Things I’ve Learnt

Lesson 1: Be DIverse

In a volatile market, it has never been more important to think about the diversity of the work coming into the business. Establishing a mix of core existing sectors, alongside pushing for opportunities that might be seen as ‘out of the box’, is a good way to stay engaged and relevant.

Lesson 2: LIsten to your team

Team wellbeing is more important than ever and, with a lot of tp bennett’s team eager to come back to the office on a hybrid basis, this also highlighted the need for ‘magnetic’ factors to attract people, such as increased mentoring, group knowledge sharing and more valuable design critiques.

Lesson 3: nurture your Work netWorks

There are many ways to be successful at the ‘business side’ of our industry but my top tip is to not ignore existing contacts as your networks expand. It’s important to keep pushing for new connections to bring in work but it’s equally important to reconnect with those already in your ‘black book’ and nurture those relationships. Don’t end up only calling them when you want something.

Lesson 4: keep pushIng your skILLs anD passIons

It’s easy to overlook skills that may be sitting underutilised or buried within your team, either from past projects or experiences elsewhere. Don’t be afraid to speak up if you have knowledge that would be useful to a project or you want to investigate new sectors leads that speak to your skillsets.

Lesson 5: Work harD But pLay harD

It’s that good old cliché: work hard but play hard. If the past few years have taught me anything it’s that we are all social animals with an inbuilt need to be around people as much as possible. This doesn’t just mean working from the office to share ideas or take part in design reviews – although this is also important – but to find ways to interact socially with friends and colleagues through activities or a good old-fashioned trip to the pub.

LeIgh DImeLoW Principal Director, tp bennett

With tp bennett since 1998, DImeLoW spent the first 16 years at the practice’s London HQ before establishing the Manchester office in 2014. He now heads a team of 30 architects and interior designers in the northern hub, delivering projects for DLA Piper, Hilti and BT.