by LaTonya Whitfield-Horhn, AIA, LEED-AP, and Mario W. Ewell, MBA

Summary: We live in a nation teetering between a strained banking system, rising oil prices, financial disparity, and a weakening housing market that has threatened and slowed world economic growth. Be that as it may, this economic downturn is giving birth to a new era of sustainability practices and principles. In thinking forward, everything we do individually and collectively should be about focusing on positively enhancing sustainable design, green building, and green architecture. Though no one organization will banish negative thoughts, the positive philosophy of conserving an ecological balance by avoiding depletion of natural resources will give rise to sustainable living and optimistic thinking.

Young architects are uniquely poised and enthusiastically prepared to address these challenges in global proportions. That being said, the purpose of this article is to discuss the benefits of mentoring emerging professionals in practice management, commonly referred to as the “business” of architecture.

Embracing organizational structure
Is your organization intentionally structured? Does your organizational configuration ease operational flow? Executive structure and operational flow are key to architecture firms’ success and are of the essence in both developed and emerging economies. Organizational assets, such as human resource management policies, corporate structure, and culture can significantly affect the company’s bottom line. Engaging in a strategic planning process will require time and commitment on the part of board and staff.

A strategic plan serves as a navigational road map and provides direction for the firm. In years passed, companies used 5- and 10-year plans. The time has come and gone when firms hold strategy meetings one or twice a year; now, strategy sessions are needed several times a week. Focusing on accurate evaluation data and key competencies as well as succinctly outlining firm objectives will help architecture professionals enhance their ability to perform in competitive markets.

Involving emerging professionals in the ongoing planning and development of firm initiatives ensures that its mission and goals are carried out at all levels

Firm leaders should not assume that the corporate goals and visions are self-evident. Involving emerging professionals in the ongoing planning and development of firm initiatives ensures that its mission and goals are carried out at all levels. These goals should be reiterated to everyone on a biannual basis at a minimum.

Marketing, branding, and business development
Marketing, branding, and business development are independent activities. However, they are complementary but different integrated processes with defined roles. Marketing is not the same as contracting clients. Nor is marketing limited to assembling brochures. Expand the roles of architectural marketing to include various initiatives including the creation of new Web sites, corporate identities, and strategic public relations campaigns.

Effective branding is more internal than external and is used to distinguish the organization’s sphere of influence. You must brand your business well. Real competition no longer revolves around market share. Corporations are now competing for attention. Businesses that will remain successful will be those that embrace the new technology with clever approaches putting information technology to use to reinvent them, optimizing performance, and creating added value.

Five seconds is all you get! Viewers will gather their initial impressions and make important judgments about your firm in the first moments they visit your Web site.

All businesses large and small must prepare for the mobile revolution. The era of the personal computer is coming to an end. The mobile future is much bigger than the PC. With a market size three times bigger than the Internet today, Internet search engines Yahoo! and Google both aim to bring the Internet to about 3.2 billion cell phone users, as compared to the 850 million PC users today.

Five seconds is all you get! Viewers will gather their initial impressions and make important judgments about your firm in the first moments they visit your Web site. The homepage is your company's face to the world. It gets more page views than any other page and is your most valuable real estate. Architectural marketing professionals should become familiar with mobile web design. Maximize the use of this space. Less is more…

Financial planning
Corporate finance is important to all managers because it allows them to identify and select the corporate strategies and individual projects that add value to their firm, forecast the funding requirements of their company, and devise strategies for acquiring those funds. There are many basic and interesting topics in finance, such as time-value of money, market efficiency, and valuation of stocks and bonds. Unless you are financially astute, annual reports can be nerve-racking and mind numbing. In spite of this, once you have a basic understanding of finance and its basic terminology, you will be able to follow along.

An architect’s first real exposure to the philosophies and practices of business finance should occur before they reach the mid to late stages of their career. Principals should consider sharing the processes the firm uses to determine profitability with employees, helping them understand how their role fits into the big picture.

Principals should consider sharing the processes the firm uses to determine profitability with employees, helping them understand how their role fits into the big picture.

Architecture firms are not nonprofit organizations. Once your business is operational, it is crucial to plan and tightly manage its financial performance. Constructing a budgeting method is the most effective way to keep your business and its finances on track.

Companies can be modeled and valued in various ways. The three basic approaches to determine value in any business valuation are the market approach, the income approach, and the asset-based (cost) approach. Whichever method is used, finance, accounting, and spreadsheet skills are required. Consider taking a course that introduces each of the valuation approaches, describing how they relate to each other, and illustrating how finance, accounting, and spreadsheet principles can be applied to their implementation. Individuals who are interested should have prior experience with Excel basic finance and accounting concepts, like compounding and the structure of balance sheets and income statements.

For a crash course in the stock market, and financial and earnings news, go online to the business section of Google News, Yahoo! or The Wall Street Journal. Articles related to business and finance are always posted in these sections. If you think reading is boring, watch CNN, CNBC, or BITV, among others.

Recruiting and retention
Credibility is extremely important. Attracting and retaining top talent is a critical factor for firm success. Without a highly skilled workforce, businesses are susceptible to costly mistakes, which can ultimately ruin their reputations. In an increasingly fragile economy, where progressively more production responsibilities are being outsourced, managers must be even more aggressive in employee development as a means to maintain a foothold in their respective markets. Principals must now work harder than ever to create office environments that attract and retain talented professionals who want to work harder for them based on their reputation in the marketplace.

The discussion of human capital is not complete without considering team structure. Do not just throw people together without considering their individual expertise. Always take into account their individual talents. One of management's best tools is the SWOT analysis. Study the organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Seek to capitalize on the strengths, eliminate the weaknesses, take hold of the best opportunities, and counter the threats. The best employees are aware of their own SWOT analysis. Work with them to create an environment where they want to stay with the company and develop their ideas within its embrace.

The company has to create a culture that is so attractive and so hard to leave, that the retention rate will remain exceedingly high.

Reward teamwork and emphasize that success of the team is more important than the success of one individual. Avoid teaming individuals with overlapping skill sets and resolve conflicts before they get out of hand. The company has to create a culture that is so attractive and so hard to leave that the retention rate will remain exceedingly high. A disgruntled staff is both a weakness and a threat.

Embrace diversity but not only in terms of numbers or racial and ethnic demographics. True diversity lies in creating a culture of inclusion in your organization. Creative people thrive in environments that have a balance between challenge and recognition. The recruiting and retention strategy has to be rooted in putting people first.

Conclusion
We believe that today’s firm principals offer the best learning opportunities for young architects who aspire to be the architecture leaders of the future. We encourage managers to cultivate effective leaders and emerging professionals by increasingly delegating more responsibility. Young architects must have a clear understanding of the firm’s business practices. Employees should be encouraged to make inquiries about how to advance within the company, and managers should be open to discussing issues relating to business development, including, but not limited to, concept and brand development, formal proposal writing, and client relationship development. Engaged and informed employees are ultimately enabled to provide improved client satisfaction, higher retention rates, and reduced liability, which are all good for the bottom line.