3 Ways to Convert an AutoCAD Fanatic to Revit

People like their job because they are good at it. If you are the best at AutoCAD in your office, of course you will be reluctant to switch. You might discard Revit based on numerous Myths you heard. Or maybe you'll bring up "rational" reasons like cost, complexity and training.

Deep inside, you know the actual reason for your reluctance. Switching puts you in a situation of unsecurity and uncertainty.

The first step is to admit this to yourself: I don't want to learn Revit because I like AutoCAD and I am good at it.

AutoCAD fanatics will resist this statement. Wait, I actually tried Revit and warnings were really annoying! It crippled my artistic freedom! Wall joins suck!

You'll need some time go over the mental barrier. Then, you can start to relax, learn Revit, have fun and liberate yourself from the 2D oppression.

It's already working: you started offended by the title of this blog post. Then you realized it was truthful and you are already on your way to buy and learn Revit.

Maybe you've already converted to Revit and want to help friends and colleagues go through the same process. The tips below are for you.

1- Demonstrate Instead of Explaining

Trying to convince colleagues that Revit is awesome by talking is a waste of time. You say "efficient", they hear "complicated".

In our office, we set up a quarterly Revit Fun Hour where I demonstrate cool features that might help people save time. If I am talking to architects and designers, I'll show them how to create a beautiful elevation in a few minutes. If I am speaking to draftsmens, I'll show them how to create filters to save time setting up C.D.

Demonstrating for 1 hour is worth more than 100 hours of arguments.

2- Keep the Standards Simple

Many BIM managers want the perfect template with the perfect standards. Sadly, people are not robots and that just doesn't work with beginners.

You better have simple and flawed standards that people respect than perfect standards that people ignore. If you try to shove a complicated template down people throat, they will get angry and blame Revit.

Keep standards strict enough so users are not lost, but loose enough so they have wiggle room to explore and mess things up a little bit. Learning requires trial and error. A template that doesn't allow any error whatsoever can create disasters.

I am not advocating a free-for-all approach. People still need guidance. But when integrating Revit in an office, standards should fit on a couple of pages and be easily understood by everybody, including the most intense CAD fanatics.

Only when users get better and start embracing Revit should you refine the standards.

3- Get the Help of Young BIM Champions

Every AutoCAD fanatic using Revit should have easy access to an enthusiastic BIM champion that can solve any of their problem.

Make sure to find the right champions. For every 30 architecture students out there, you can expect at least a couple of them to be complete nerds that can learn any program in a couple of days. Hire them.

Make sure there is a least one BIM champion assigned for every Revit project you will be working on.

Ready to start your BIM conversion therapy? Head over to bimpure.com to subscribe to our Revit and BIM learning program.