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An upcoming IMechE training course for engineers and managers can boost the effectiveness and usefulness of this vital process. Design Reviews, next running in Coventry on 13-14 November, explores both the technical and people aspects of effective design reviews.
Here, one of the course trainers, Harvey Leach, gives five tips to help you make the most of design reviews.
Understand what they are for
There is a British standard for design reviews, which sees them as a meeting whose purpose is not just to check whether the design meets the requirements but, perhaps more significantly, to improve the design. This latter purpose often gets missed in organisations.
Designers sometimes feel that they’re coming for their work to be judged. If you come in with that mindset, the way you present stuff is very different. People have a fear of failure, or get very defensive. If you come with a mindset that says, ‘I'm here to get some ideas so we can do a better job,’ that will be much more successful.
The opposite approach is thinking of it as a box-ticking exercise, ‘Let’s just get it over with.’ In neither case is it really fulfilling its purpose.
What we're really trying to do is identify any problems with the design while it's still quite fluid, and there's lots of opportunity to change it without adding lots of extra project cost. If we pick up design problems later, when we've already committed manufacturing facilities or we've tested prototypes, we don't want to change it because it becomes much more time-consuming and expensive.
Get the right people involved
Make sure you're bringing in the production people, the manufacturing engineering people, the people who will deal with stuff that goes wrong in the field, so we're focusing on the production process and the servicing process as well as getting a product that meets the performance that customers want.
Prepare properly
The review needs to be set up to be successful. Make sure people understand the agenda well enough, and that they're clear on what the review is trying to achieve, with plenty of time to prepare – not ‘We sent you the information pack yesterday and the meeting is today, and it’s 300 pages.’
Create the right kind of dialogue
If people have different points of view, it's not about arguing who's right. It's about understanding those two different ideas and trying to synthesize them to get a better design.
The person chairing the meeting shouldn't have their own personal agenda. If it's a project manager, they might want to get the box ticked, which isn't the goal. You need someone who can be objective chairing the meeting, to make sure it's conducted well.
If you're the designer presenting your stuff, be ready to receive that feedback in a positive way, which means explaining your design decisions rather than defending them.
If you’re the reviewer, it's about asking questions and making suggestions rather than saying ‘You've done that wrong’ or trying to catch them out.
Don’t stop the process at the end of the meeting
The design review doesn't end at the end of the meeting. Actions and recommendations that come up in the meeting should be looked at to make the design better. We also need to make sure we learn about the overall design process, to improve in the next project. It should be a virtuous cycle of continuous improvement.
IMechE’s Design Reviews course runs in Coventry on 13-14 November. Find out more and book on the IMechE training page.
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Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily represent the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.