The Architect's Guide to Small Firm Management E-Book

Rena M. Klein

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 372

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2010

Beschreibung

The definitive guide to management success for sole practitioners and leaders of small design firms Owning and operating a small architectural design firm can be challenging, with tight project deadlines, on-the-fly meetings, rush proposals, and fluctuating workloads as part of the firm's day-to-day activities. To help small firm owners cope with the chaos and prepare for the unexpected, here is The Architect's Guide to Small Firm Management, a no-nonsense guide to repurposing daily demands into workable, goal-directed solutions. Crucial topics such as self-aware leadership, people management, technology, financial health, scenario planning, sustainable practice, and future trends are examined using real-life case studies and business model paradigms. This definitive text explores the whole system experience of a small firm practice to deliver organizational strategies proven to keep a firm's creative mission on a steady, productive path. The Architect's Guide to Small Firm Management addresses how small firm owners can: * Deal effectively with unexpected circumstances and shifting work requirements * Meet the demands of the marketplace while creating a satisfying workplace * Set and achieve goals in an environment of constant change This book is a must-have for those facing the often harsh reality of managing small design firms in a difficult and changing economy. Entrepreneurial architects and designers will discover how to define their own personal and professional meanings of success, as well as how to refocus their business approach to replace long, unrewarding hours with manageable, satisfying ones.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Acknowledgements

Introduction

PART I - MANAGING IN AN UNPREDICTABLE ENVIRONMENT

CHAPTER 1 - BRINGING ORDER OUT OF CHAOS

PROFIT AND SATISFACTION

DESIGN FIRM BUSINESS MODELS

ANY PROJECT THAT COMES THROUGH THE DOOR

SMALL FIRM ARCHETYPES

ENDNOTES

CHAPTER 2 - WHOLE FIRM SYSTEM

LINEAR THINKING AND SYSTEMS THINKING

RECOGNIZING PATTERNS

CORE INCOMPETENCE

WHOLE FIRM SYSTEM DIAGRAM

ENDNOTES

CHAPTER 3 - ROUTINIZE THE ROUTINE

OPERATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS

THE TYPOLOGY OF WORK

HOW TO ROUTINIZE

ENDNOTES

CHAPTER 4 - LEADERSHIP MATTERS

FIRM CULTURE

WORKING WITH CREATIVE PEOPLE

PARTNERSHIPS

ENDNOTES

PART II - BEST LAID PLANS

CHAPTER 5 - LIFECYCLE OF A SMALL FIRM

WEALTH OR CONTROL

GETTING TO THE NEXT LEVEL

ENDNOTES

CHAPTER 6 - TRANSITION TIMES

THE 10-YEAR ITCH

APPROACHING RETIREMENT

OWNERSHIP TRANSITION OPTIONS

ENDNOTES

CHAPTER 7 - FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT: BEYOND INTUITION

