Set Up Your Team for Successful Collaboration
If I were a consultant brought into your firm, I would gather your CAD and design staff together and I ask one question to begin: “Tell me three things that went bad with your last project.” Just three.
Naturally the answers would vary with each office. In fact, the answers vary from person to person. What I can guarantee you is that no one in that office would list “successfully collaborated” on their tally of things that went wrong. The reason is simple: Collaboration is not something that hinders projects; it accelerates them! But you already know that. Don’t you?
If you have practices and policies in place that support and encourage collaboration among your CAD and design staff, then you already know the benefits this can offer. You are already on the road to “win” and you know it.
If you are in a place where collaboration is not a priority, then you cannot possibly understand the full scope of benefits you could reap. Still, you probably have a pretty good sense that things could, and should, be going better than they currently are. Just because you are not aware of the answer does not prevent you from realizing that a pretty important question is staring you in the face.
Whatever the case may be for you, there is always more you can do. There is always the first small step you can take to get your staff collaborating or there is another way you can work to expand current collaboration.
All you need to do is realize that there is a better way to work. Together.
Collaboration: What’s in a Word?
“Collaboration.” It’s one of those buzzwords that we all hear in staff meetings, press reports, and board of director statements. And why not? Collaboration is one of the greatest of all human accomplishments, producing such feats as the pyramids, modern medicine, and space travel. Too abstract for you? Fair enough, but did you know that from mid-2011 to late 2013 nearly 1,000 people came together to collaborate on one product? Together they produced the blockbuster video game title “Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag,” which sold more than 8.5 million copies!
That is a whole lot of collaboration—not only in terms of the accomplishment in creating such a popular title, but in the sheer task of coordinating so many people. With a rumored budget of nearly $100 million and a creative team approaching 1,000 people, the challenges of accomplishing anything must have been unimaginable. It sort of puts your own challenges of workplace collaboration into perspective, doesn’t it? Sometimes it seems that collaboration is a concept so far outside the reach of the average person that it seems practically fictional.
Collaborating (and Why You Aren’t Doing It)
Perhaps you feel as if “collaboration” is like “synergy” or “thinking outside of the box” or some other made-up, corporate jargon. And why shouldn’t you? “Working together,” “taking one for the team,” and “collaboration” are just a few of those nonsensical things that are crammed down our throats as a lofty mantra that no one is actually expected to take to heart. Fortunately, “collaboration” is a real thing and it is pretty great. Perhaps, instead of pining away for collaboration, you should examine the roadblocks that obscure your path.
The list is not exactly short. There are plenty of things standing between you and the bounties that are provided by collaboration. Perhaps you have new, or not so new, employees who are wasting time and preventing collaboration because they cannot efficiently locate the files they need for a project. Perhaps your staff has no problem finding files, but they always seem to be tied up, being used by others, and preventing access for editing. Or maybe your staff doesn’t have any file-related issues. Maybe they have issues related to knowing what to do once they have the files. Or maybe your staff is just having plain old-fashioned communication issues that are causing needless rework. It can all be very daunting, but obstacles are meant to be overcome.
Luckily for you, overcoming any of these obstacles does not have to be impossible or even all that difficult! It just takes decisive direction and action. For each obstacle preventing your staff from collaborating to bring a project to delivery, there is a straightforward solution.
File Structures for Collaborators
Collaborative difficulties in a project schedule are hard to accept, but difficulties due to employees being unable to locate the necessary files is especially heinous. The reason is that file structures are at the very basis of any organization with project teams working together. The file structure should make sense to anyone even remotely familiar with the firm’s workings and it must be consistent from project to project. Once each staff member is confident that he has access to all the files necessary for any given project, the foundation of project collaboration will be laid.
Overhauling your file structure could seem insurmountable, but it does not have to be that way. It only takes three things.
Make today the day that you make a clean break with the way things have “always been done.” Accept that every job, every project directory before today is just beyond saving and leave them all for dead. Of course, they won’t actually be “dead”—they will just be cordoned off and only used to finish current projects and to archive old jobs. But, in the sense that they are no longer used for new work, they are dead as a doornail. And that is quite dead.
Begin your new life of collaboration with a simple but effective file structure. Begin with a place on your server that is specifically designated for project files. Subordinate to that you should have a separate directory for specific projects. Below that could be any number of directories categorizing digital files into such areas as contracts, correspondence, and incoming documents. Most important for us will be the directory holding CAD files. Your new file structure might look something like this:
Projects
a. Job Number
i. Contracts
ii. Drawings
iii. Incoming
iv. Miscellaneous
Of course, you can be as elaborate or simple as you like. What is important is that you have the drive to A) be consistent with the setup of your template in every project going forward; and B) be driven enough to not slip into old, bad habits.
Collaboration and the Role of Xrefs
Working “together” to produce large plan sets means working “at the same time” to get the job done. In this day of modern CAD practices, it is almost universally accepted that the use of external references (xrefs) are a tremendous help in accelerating the efficiency of a group of CAD professionals. Xrefs reduce rework and propagate changes to base files throughout the project, replacing the need for the edits repeated in each and every file.
So how can something so great be a roadblock to collaboration?
