Architecture & Engineering Business Strategies

In the past decade, the number of small architecture firms has been shrinking while the number of large firms has increased. The reason? A steep rise in the complexity of the projects firms are working on. As buildings get taller and more advanced, firms need bigger teams to handle the scope. And those teams would be lost without a good project manager to organize it all. Flora Bao, project manager at Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), shared what it takes to be an excellent project manager, from soft skills to design knowledge to balancing internal and external goals.

Interview Takeaways

• Meet demands of large projects with larger firms
• Balance design experience with communication
• Change the PM role based on firm size
• Use simple tools
• Figure out org charts
• Cut up large projects into chunks
• Develop soft skills
• Clarify internal and external goals
• Work with each team member individually
• Embrace generalist teams
• Gather experience
• Succeed by making everyone happy

Show Links

• Check out BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group
• Follow BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Connect with Flora Bao on LinkedIn
• Connect with George Valdes on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Check out Monograph
• Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
• Listen and read more about Monograph

Life at a busy firm can be a mad scramble. When partners and owners start to wear too many hats, key information can slip through the cracks. Over time, the value of that missed information and haphazard staffing plans can add up. That’s why mid-size firms with a healthy budget should consider investing in a new hire: a financial operations role. When Snow Kreilich Architects hired bookkeeper and architect Sarah Hughes as Director Of Finance + Operations, they quickly felt the benefits.

Interview Takeaways

• Do the math when hiring for operations
• Connect the dots on staffing and financials
• Prepare to navigate paused projects
• Engage in cash flow forecasting
• Find ways to absorb downtime
• Educate clients on the ramifications of paused projects
• Monitor staff hours to prevent burnout
• Use project data to make better decisions
• Create new proposals based on past projects
• An operations role lets you track data consistently
• Every firm can benefit from an operations role
• Improve operations through collaboration

Show Links

• Check out Snow Kreilich Architects
• Connect with Trevor Bullen on LinkedIn
• Connect with Sarah Hughes on LinkedIn
• Connect with George Valdes on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Check out Monograph
• Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
• Listen and read more about Monograph

If you want your firm to become known for a clear ethos, aesthetic, and vision, then you need to fold that identity into everything you do. From the clients and contractors you choose to work with to your office culture and the computers you buy, every action—large or small—should contribute to that overarching vision. This is the case at Trahan Architects. Partner Brad McWhirter and Director of Urban Design Margaret Jankowsky joined us to share how Trahan has forged a unique identity.

Interview Takeaways

• Define urban design
• Maintain the ethos of a single firm
• Hone your virtual client skills
• Foster office-wide communication
• Start the design process from square one
• Foster collaborative partnerships
• Blur the line between disciplines
• The solution isn’t always a building
• Bring the client along for the design ride
• Bring the best idea forward
• Embed your firm’s ethos in everything you do
• Align with the right clients

Show Links

• Check out Trahan Architects
• Connect with Brad McWhirter on LinkedIn
• Connect with Margaret Jankowsky on LinkedIn
• Connect with George Valdes on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Check out Monograph
• Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
• Listen and read more about Monograph

The world of architecture is getting more interesting—and complicated—by the day. Sometimes the best way to tackle your projects is to loop in specialists and consultants who have both the skill and network needed to get the job done. Amy Baker is a spec writing consultant and freelance architect who loves digging deep into the “nerdy” side of projects. Chris O’Hara is a founding Principal of Studio NYL, a group of structural engineers and facade designers. Amy and Chris teamed up to walk us through what specialists do, and how they can work to help firms like yours.

Interview Takeaways

• Assign someone to capture big decisions
• Expect consultants to interview you
• Don’t wait until the last minute to involve consultants
• Rethink the project bidding process
• Let consultants act as translators
• Consultants can help lock in specific products and vendors
• Benefit from consultants who are doing constant research & development
• Let consultants speak their own language
• Prioritize a holistic project view
• Don’t be intimidated by consultants
• Navigate the complexity of today’s construction industry
• Understand how consultant and manufacturer spec-writing compares

Show Links

• Check out Amy Baker Architect and connect with Amy Baker on LinkedIn
• Check out Studio NYL and connect with Chris O’Hara on LinkedIn
• Connect with George Valdes on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Check out Monograph
• Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
• Listen and read more about Monograph

To design and construct the best building possible, you need to be intentional every step of the way. From honing your toolkit of best practices to creating SOPs to collaborating with other professionals, excellence is the name of the game. That’s the philosophy of Nick Schiffer, owner & CEO of NS Builders. In this interview, Nick shares his process and explains why the best results happen when builders and architects work side-by-side.

Interview Takeaways

• Take an intentional approach to design and construction
• Pursue excellence at all costs
• Get innovative when solving design problems
• Don’t let builders rein in your imagination
• Allow builders and architects to join forces
• Bring in a builder early on
• Seek out feedback to build better budgets
• Don’t get stuck in the architecture status quo
• Standardize every process for accurate estimates
• Measure management success
• Be a risk-taker
• Build a business that gives back

Show Links

• Check out NS Builders
• Follow NS Builders on LinkedIn
• Connect with Nick Schiffer on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Connect with George Valdes on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Check out Monograph
• Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
• Listen and read more about Monograph

Real estate developers often keep their eye on the bottom line—for them, it’s all about how a property can make money. Architects, meanwhile, focus on design, but rarely have control over the built environment. But it’s possible to do both. Alloy Development is a hybrid architecture-development firm. Director of Construction Alexandra Militano joined us to explain how they’re equally focused on design impact and property value.