MACROECONOMIC INFLUENCES

FINANCIAL TERMINOLOGY

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE INDICATORS AND BENCHMARKS

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT TASKS

ENDNOTE

CHAPTER 8 - SCENARIO PLANNING

INFLUENCES ON PROFITABILITY

STRATEGIES FOR INCREASING PROFITABILITY

SCENARIO PLANNING STORY PROBLEM

PLANNING FIRM GROWTH

PART III - LOOKING TOWARD THE FUTURE

CHAPTER 9 - STRATEGIC THINKING

BUSINESS PLANNING FOR SMALL DESIGN FIRMS

LEARNING IS JOB ONE

ENDNOTES

CHAPTER 10 - SMALL DESIGN FIRM PRACTICE MODELS

SOLO PRACTICE

CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR SOLO PRACTITIONERS

FIRMS OWNED BY MARRIED COUPLES

SMALL FIRMS IN INTERNATIONAL PRACTICE

THE VIRTUAL OFFICE OPTION

ENDNOTES

CHAPTER 11 - TECHNOLOGY AND INTEGRATED PRACTICE IN SMALL FIRMS

ADOPTING BUILDING INFORMATION MODELING

INTEGRATED PRACTICE AND INTEGRATED PROJECT DELIVERY

ARCHITECT-LED DESIGN-BUILD

ARCHITECT DEVELOPER

ENDNOTES

CHAPTER 12 - BIG-PICTURE TRENDS

DIVERSITY IN PRACTICE

GENERATION GAPS

WOMEN IN DESIGN FIRM LEADERSHIP

TWENTY-FIRST-CENTURY WORKPLACE

ENDNOTES

CHAPTER 13 - SUSTAINABLE ECONOMICS

TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE

SUSTAINABLE DESIGN FIRM PRACTICE

GREENING THE WORKPLACE

VALUES-BASED PRACTICE

FINAL WORDS

ENDNOTES

INDEX

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Copyright © 2010 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Klein, Rena M.

The architect’s guide to small firm management / by Rena M. Klein.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-0-470-46648-3 (cloth : alk. paper)

1. Architectural practice-United States-Management. I. Title.

NA1996.K55 2010 720.68-dc222009041799

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am deeply grateful to all those who assisted and supported me in writing this book. I am indebted in particular to those who offered their insights as peer reviewers of the text and illustrations: Colette Wallace, Assoc. AIA, Robert Smith, AIA, Alan Ford, AIA, and Richard Hobbs, FAIA. Their comments improved the contents and meaning of this book beyond measure.

I would also like to thank the many practitioners who were interviewed and observed in the course of this book’s creation. I am grateful for knowledge gained through working with my consulting clients and with various groups of colleagues in the AIA. In addition, I would like to acknowledge the contributions of the wider community of architectural practice. In many ways, this book was co-created by all the architects and designers with whom I’ve had conversations and shared stories over the years, especially my fellow small firm practitioners.

This book would not have been possible without the encouragement and mentoring of Barbara Nadel, FAIA, who taught me a great deal about writing. I also appreciate the help given by Linda Reeder, AIA, significant in the initial phases of this work. The opportunity to write for AIA national’s online knowledge resource and to work with Richard Hayes, PhD, AIA, was also meaningful in the development of this book.

I would also like to thank John Czarnecki, Assoc. AIA, Sadie Abuhoff, Kerstin Nasdeo, Nancy Cintron, and all others at John Wiley & Sons Publishing who contributed to this project. I appreciate their professionalism and assistance throughout this entire effort.

I would be remiss if I did not express my heartfelt appreciation for the ongoing personal and professional support given to me by Marga Rose Hancock, Hon. AIA. And, I am now and will always be full of gratitude for the love and support of my partner, Sheila Fox, in this project and in countless other ways. Thank you all.

INTRODUCTION

I know what it’s like to run a small design firm. I’ve been there in the trenches, running my architectural firm in Seattle for over 20 years. I understand the excitement and the satisfaction that can be had from serving clients and the community through excellent design solutions. I also understand the frustration that can result from low compensation, long hours, rushing from deadline to deadline, and coping with endless work load fluctuations.

In 1994, after running my firm for 12 years, I decided to go to graduate school to study management. I was not feeling content in my practice and I wanted to understand how the architectural workplace could be improved, and how small firm practitioners, including myself, might become more satisfied in our work. And on a more practical note, I wanted to acquire the tools to make running my firm less stressful and more profitable.

After my graduation, I was inspired to share my newly acquired knowledge with other small firm practitioners. I began to teach through the AIA, at local, regional, and national venues. I also began to deepen my knowledge through an emerging consulting practice, helping leaders of other small firms gain more satisfaction and profitability at their firms. Since 2003, my primary professional focus has been consulting with owners of small design firms, writing about design firm practice, and teaching about management to both practitioners and students of architecture and design.

Call me naïve, but when I started my graduate education, I was amazed to discover that there was actually a discipline of management, with a history, a theoretical basis, and a body of knowledge. I also discovered the discipline of organizational design and development. I began to understand that it was possible to design organizations with the same basic processes that we use to design buildings. I realized that my design colleagues could benefit greatly by learning that the same holistic thinking required to design a building could be applied to developing and managing a firm.