While xrefs are, in fact, pretty great, using them improperly can cause big problems. Groups of workers can find themselves in situations with circular reference errors and files that are tied-up with drawing locks when others need to work on them. In general, improper and willy-nilly use of xrefs is a hindrance to collaboration rather than a facilitator.
The solution to these pesky issues is as simple as it is devious. Attach external references in “overlay” mode, rather than “attachment” mode. On the surface there may not seem to be any difference. The benefit emerges when drawings with external references are, themselves, referenced into other drawings. This is the beginning of a situation known as “nested xrefs” which are at the root of such issues as circular references and increased possibilities for drawing corruption and reduced performance. And, as we all know, smooth collaboration requires drawings be corruption-free and performing well.
Collaboration Documentation
Perhaps you’ve been working with AutoCAD® for years and did not know there was more than one way to set up an external reference. At this point one should consider how you could have gone so long without knowing this, or other important information. It isn’t as if anyone sets out to keep useful information from their coworkers. It just … happens.
The reason that good information doesn’t get around to everyone is because we are too busy being busy. We’re too busy with phone calls and emails to write down good ideas. We’re too busy with meetings to share discoveries. Most importantly, we’re too busy racing against deadlines to properly document the best practices of the firms we work for. If we could just stop being so busy, we could make the preparations to be able to do even more work!
Best practice documentation does more than waste hours of people tapping away at keyboards, writing page after page to fill big shelves of binders. Best practice documentation is a key ingredient of smooth collaboration for your CAD staff!
Documenting your firm’s best practices accomplishes several vital goals. First, and probably most obvious, it documents the best practices that your firm has developed over the years. These are the practices that have, over time, proven to be the most efficient and approved methods by which you and your staff should be producing your work. Second, and just as important, documenting these best practices ensures that everyone is on the same page, doing the same thing, at the same time. This coordination is a prime ingredient of effective collaboration.
Collaboration Coordination
As we’ve seen, there are plenty of building blocks that can come together for there to be effective collaboration in your drafting room. We’ve already discussed standardizing file structures, externals references, and best practice documentation. One obvious ingredient needed for collaboration is clear communication. And if there is one area of communication that could use improvement in just about any office it is centered on design markups.
How many times have we seen markups cross our desks that are more like riddles than design commentary? Is there even a way to add up the hours that have been lost trying to find black markup lines on a print? Or how many miles you’ve walked up and down the hall to ask your engineer “what does that say?” Or even something as simple as misinterpreting a note that says “remove” to mean “delete this” when the architect wanted a text note that says “remove”?
What is needed is a uniform system for communicating markups. A system that is easy to remember and recognize will clear the lines of communication and accelerate collaboration between your CAD and design staff. The perfect solution for easy markup collaboration is the Four Color Markup scheme, which provides a separate color for each type of markup that can be made on a design sheet.
- Red: Linework or test that should be added to the drawing
- Green: Linework or test that should be removed from the drawing
- Blue: Questions or comments to the drafter
- Yellow: Markups that have been checked or completed
To further customize the scheme and integrate accountability for edits performed, add a fifth color that is different for each drafter in a work group. This simple change makes it possible to easily identify who made the changes listed on the marked up sheet.
This system of multiple colors clarifies the intent of every mark placed on a reviewed sheet. All of this may seem excessive, but the advantages that are possible far outweigh any inconveniences during the initial implementation. Seriously, this is collaboration gold!
Cross-Pollination Collaboration
Collaboration is a pretty fantastic thing, all on its own. What is even more fantastic is that in addition to the benefits of efficiency that you get from collaborating with coworkers, there is the added benefit of naturally occurring cross-training.
It should be plainly obvious to just about anyone considering the matter that each individual member of your team increases his skill set. Creating an environment that fosters collaboration is creating an environment where your staff will have greater exposure to new challenges. Working together and sharing the challenges of large projects provides the opportunities for your staff to pick up new skills and learn entirely new toolsets.
If you find that your collaboration efforts are yielding appreciable levels of cross-training on their own, there is always the option to jump start the effect. All it takes is a small effort to either pair employees with certain disparate skill sets together or intentionally assign employees with nascent skills to tasks that will deliberately stretch their current abilities. Before you know it, your CAD staff will have multiplied their effectiveness by several orders of magnitude.
Conclusion
There you have it. Just a handful of ideas you can pick and choose from to goose the collaboration efforts in your firm. Perhaps your CAD staff is already working together in a pretty fair manner. If so, take these as suggestions and ideas, any one of which could accelerate your current efforts. Perhaps your CAD staff is at an impasse, desperately in need of help to get the collaboration wheel turning at all. If so, then take as many of these ideas as you can grapple in the beginning and add others as you progress.
By no means are the ideas listed above the be all and end all of collaborative effort sustainers. The ways in which you and your CAD staff can come together to collaborate are as endless as the things you can accomplish once you begin collaborating. Along those lines, collaboration is not a black and white issue. There are many shades of grey in the world of collaboration and some shades may be better suited to your particular office than others.
What is paramount is that you give your CAD staff the tools and create an environment that will encourage and support collaboration. In doing so you are not only helping your firm get the most out of the CAD staff, you are helping your CAD staff get the most out of their careers.
