3 minute read
Management for Design in the press
Over the past few months, Management for Design has contributed to articles on Source.net — a site focused on industry news & analysis in the construction, design and engineering sectors. Rob Peake has provided his expertise across a number of articles, discussing issues on how best to maximise billable hours in the workplace, how to successfully delegate new responsibilities to staff members and how to manage productivity to gain maximum benefits.
Unbillable hours erode architecture profits
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In business, it is only natural to work on daily tasks that are not directly chargeable to projects. The overall success of a business largely depends on the ability to keep time spent on these tasks to a minimum but the most significant area of opportunity to improve is by maximising the benefits from time spent working directly on jobs. The best way to do this is to ensure you fully understand the scope of the project, be conscious of the limitations and flag any concerns in this area without undue delay.
Having non-billable time take up 15–20% of the overall number of hours worked is nothing to be concerned about, however there are a few areas to look out for. Competitions play a big part in bringing in new work but it is important to set guidelines around the type of competitions entered and the amount of time spent on them. By analysing past projects and assessing new work coming in, if you’re able to predict the number of people likely to be needed for each project, it will significantly help minimise time spent on non-billable hours.
What architects need to consider in succession planning
The transactional aspects of succession planning are usually relatively straightforward but it is the development and transition to new leadership that often proves to be the greater challenge.
Many practices struggle when delegating progressive levels of responsibility for design decisions and client ‘ownership’ to less experienced architects coming up in the practice. While managers may find it difficult to give up control it is important that they give those who would be ideally suited more responsibility and authority in their role. Your key people will end up frustrated and ultimately leave the firm if they are not assigned the opportunities they feel they are fully capable of.
Finding the right person to take over can be a challenge — it will not necessarily always be the leading designer in your firm. While they have the technical capability of taking over, they often do not possess all the other skills and qualities needed to run a business. It is important to look out for strong characteristics such as accountability and responsibility and a passion to grow and develop the business while forming close client and staff relationships along the way.
Productivity gains offer upside to architects
There are several underlying problems as to why there are such low rates of accurate productivity measurement. First, many architecture businesses and consulting companies do not understand how to measure productivity and the extent of the benefits that come from doing so. This can be directly attributed to the lack of emphasis on this area in architectural education and professional development.
It is extremely valuable to have systems and protocols in place so that critical information on productivity can be captured and assessed. Measuring productivity in this way can give project managers a better understanding of the scope of projects and a stronger capability around managing tasks. It also gives them a greater ability to assess the performance on a given project and analyse how many hours have been worked to complete certain stages as compared to the original plan.
