Firm or project design management plan?

Firm or project design management plan is the third article of a series. Articles about design management in architecture practice. I have discussed in the previous articles what is design management and who is the design manager in practice. In this article, I am going to discuss whether, in practice, building a design management plan is to manage a project or a firm.

A design manager, as illustrated in the second article, builds a design management plan. Indeed, his firm holds him responsible for a project or more than one project. In Other case, the firm holds the design manager responsible for the whole architectural design and related activities in the firm. Thus, he builds a design management plan for a firm that represents more complex tasks in terms of nested activities and responsibilities.

A design management plan includes three main components: managing People, Systems, and architectural design work.

A firm design management plan includes several activities, tasks, duties, and responsibilities. Starting from the top hierarchy of the firm to the lower level of the firm. With it, a design manager monitors and controls the whole design management of the firm.

A firm’s design management plan includes various objectives when a firm builds it:

The plan should focus on achieving the company’s strategy and the firm’s work policy. For example, when I was working with an infrastructure company here in the Middle East, the company focused on bidding for consultancy services to two main public companies. The manager informed senior engineers to bid a competitive price. That is for two reasons: to win the client and continue taking projects. These two companies have projects that fit the company’s area of expertise and are pure infrastructure projects.

The design manager builds the design management plan and considers the firm’s high-level management views. For example, the manager’s views on developing the design department. The firm manager focuses on resolving people and work problems that cause loss. For instance, data transfer problems, false and bad reviews of design work. Also, miscoordination between architecture work and others. And solving problems with the authority when applying for planning and building permits.

The design management plan should focus on increasing awareness of new employees and previous ones. To inform of any updates to the IT system in the company to reduce production time and quality of work. For example, any update in the documents folder system. Also, any updates in the drafting and architectural design procedures and schedules. The plan should include two items first: a clear description of the design management software. Second, how the firm uses it to develop a documentation method and folders.

Project planning and building permit fast approvals are the main focus of any design management plan.

Managers review a firm’s work every year. The design management plan considers creating an in-house evaluation method to gauge the firm’s abilities in “design”. For example, client satisfaction with the firm’s work, the firm’s design abilities. Innovation, creativity, quality and production speed of firm staff. Further, the amount of conflict between staff, firm overhead, and new staff (firm growth). Also, the annual revenue of the firm, staff and tools and techniques used in the office development.

Large-scale firms employ high-level staff to monitor work processes and profit. Usually, A design management plan should include the way of doing a study about work quality and control. Two main methods used to do the study are TQM (total quality management) and Six Sigma. The two methods have variances in goals and objectives. For example, Six Sigma focuses on improving processes by reducing defects by using data-driven approaches. Similarly, TQM also has the same goal by involving the firm’s staff to reduce costs and maximize revenue.

At this level, a firm management plan is concerned about people, systems, and work quality.

A firm’s design management plan includes various activities when the firm builds it:

The first activity of the project design management is to analyze the project. Study the project components and their size to know the volume of work the employees need to complete. For example, a villa project needs, in practice, a senior architect and a draughtsman to finish the architectural design phases and construction documents. For a multistory building, ground plus 12 floors, in reality, needs two senior architects and two draughtsmen for the architectural work.

The second activity of the project design management is to identify stakeholders. Knowing the design team, their strengths and weaknesses. In real-world architecture practice, this activity is merely conducted. The design manager defines the team’s members’ skills and strengths within the design management plan. He allocates suitable firm work based on that definition. Firms, the large-scale ones, in general, develop employees’ weak points by assigning training courses within the firm or outsourcing it to a contractor.

The third activity of the project design management is meeting the team of stakeholders. Meeting to introduce the project and discuss the actions needed to accomplish the work schedule. Further, assigning tasks to the team, discuss how to manage time for any activity. Distributing work to others and identifying the person in charge. Also, outputs, work quality requirements, and the checking process Figure 1.

Developing a design team performance index on a project will help the design manager in their work. Certainly, in allocating the specific work for the individual to finalize it properly. For every completed project, a design manager updates their worksheet. That is to gauge the team’s performance for future use. Another way to know a team member’s work capability from time to time without building a performance index. Large firms need a performance index for increment purposes and rewards.

The fourth attempt to achieve an “ideas management system”. Design manager working with a firm committee to raise awareness of design-related thinking. An activity rarely applied in practice, but it is used in research in the academic arena. Academics use it verbally in discussion for a limited time in a project due to cost matters and revenue. Brainstorming and generating ideas and structuring them for use.

Fifth is increasing the design team’s knowledge of design methodology. Design team members to study and identify the most suitable design method for use. Not all methods suit the requirements of the stakeholders. In practice, teams use many methods of design that mix various dimensions of architectural design. Methods like function, form, sustainability, context, ideas brainstorming, and others. Nonetheless, firms need creative staff to present creative concepts and presentations to attract new clients.

Sixth activity of the project design management is preparing modules for preparing the architectural design drawings.  To use them to reduce production time, eliminate wasted time, and repeat work. This activity is one of the most important tasks in the design management plan. A task that targets increasing quality and increasing firm revenue.

Professional bodies in some countries produce articles, guidelines, and studies related to post-occupancy evaluation methods. A firm prepares a Log Book to hand over to the client upon project handover. It eases the future maintenance and development plans. I have never passed these activities in my previous 30 years of work experience. This includes even working with European consultants. A log book is never produced, nor is a post-occupancy evaluation. It’s a common criterion of building a design management plan in theory only. The design manager includes in his plan preparing as-built drawings to hand over to the client. Other related articles you can find in these links ^1,2