Underlying all business challenges for design firms is the reality that we operate within a milieu of unpredictability. The day-to-day demands caused by this unpredictable environment can make it difficult for firm owners to reach their professional goals, such as acquiring more interesting projects, or growing their firms. The intention of this book is to help entrepreneurial architects and designers develop their firms into flourishing and stable businesses that are also reflective of their values and personal definitions of success.

Definitions of “small firm” vary in our thinking and in the literature on the subject. For the purposes of this book, a small firm is defined loosely as a firm with less than twenty people. A word about the case studies included in this book. The reader will notice that there are two kinds of case studies cited: those that are anonymous (fictitious initials are used); and those that are attributed to particular practitioners and used with their permission. Of the stories that are anonymous, most are composite or typical experiences and are not based on material from a specific practitioner, despite any accidental resemblance that may occur.

This book also includes stories of very small firms, of couples who own a design firm together, and of solo practitioners. These types of firms are numerous, but their stories are seldom told and the knowledge they acquire often is not widely circulated. Gathering and spreading some of the wisdom of small firm practitioners is another purpose of this book.

While there are many books on practice management that outline the proper ways to manage a design firm, most approach the subject in a reductionist manner and many completely ignore the experience of small firm practitioners. Topics are separated into functional silos such as operations, marketing, human resource, or finance. This can be helpful for specific business problems and there are chapters in this book that focus on individual business competencies such as finance and leadership.

However, this book approaches small firm practice as a whole system experience. All of the functional silos merge when small firm owners do everything from writing proposals to sweeping the floor. Decisions are more likely to be made through conversation and intuition than through the use of analytical tools and best practices. Like a complex design problem, everything in a small firm is closely connected and the effects of any action can ripple quickly through the entire system.

Some of the material in this book is quite theoretical. But as stated by social psychology pioneer Kurt Lewin, a name well known in management history, “There’s nothing as practical as a good theory.” I think most architects and designers would agree. Along with theory, there are also many tools, examples, and case studies in the book intended to increase the reader skill in managing and strategically developing a successful design firm. I bring my years of experience as an entrepreneurial architect, my academic studies and research, my work as a consultant, and my common-sense approach to the writing of this book. My hope is that reading this book will assist my fellow small firm architects and designers in meeting the challenge of “making chaos work for you.”

PART I

MANAGING IN AN UNPREDICTABLE ENVIRONMENT

CHAPTER 1

BRINGING ORDER OUT OF CHAOS

Managing a small design firm can be like running a three-ring circus. Anything can happen at any time. The action is unrelenting, demanding, and unpredictable. To keep it all in motion, many small firm owners work evenings and weekends on a regular basis. It is not unusual for these firm principals to spend their days “fire-fighting,” or scrambling to take advantage of a sudden opportunity.

Take the case of BB Architects. The principal there usually works 60 to 70 hours a week. Often he is in his office until eight or nine at night, he regularly works on weekends, and when he does go home, he takes work with him. He would like to spend more time with his friends and family, but the demands of his six-person practice seem to make that nearly impossible. For example, last week one of his project architects was out sick, and there was no one else but the principal to do the necessary work. At the same time—in addition to the usual work load—a great job opportunity arose which required that a quick proposal be written. This week, a project in construction is demanding immediate attention, the bookkeeper quit, and a major deadline looms. The principal likes his work and is stimulated by the pressure and variety, but feels vaguely like he’s on a treadmill, never advancing, even falling a little more behind each day. Often he’s just tired, and wonders how long he can go on this way.

Many principals in firms with fewer than 20 on staff will describe their work life this way. The work can be incessant and often challenging. Yet, most small firm principals are stimulated by the pressure and enjoy the autonomy, the control, and the opportunity for design expression. Nevertheless, there is often an underlying feeling of dissatisfaction and apprehension, working hard, but never sure what the future will bring. Constantly coping with day-to-day demands of projects, contractors, clients, and staff, while also running a business, can take its toll.