Here’s a quick quiz for all you BIM managers: What are your three riskiest Revit models right now?
We’ll wait for your answer. We might even hum the “Jeopardy” theme as you come up with your list.
Did you arrive at three models you “just knew” are causing you issues? Although perception and experience are important parts of a BIM manager’s decision-making, the metrics behind your models often are a better indicator of risk — and efficiency.
Other departments throughout the firm benefit from dashboards and data that inform their processes, strategy, and results. BIM teams should be no exception, but for the longest time they didn’t have access to good metrics to give them the visibility necessary to drive better decisions.
Guardian for Revit bridges the gap between “just knowing” and powerful metrics that deliver a 360-degree view of your Revit models. And we’re not talking “vanity” metrics, but real data that can effect real strategy. Let’s take a look at metrics that truly matter for BIM teams.
Distinguishing the Data
Of course, any BIM data you can access will benefit your team. That said, data quality is crucial, as is the intelligence that metrics are tracking and revealing. Moreover, how you react to the data might be even more important to benefiting from it.
Leading vs. Lagging Indicators
Understanding the difference between leading and lagging indicators provides a way to reduce risk and improve performance — with less scrambling to put out Revit fires.
Leading indicators are metrics that identify Revit trends in progress, such as user warnings being generated and sync habits. If, for example, you see someone on your team isn’t syncing enough — putting model health and progress at risk — you can take action to nudge them to sync more often and decrease the risk.
Lagging indicators might show time spent in the model, errors, non-approved content within the model, and more after-the-fact numbers. These metrics are also important, but they are things BIM teams are forced to react to with hours of rework.
In contrast, leading indicators show things that can be addressed before they cause real damage. Lagging indicators show the aftermath. You need to manage to both, but a heightened focus on the leading indicators reduces the time needed for the lagging ones.
Beware of the Anti-Metrics
Many firm leaders get hung up on vanity metrics, such as raw element counts or total model hours — without any context of what the numbers mean. For example, if the data shows more hours in the model than budgeted, that may be perceived as a big problem, and a generic mandate to be more efficient might be handed down. But if many of the overbudget hours are rework caused by Revit errors, the cure isn’t actually addressing the symptoms and could make the problem worse.
“Anti-metrics" have their place but should be no more than a minor driver in BIM decisions. Are total hours in the model concerning? Look at the leading indicators. Are end-users importing families that clash with project standards? Are they slowing the model down by not syncing? The steps you take proactively can make the vanity metrics less impactful beyond an exec looking at such data and thinking, “Ooh, we’re doing well!”
3 Mighty BIM Metric Categories
With Guardian, you can effortlessly track dozens of metrics that dig into every corner of the model and extract data that Revit doesn’t give up easily. Yes, the basic, dare we say vanity, metrics are there, but our add-on looks beyond the basics. We can break down these essential BIM metrics into three categories:
- Model performance: Metrics such as warning trends, file size trends, sync times, and open times offer insight into the health and efficiency of the Revit model
- User activity: Data that shows how end-users are interacting with the Revit model. These metrics include how often users executed risky commands (e.g., Insert CAD, Explode CAD, Bind Revit Link, Warnings, Manage Worksets), who is working where, and sync habits.
- Standards compliance: Metrics can identify the presence and frequency of out-of-library content and noncompliant graphical standards (e.g., Line Patterns, Line Styles, Fill Patterns, Filled Regions, Text and Dimension Styles, Object Styles and Subcategories, and more).
These four categories share a common theme: They contain metrics that can identify the drivers — whether it’s end-users, the model, or the content — that are getting in the way of efficiency. With this detailed data, BIM teams can take action to clear a path to improved quality and results.
Visibility = Vision
BIM metrics — and the strategy that can be built from them — only matter if you can see them easily, without manually auditing every model and hoping you spot the issues that potentially can become full-blown crises. In Guardian, these metrics are available front and center through features such as Registered Projects, Project Central™, and Guardian Backstage™. Customizable, holistic visibility is just a few clicks away.
See for yourself how Guardian’s metrics and dashboards can help your team. Schedule a demo to learn more.
