Design Manager: What is design management in architecture?

Design Manager What is Design Management in Architecture is the first article of a series of articles about design management in architecture practice. In the real world, an architect or any interested individual in the field of design management, and project design management, will find many resources about this subject. These are research papers, reports, books, and theses that fulfill their goals of providing the subject of the document whether it is theory-based research about a specific subject in design management or a book that attracts readers for its design management knowledge content as a practice base. The academic and even the practice arena put the professionals in overwhelming status by providing publications that are linked to design management, and project design management, and merely applied in practice. For example, you can find topics like creative thinking, decision-making, knowledge-sharing concepts, architectural design methods, strategic design management, sustainability, and other topics about design management. In Google Scholar you can find 5 million publications on topics of design management, and project design management, and for that, you can observe the hazards of these publications and how much destruction it makes in reality for someone holding a design manager position.

The reality contradicts many aspects of writings and publications that show extreme openness and sincerity at the very least to the reader and the architecture community. For example, in many European companies operating in the Middle East, I worked directly or indirectly, assigning a design manager to someone who works under a project manager, and a design manager to a director level in the organization chart of an architecture firm. In this context, there is a misconception about the design manager position in the organization chart that handles project design management. Another related matter is a misunderstanding of the real role of a design manager and who he should be. But, unfortunately, companies, here in the Middle East, assign positions to serve their goals to achieve only a financial benefit, not more. This causes a lot of failures and defects in the company operations in the long run and makes a work destabilizing status.

The misconception is at which level a design manager should be in the company organization chart. A design manager regardless of if he is an architect or architect-engineer, should be in the business for a certain amount of years when handling the architectural design for a project, preparing construction drawings, having real-world knowledge about writing specifications, and how to handle bidding documents for the construction phase. The design manager should have experience in working with a group of architects at a senior level and coordinating the latter works. The project includes practice experience in the structural system and related design specification and construction matters. Adding to that mechanical and electrical experience and knowledge of the building design. If the design manager does not possess this type of practical experience relevant to project design management that does not mean design knowledge but how systems work, then should have experience in the process of design.

Now having mentioned all that a design manager who possesses all this practical experience it is evident that an individual to reach that level of experience possession needs at least either worked in the field for 15+ years or handled or worked with a team in completing several buildings in the targeted scale high rise or low rise and any type of function. In passing all the stages of a project lifecycle in practice a professional will have the experience to manage the design and handle project design management.  

In practice, you find many articles on job boards and professional bodies publications like LinkedIn and others about training and guides about design management and project design management these contain the jargon of practice related to the design management field. They include unnecessary information that does not relate directly to a design management job like he should possess experience in running a business or how fiscal matters are handled in a company operations, business budget that is allocated to a specific project, design management role in attracting new clients, projects, and company growth goals, and other matters like outsourcing company work and design manager involvement in the construction phase.

Design management and project design management are actively involved with many architectural practice daily activities. For example, meeting new clients for newly assigned projects, and analyzing and assessing the project components to build a project design program. The meeting, evaluating, and outsourcing companies involved in the design process. Assessing and building a project team for a project. Planning a project lifecycle and timeline in the design phase including planning and municipality authorities submittals and approvals. Monitoring and quality control through assigned professionals for the design phase. And continuous meetings with clients in every stage of the design phase for approvals and updates about the project status.

Design management in practice in the real world, not theoretical, is the process of managing design and people activities. It’s the process of operating meetings with clients, and outsourcing design companies as well as the higher management officials on demand or planned meetings. Planning the project lifecycle in terms of phasing, timing, team building, project outcomes, quality control, authority, and client submittals and approvals, managing delay, and teamwork environment problem-solving.

In some companies in the Middle East, they involve the design manager in various activities and hold him responsible for the outcomes and failures. For example, studying consultancy contracts with clients for a specific project and its alignment with country rules and regulations as well as industry standards and FIDIC requirements. Other companies hold him responsible for financial budgeting for the design phase for the internal team and outsourcing as well as company spending within the process. Administration activities like daily attendance sheets, hourly work, and weekly work reports, the development of staff, and looking for company growth through employing professionals that contribute to an uptrend in company work like people who have direct relations with clients outside of the client circle in the company. Continuous evaluation of staff performance for staff financial development, wages, and yearly increments. The review of the project documentation from the initiating phase, in some cases responsible for generating reports, client reports, design quality control reports, specification reports for submittals and internal design work, financial reports of every stage spending, issuing documents for consultancy fees payments, project records of the financial external payments to outsourcing companies and spending. A design manager is considered as the owner of the company and the Business itself.