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CHAPTER 1: WHAT’S INVOLVED: DEFINING THE POSITION ■
Understanding the Users’ Perspective
Obviously, CAD managers have to support and serve CAD users. After all, if there
were no CAD users, there would be no CAD managers. You have to be cognizant of
what your users think and need and how you’ll meet their requirements. Simply stated,
you must step outside yourself and consider the users’ perspective. This wouldn’t seem
to be too much of a stretch because most of us got our start in this field as CAD users.
If you can get yourself in the mental state of being a regular user and remember how
you felt at the time, you should be in good shape, right?
Most CAD managers, however, were not basic users, but power users. The power
user is a more self-sufficient individual who takes pride in not needing to ask for help.
Most of us became CAD managers precisely because we were the power users who
could solve software or hardware problems independently. Consequently, most CAD
managers possess a can-do, take-action, I’m-going-to-fix-this mind-set that can be
intolerant of those who require lots of support. Be keenly aware of whether you have
this perspective, because being dismissive of user problems inevitably leads to user
dissatisfaction.
Consider your users and how they think. Try to identify all your users in terms
of their learning styles and the needed level of support. Over time, I’ve come to accept
that users care about a narrower set of issues than the CAD manager does and that
they judge their CAD manager based on how they feel about the following parameters:
• Does their hardware work?
• Does their software work?
• Can they get support when they need it?
• Is CAD management a tool that helps them achieve work objectives or a barrier
that makes their job harder?
To gauge how your users feel about their working environment, you need to put
yourself in their shoes and ask the following questions as honestly as you can:
• How much of your support do your users really need?
• Would your users say their CAD environment (hardware and software) is great,
adequate, or poor?
• Do your users feel well supported?
• Do your users feel they need additional training to succeed?
• Do your users feel that you (the CAD manager) are concerned with their pro-
ductivity and ability to get work projects done efficiently?
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