Interview Takeaways

• Make design a priority in development
• Balance design and construction knowledge to cut back on adjustments
• Bring out the best in a location
• Invest in amenities
• Treat the community as a stakeholder
• Learn real estate development by doing it
• Cultivate investors
• Add to the five phases of architecture
• Understand the client’s frustrations with time
• Build relationships at the construction site
• Use a construction manager to bridge gaps

Show Links

• Check out Alloy Development and follow them on LinkedIn
• Connect with Alexandra Militano on LinkedIn
• Connect with George Valdes on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Check out Monograph
• Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
• Listen and read more about Monograph

There are many ways to grow an architecture firm, and many values that can guide you along the way. But one quality in particular will allow your firm to grow and evolve far into the future: generosity. In this episode Alan Maskin and Jerry Garcia, principals at Olson Kundig, told us how the spirit of generosity has influenced their growth over several decades and runs through their team today.

Interview Takeaways

• Design your office to reflect who you are
• Create space for group discussion
• Keep crits alive in the pandemic
• Make education a priority
• Look for passion in design
• Pay attention to the elephants in the room
• Bring in experienced architects
• Don’t try to do it all
• Grow to accommodate interesting projects
• Business-focused leadership relieves a burden
• Use crits to learn in real-time
• Encourage design evolution with crits

Show Links

• Check out Olson Kundig
• Follow Olson Kundig on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Connect with Alan Maskin on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Connect with Jerry Garcia on LinkedIn
• Connect with George Valdes on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Check out Monograph
• Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
• Listen and read more about Monograph

For an architect hoping to own their own firm one day, there are two paths available. One is the traditional path: starting your own firm from scratch. The other is to buy an existing firm and transition into its new owner. This second option is less talked about, but with the rate of Baby Boomers retiring, it will become more and more important to the future of architecture. Leah Bayer and Kate Conley recently took that path, and created a new partnership at the established firm OJK Architecture.

Interview Takeaways

• Map out a partnership
• Balance strengths and weaknesses
• Get to the important work faster
• Create a buyout plan that works for both parties
• Find paths for new owners
• Shift firm culture
• Use tech to build a remote culture
• Welcome asynchronous talent
• Make more spaces for conversation and collaboration
• Stay local even when you’re remote
• Continue relationships with founders
• Feel legitimate as a fully remote firm

Show Links

• Check out OJK Architecture
• Follow OJK Architecture on LinkedIn
• Connect with Leah Bayer on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Connect with Kate Conley on LinkedIn
• Connect with George Valdes on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Check out Monograph
• Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
• Listen and read more about Monograph

Shane Balcom joined Rossmann Architecture in July 2020 and hasn’t looked back. Since Balcom’s arrival, the Ottawa-based firm has seen its revenue triple and the size of its team double, thanks in part to the leadership principles the managing director has brought to the table. In a conversation with Monograph’s Best Practice co-hosts Chris Morgan and George Valdes, Balcom discussed the role company culture plays in the health of a company’s bottom line, how routine has created a needed sense of stability, and the best practices he’s instituted to make Rossmann a thriving firm.

Interview Takeaways

• Streamline decision-making to help increase revenue
• Culture is an essential part of company growth
• Vertical leadership structure is still important
• Use weekly one-on-ones to create stickiness
• How retaking control in project management shapes strategy
• Institute a ‘forecast rhythm’ to help with planning
• The value of staying consistent
• Transparency and respect go hand in hand
• Understand the role work plays in people’s lives
• The power of delegation
• Pay incentives can help bolster company culture
• Source ideas from everyone

Show Links

• Check out Rossmann Architecture Inc.
• Follow Rossmann Architecture Inc. on LinkedIn
• Connect with Shane Balcom on LinkedIn
• Connect with George Valdes on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Check out Monograph
• Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Listen and read more about Monograph

The common issues that architects struggle with -- getting paid, project control, long hours -- have been around since the dawn of the profession. There are traditional ways of working that have remained in place even as the world rapidly changes. But Jacob Reidel of Saltmine thinks it’s time to embrace a different way of practicing. His take? Firms should close the loop between design and outcomes, build teams that focus on customer success, and accept that design doesn’t have to be king.

Interview Takeaways

• Dive deep into architecture subjects
• Trace present issues to the past
• Embrace different ways to practice architecture
• Close the feedback loop between design and outcomes
• Bridge the gap between design, delivery, and sales
• Design doesn’t have to be king
• Expand your professional vocabulary
• Make a path for researchers
• Connect the dots with a customer success team
• Make room for customer success in practice
• Tie performance bonuses to NPS
• Use data to measure building performance

Show Links

• Check out Saltmine
• Follow Saltmine or LinkedIn
• Connect with Jacob Reidel on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Connect with George Valdes on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Check out Monograph
• Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
• Listen and read more about Monograph