Today, we are going to discuss the "Tips for assigning mechanical design workHere is a note about "The
After about 8 years or so of my mechanical design experience.I now have subordinates and assistants. At this point (2023), I have been a mechanical designer for 18 years,Since becoming a freelancer, I have been designing machines remotely, interacting with multiple designers.
In mechanical design, people who can work flawlessly and who can make lines in their own head, especially those who have a sense of responsibility.Time spent explaining is time wasted. If I do it in the time it takes me to explain, the job is done.And there are times when it is a good idea to do so,By assigning workThe result is more items to check.So, I find it difficult (or unwilling) to assign work given the risk.
However,This is where our fate lies.But there is also.
When one goes freelance and takes on a large number of jobs, as I did, it is difficult for one person to design multiple machines simultaneously, and in order to break through, it is inevitably necessary to operate with more than one person. After a lot of trial and error, there are now about 4 people for every 1 person. We are now able to devote 700 to 900 hours of design resources per month.
What was important there was,Find and use ways to duplicate your skills. That's what I meant. Of course, I don't think this is the whole story, but I would like to leave a note today about a trick I am trying to use to distribute work.
Tips for assigning mechanical design work
Three tips for assigning design work
I am.The following are three tips for sorting that I understand at this timeIt is.
- Presentation of the extent of the work and deliverables
- Repeatable explanatory and communication tools
- Ensuring motivation to be strict and thorough
It is. The following is an explanation.
(1) Presentation of the extent of the work and deliverables
The firstPresentation of the extent of the work and deliverables But the important thing is thatCommunicate the extent of deliverables required and the extent of work needed to satisfy them. It is.
Specific methods include
- Divide the work you are doing into smaller pieces.
- Identify specific deliverables for each phase of work (necessary calculations and study documents)
- Clarify the extent of the final deliverables
It is.
Mechanical design is,Work where "why it happened" is very important to the deliverables. It will be a For those of us who swing the workThe finished product is the result that appears on the surface. and it is difficult to know all the circumstances (background and environment) that led to this result.
However,Therein lies the most important rationale in mechanical design. So, we areInstructions should be given to record the rationale as one of the deliverables in advance. will be.
In business, it is important to set a goal and work backward. In design, it is also important to identify and explain the rationale for the required deliverables and the work needed to produce them, so that they can be communicated correctly.
(2) Tools for repeated explanations and communication tools
Next, we discuss explanatory and communication tools.
I would like to go ahead and tell you, and I don't want to mislead you,The practice of creating a "manual" to get the work done, which many people may think of when assigning a job, is now outdated. We believe that this is the case.
The explanatory tools I make full use of aretext note Prepare theExplanatory Video while takingscreencap memo There are three ways to leave the
②-1 Text Memo →. Explanatory Video → Squeegee Memo
Text notes are prepared with bullet points of common things to text. I know some of you are already skimming here,Verbal explanations seem to be communicated well enough, and extra information is given. The following is a list of bulleted items that the person in charge can double-check to see what is needed.
Next, we will take a video of the explanation. Why a video? I know you're probably wondering, so I'll explain my work environment a little bit. Despite the fact that I do 700-900 hours of resources per month,I have never seen the design member's face. (Basically all I know is the name of the business, name, address, bank account, phone, email, and an understanding of that person's skills.)
This is a side note, though, from the fact that I originally ran a design group with sideline members,Knowing what they look like does not affect the deliverables; what is more important is the work environment. This approach is based on the actual experience of
I will take an explanatory video of the PC screen and explain in detail what I want to do, where I want you to see it, and where there is supplementary data. Of course, it will be my one-sided explanation, so there will be no conversation there, and I can tell them what they need to know in the fastest possible time. There is no travel time, no need to take a conference room, and most importantly, I don't have to hold up the time I work because I can look at it over and over as needed when the other person is working, or look at it once to grasp the extent of the work and finish it when I can concentrate on the work.
2-2 Communication Tools
The members work based on the data that is unilaterally input from us, and of course, questions arise. Of course, questions may arise, and this is when we use LINE. We use Teams, etc., to communicate with customers, but LINE is sufficient for exchanging messages between workers.
Securing motivation to be strict and thorough
We will now discuss the motivation to further evolve the deliverables.
When I was a salaried employee, the design department was organized in order of seniority, partly because it was a small to medium-sized company in the countryside. It was an old-fashioned organizational structure that was based on seniority rather than on ability or willingness to work. At that time, because it was a small rural company, people including myself, who did not have an industrial education or who had a little bit of skill were treated in a special way.
I thought that in the job of mechanical design, it is those who are competent who should not be left out of it, that the right people should be thoroughly involved in practical work at the right places, and that the period of technical succession should be lengthened. It would take a long time to explain the process from there to the way we are doing it now, so I will spare you the details, but the results are as follows.
- Results-oriented (objective)
- Competitive environment with no differentiation in incentives (mechanism to increase completion)
- Overwhelming amount of work (amount of information) Creating an environment that makes it easy to find optimal solutions
- This is what we will be looking at and supplementing closely.
It is.
In the topic of this article, Tips for Assigning Mechanical Design Jobs, I would like to mention something that is completely different from a typical job,Design work is very difficult to standardize, and it is difficult to establish a systematic design process as in the design of similar products.
In many environments, people are so focused on systematic design methods that they stop thinking and can only make decisions based on comparisons with the past. The often-heard statement "there is no precedent" is a typical example of this.
I am happy if the results of my work, which is to assign mechanical design work, come out exactly as I had hoped,The benefits of assigning mechanical design work will only be realized when you simultaneously create an environment where the results exceed what you had in mind. I think. The result is the above four items.
This is the kind of environment that the design team members have, and they are not involved in the work environment.An environment that allows for a high level of motivation while being left alone is also an important factor. In the midst of this work, it is important that we take a close look at the latest information on a regular basis.
When working in the office, if someone says something unnecessary to you, your work will stop, and if deadlines are involved, it will be difficult to maintain mental stability. In this regard, I do my best not to interrupt the work of my team members by checking models and commenting on them at night or on weekends.
In an organization like a company with regular work hours, it is necessary to compress the necessary work and include it within the regular work hours, so it is appropriate to outsource the design work.
Finally.
Although I am still a novice, I am facing the challenge of conquering this difficult job of mechanical design on a daily basis. Fortunately, more and more customers are requesting designs from me, and what they are looking for now is a design group that has design capabilities and can handle many tasks.
- than working on your own.How to reduce the risk of taking extra time
- than working on your own.How to reduce the risk of easy mistakes
I believe that all of this, including the tips for eliminating these risks, is the key to allocating work.
That's it.
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