Principal's Report

How do you transform a firm into one that contributes to high growth and potentially high profits? There are a few initiatives that can get you started on that road to high growth. Begin by developing a comprehensive, objective view of how you are perceived in the marketplace. This perspective will give you a foundation to build upon. Without it, you could be searching in the dark. To get a complete picture, interview the firm leadership, staff, clients, prospects, and even lost prospects. You may need outside help to do this right. It’s very time consuming and far too easy to get a biased message without a neutral third party doing the research.

It’s about time there was an insightful book that highlights the role of owners and clients in remaking the building industry (one of the most inefficient on the planet wasting billions of dollars a year) and features case studies that illustrate the real-world innovative practices of architects working with a variety of building types and clients. Barbara White Bryson and Canan Yetmen examine these issues and offer solutions. Bryson, FAIA, is the associate vice president for facilities engineering and planning at Rice University, where she has overseen design and construction projects totaling over $1 billion over ten years.

Marketers use a variety of tools and tactics to story-tell and promote their firms. There are so many print and digital tools available today that it can become overwhelming to decide which ones to use and in what order. These tools provide a variety of touch points for staying in the minds of your audience. There is not one magical do-it-all tool that will answer all of your needs.

The Fourth Annual Green Building Survey by Allen Matkins, Constructive Technologies Group, and the Green Building Insider reveals surprising results regarding green construction. The Green Building Survey completed by more than 1,600 design and construction professionals from across the nation, addressed current attitudes toward green building, its risks, costs, certification processes, and trends.

All firms or individuals have to learn today to adapt to change much faster than was once necessary. The following checklist can help evaluate values, talent availability in the firm, flexibility of application, and new opportunities.

In this last of the series of podcasts by Capelin Communications, Joan Capelin, Hon. AIA, PRSA, FSMPS, talks with Peter Piven, founder of Piven Management Consultants, who offers advice on ways that design firm leaders are handling change.

The recession that everyone hoped would end quickly has now lasted two years, at first causing fear that has now turned toward determination to hold on until better times next year. Many think the market may have indeed hit bottom and will pull back from the brink in 2011.

Three members of the AIA’s Practice Management Knowledge Community Advisory Group provided practitioners at the 2010 AIA National Convention in Miami with a focus on how to balance client satisfaction, leadership development, business development, profitability, and risk management through a beyond-the-basics overview of the best practices in use by firms today. The session was presented by Ray Kogan, AIA; Cliff Moser, AIA; and Michael Strogoff, FAIA.

For the last two years, Louis L. Marines, Hon. AIA; Steven J. Isaacs, P.E., Assoc AIA of AMI/FMI; and James P. Cramer, Hon. AIA of DesignIntelligence have been conducting research into socioeconomic trends that affect the nature of design and construction relative to the built environment. They presented highlights of these findings at the American Council of Engineering Companies’ (ACEC) conference in Washington, D.C., to provoke and encourage firms to think differently about the future. As they have all spent time over the last 30 to 40 years working with engineers and architects, they’ve often heard stories that relate to the difficulty firms face, especially today.