What needs to be managed in architecture firms?

What Needs to be Managed in Architecture Firms is the fifth article of a series. Articles about design management in architecture practice. I have discussed in the previous articles what is design management, who is the design manager in practice, what a project or firm design management plan, and what are the key functions of the design management plan in practice. In this article, I am going to discuss, in practice, analyzing and assessing what needs to be managed in the first steps of building and writing a design management plan.

In practice, two major management roles lie under the design manager’s tasks. Whether running a project design management or a design management plan, he manages creative organizations and creative projects. A firm’s success lies in running projects, and the firm works efficiently.

The business of architecture success does not rely on the firm size or projects under design. Architecture firms must harness several skills in addition to design talent if they are to be successful. That’s the combination of hard and soft management systems.

Hard management system: the formal structure and systems employed by the firm, such as quality management.

Soft management system sits within this and is concerned with the formal, intuitive nature of the firm, concerned with an individual’s competencies, values, and feelings.

These two systems a firm manages, and it’s the answer to my question of what needs to be managed in architecture firms?

Here, these publications hint at the system that identifies the quality of architecture and design in project design management. As well as the human resource qualities of employees in the work environment. Most firms in the Middle East operate without formal systems like these.

In practice, EU firms in the Middle East focus on elements related to the two systems. They include a defined QMS, quality manuals, regulations of competence, and values. All staff must have a clear understanding of what is an acceptable and unacceptable standard of work.

No firm mentioned these systems in practice, but they include them in the interpersonal skills of staff. For example, one of the European companies I worked with includes in their code of conduct several matters that a design manager should inform the team about these requirements.

These matters represent part of what needs to be managed in architecture firms, the two systems.

Within the clause of maintaining integrity, they mentioned that one of these principles is avoiding conflict of interest. This will never happen in firm design management. Because the design manager decides many matters related to funds, money, and payment when holding a very high-level authority. Problems in the firm related to staff work become less when the power and decisions lie with one manager.

The clause about using assets and information emphasizes how to handle company property and physical assets. The design manager informs staff and guides them on the use of the firm’s assets. The IT staff also helps to maintain the assets in big firms.

The clause of competitive behavior focuses on competing fairly. Also, cooperating with the firm’s high-level staff and employees in an ongoing project. In my previous work, I witnessed high unfair treatment due to staff cultural differences.

Other clauses focus on fair employment and reporting violations of firm rules. In this firm, my managing director asked me to employ people to join my senior architecture and MEP team. I took this opportunity to ask him about one of my friends who applied to the company, but he did not even get a call. He informed me that they employ only by reference to maintain harmony between employees, and we employ very few from online applications. So, in the code of conduct, fair employment and competitive behavior do not apply for this reason.

I have rarely found a quality management system related to architectural and project design management or a quality manual. Nevertheless, firms mention them in their profile because project bidding requires a firm to have a QMS and a quality manual. In practice, these two documents never apply, and no firm has even tried to make them, but general guidelines.

In Figure 1, below, we find many architecture firms from different locations in the world. Countries like Israel, France, Brazil, Poland, and the USA. So how can we identify creative organizations and creative projects? Are these companies, Figure 1, creative organizations?

What Needs to be Managed in Architecture Firms, innovative projects

We can define Creative firms as the firms that apply the 7 criteria of innovative architecture( read my article). The design manager can identify creative firms when identifying the 7 criteria. Otherwise, some of them, when handling a project’s design management. These include

• The concept: it fits the site in terms of context, history, heritage, topography, aesthetics, and environment
• New method: Design process, the process of generating the concept design tools and techniques.
• New material: the architecture comprises the use of new material
• Structure: complexity and stability, simplicity of structural design vs complexity of architectural design.
• Project requirements: project targeted program, construction budget, users’ comfort indoors and outdoors.
• Realization: the process of realization of the architectural design, its simplicity, construction method, project budget, and construction time.
• Style relevance: the architectural style of the concept design. Is it a new style?

For example, concepts come into architecture through methods applied by creative architects. But how creative architects will transfer them to reality. Domes are constructed in different methods using concrete, steel, or even wooden structures, but coming in a different way that fits the context of the project is the innovation itself (point 4). See Figure 2, a new method of constructing domes, geodesic domes, by American architect.

Firms, in addition to the 7 criteria of innovation, have other criteria that stand on the opposite side of the equation. These are Time, Budget, revenue, and firm reputation. Firms to balance the equation need high-quality managers and staff.  

To produce innovative architecture, the design manager in the design management plan must identify important element. Surely, how much time does he allocate to produce that innovative work, studying the project size and complexity? His plan must consider the firm’s available budget, in reality, to complete that work. Also, how much and what type of staff and assets, and when the firm needs outsourcing.

Firms do a careful assessment and analysis of the project at hand before proceeding to actual work. This leads to the firm getting the targeted revenue from the innovative architecture. And finally, how can the design management plan maintain the procedure to protect the firm’s reputation for producing innovative work?  That by doing two tasks: tracking and monitoring compliance with the criteria mentioned above in every stage of work. Also, following the firm’s operations criteria. The firm holds the design manager responsible for this role.

Managing creative projects and project design management comes in the same manner as applying the 7 criteria of innovative architecture. First, assessing and analyzing the project properly, how much time is required to finalize all phases of architectural design. Second, how many staff are required and what type and skills are available for them. Third, how to monitor and control production through all the processes to the final construction documents and drawings. In the next article, I will identify the first part of building and writing a design management plan for a firm for consideration by the design manager. Other related articles you can find in these links ^1,2,3,4