words when the principals see how much faster, better, and cheaper the Revit projects come out on their bookkeeping records. Give it time and the (you know what) will begin to roll down from the top of the hill.