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6/2006 |
Some (not-so) Secrets of Establishing an Architecture Practice | ![]() |
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by Jack Train, FAIA As with any professional business, the talent, teamwork, intelligence, and intensity of the personnel are fundamental to the success of an architecture practice. Just as planning is required to create and develop a building, so is planning required to develop staff. We start with a vision, hire the right people, manage their activities, and reward them for their performance.
Roles within the team
Almost every fresh graduate wants to work in design, even though it is a small percentage who have the ability. And yet it is good for every graduate employee to work with the senior designers to give them an understanding of that process within the firm and to evaluate their abilities. Equally important is to give each fresh employee a chance to work with a development architect—and project engineers—because the learning flows both ways. This training/evaluation loop typically takes about three years. Of course, there are other roles that must be addressed, whether that talent is in the firm or contracted as a consultant/partner. Those key roles include drafters, specifications writers, cost estimators, engineers, accountants, and office managers. Find talent to whom you can delegate
These principles, incidentally, apply to all sizes of firms. It has been said that the size of a firm is ultimately determined by the amount of responsibility the principles are willing to delegate. The one exception is when the building market dries up. There is no task that is more difficult and painful than dismissing loyal and able employees. What is much more rewarding is to guide promising architects toward fulfilling careers.
Management is responsible for communications within the organization, making decisions under condition of uncertainty, and strategic planning. It is a practice, not a science. It recognizes that performance is based on both knowledge and responsibility. Directing resources from less productive to more productive activities, management creates wealth and makes an organization perform while addressing its social responsibilities. Managers must lead people rather than contain them, direct rather than control. People are resources and opportunities, not problems, costs, and threats. Above all else, remember that there is no one way to do knowledge work. Copyright 2006 The American Institute of Architects.
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Jack Train, FAIA, is the 1974 Edward Kemper recipient for service to the Institute. His work with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, beginning in the 1940s, included being project manager of the Inland Steel Building in Chicago and the initial Air Force Academy development in Colorado Springs, Colo. As an emeritus principal of Valerio Dewalt Train, he has written The Unsung Essentials of Architectural Practice. Anyone interested in this publication may contact him through AIArchitect. |
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