Tech Manager—Stay in the Game
I had the chance to interview Vance Smith, a CAD/BIM Project Technologist with Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd. Engineers (RJC). We discussed how technology managers can become disconnected from the “real work” of a project and their skills can soon be outdated. Most tech managers are involved in the training of staff and staying connected to project work can help improve that training process.
Mark: I appreciate you taking some time to discuss training and project related efforts by managers. Before we begin, can you tell me a little about yourself. What is your title and what are your duties?
Vance: Thanks for connecting. I am a Lead Project Technologist and BIM Lead at RJC. I joined RJC in 2015. I lead a team of technologists developing building models that integrate with architects and other design team members, resulting in accurate and coordinated drawings. My responsibilities include maintaining standards, reviewing quality control, and implementing new tools and methods throughout the entire firm.
Mark: Where are you located and what are the firm’s offerings and markets served?
Vance: We are located in Victoria, BC Canada.
RJC specializes in structural engineering, building science, structural restoration, energy modelling, structural glass and façade engineering, and parking facility design and restoration. RJC Engineers is one of North America’s leading engineering firms. It was founded in 1948.
RJC has 16 offices with nearly 700 people, including 70 in our Vancouver Island offices where I am, offering the service and accessibility of a local firm while provides the depth and resources of a large national organization. We are fully owned by our employees.
Mark: What kind of projects has your firm done?
Vance: Well, in marketing language, RJC provides a “holistic approach to high performance building design, construction, operation, and maintenance. As leaders in sustainable design, we are experienced in developments targeting LEED®, Net Zero Energy, and Passive House, among others”. I just know that I get to work on significant, challenging, high-profile projects in the surrounding area.
One of our projects was Capital Park, a significant mixed-use community development project in the James Bay neighborhood of Victoria. We provided structural engineering working with HDR/Endall Elliot Associates.
Another is 989 Johnson Street. 989 brought “big city living” to Victoria with its two 15 and 17 story glass towers rise from a six-story podium. This building provides 206 homes of varying shapes and sizes plus ground floor retail space.
Mark: Many tech managers have come up through the ranks and advanced into management from the technical side as designers, super users and experts with the tools. When this happens, they tend to stop doing as much project work because they are now leading others. What have you noticed when managers move away from the day-to-day project work?
Vance: As many BIM managers are elevated into their position organically, they are doing less and less production work. Eventually as the firm gets big enough, they are full time manager. This can be a blessing (The team gets someone to do all those tasks that they haven’t had time to do) or a curse (you lose your skills in production that elevated you to this position in the first place!) Revit is constantly changing, and we need to ask ourselves - are the tools and processes I developed even as little as two years ago still effective?
So many times, I’ve gone back to lead a project, only to realize I’ve lost some of the efficiency that I once had. Sometimes it’s like riding a bike, sometimes it’s like forgetting that password to an obscure web site you visited 3 years ago! You can’t be expected to remember everything all the time.
Mark: But as a manager of the tech, aren’t you up to speed on all the new features? You probably know more than most.
Vance: We review the incoming new features and play around with them to advise our teams of their use. But how does that work in practice? Sometimes there is a big difference between daily use of a tool vs ‘trying it out’
Mark: So, what is your advice for tech managers that have become distant from the “front lines”?
Vance: Stay in the game. Do a project once in a while so you stay current and your suggestions work. Walk a mile in their shoes!
We sometimes develop work arounds to deal with limitations in Revit. Are those work arounds still needed? Has Revit dealt with that issue that required a work around? You may be aware of all the new features but not realize some of your families are still using obsolete parameters.
Working on a project can give you the chance to experiment in a real-life situation and make changes on the fly. It’s a nimble way to develop new families or methods and see how they work.
Mark: So, you just join a project team? How does that work?
Vance: I’ve been dropped into a job to help get it across the finish line only to find processes we had set up for the team were not being followed. When challenged why, the response was “oh that didn’t work in this case, so I just made something up!”
Sometimes I might set up and run with a job from scratch – Maybe you’ll see that the templates need tweaking to incorporate some new ideas that have just been developed.
Maybe you can collaborate with another tech to lead a project? This is a great teaching opportunity. Take a very green tech and walk through the steps as you set things up. Maybe you’ll spot things that need to be in a training program.
Mark: You have time to do project work along with your own leadership demands? Aren’t you too busy to be back in production?
Vance: Maybe you leave half a day a week to help out the team (Friday deadlines can always use more help!). Your team will appreciate the help, and you’ll appreciate what your team is going through.
Your staff will appreciate the fact you are in the trenches with them. Nothing is worse than having a leader throw around edicts and commands that have no clue what the implications of those rules mean!
Humble yourself. I’ve worked on a project similar to a junior’s project, only to discover I took longer to complete it than the junior staff! I was trying to use my old methods, and the new staff fully embraced the new tech and weren’t encumbered by prior release methods. It gave me an opportunity to learn new things from someone.
Mark: How can this help others?
Vance: If you do some productions still, don’t just do the challenging jobs that you think no one else can do. Give the hard job to an up-and-coming tech and mentor them along the way. This is a win for both of you – you are not the only one now that can do that type of job, and your coworker has new skills!
Doing a ‘simple’ project that you would normally think is beneath you, gives you a chance to demonstrate that you still have ‘it’, and you might be surprised how your skills may have slid!
Mark: What is the final takeaway from jumping back into projects?
Vance: Working on projects not only affects you but also the designers that you interact with. You may find designers respond by “oh you can do that for me? I don’t have to spell everything out for you to understand?” This can show you how the dynamics of the team are working and identify training opportunities. Your success is not just how well you perform, but how well the whole team performs together. This is a whole topic on its own!
Mark: Thanks again for your insights and suggestions. Staying connected and in the game helps sharpen your training programs and everyone wins.
