Management & Professional Office Procedures

UPDATE COURSE 2011 Management & Professional Office Procedures The Mackintosh School University of Strathclyde University of Dundee Dunstrathtosh Short Course 2011

Professionalism Professionalism It is necessary for an architect to be competent and have the ability to conduct him or herself with integrity, in the ethical and professional manner appropriate to the role. It is an essential part of professionalism to be able to undertake effective communication and presentation, organisation and self-management. The professional architect must be capable of autonomous working. The architect has an obligation not only to his or her clients but to society and the profession. Therefore a young professional architect must have sufficient awareness of the limits of his or her competence and professional experience to ensure that he or she is unlikely to bring the profession into disrepute. Dunstrathtosh Short Course 2011

Professionalism The emerging Part 3 criteria state in respect of professionalism that demonstration of an understanding of the following will contribute to the criterion being met: ·Professional ethics ·The architect’s obligation to society and the protection of the environment ·Professional regulation, conduct and discipline ·Institutional membership, benefits, obligations and codes ·Attributes of integrity, impartiality, reliability and courtesy ·Time management, recording, planning and review to assure competence ·Effective communication, presentation, confirmation and recording ·Ability to negotiate effectively and adapt to changing circumstances ·Autonomous working and taking responsibility within a practice context ·Continuing professional development The list can be divided into three: Ethics, Institutional Conduct and Management. Dunstrathtosh Short Course 2011

Professionalism Ethics Ethics in public life have been under close scrutiny recently. In all respects the architect is under the scrutiny of the client and all those with which he or she engages in business. Integrity, impartiality and reliability are essential attributes of the architect as is courtesy in all forms of communication. Lack of courtesy generally reduces the impact of what is communicated, in addition to exhibiting a lack of respect for others and generally brining the individual and the profession that he or she represents in to disrepute. Dunstrathtosh Short Course 2011

Professionalism Institutional Conduct ARB, RIBA and RIAS all have codes of conduct, which members must follow. An architect need join only ARB, as it holds the right to the use of the title. RIBA and RIAS are learned societies whose aims include the promotion of excellence in architecture. Membership of them is not mandatory. Dunstrathtosh Short Course 2011

Management • Management is the social process of planning, coordination, control and motivation. • Management is the art of getting things done through people. • To manage is to forecast and plan, to organise, to command, to co-ordinate, and to control. • Management is responsible for the creation of conditions to bring about the optimum use of all resources available to an undertaking in men, methods and materials (RIBA 1963). • The key variables that a manager has to grapple with • People • Work and structures • Systems and Procedures Dunstrathtosh Short Course 2011

Management • Constraints • The goals of the organisation • The Technology available • The culture of the organisation and • Conflicting views • The pragmatic approach for Individuals is to consider that all managers will work at doing various types of stuff. • Executive Stuff • Supervisory Stuff • Design Stuff • Process stuff • Administrative Stuff and • Stuff Dunstrathtosh Short Course 2011

Management • Risk Managment • It is essential in an Architectural Practice to engage in management procedures that will prevent: • Financial failure due to inefficiency. • Financial failure due to cashflow / profitability / poor marketing • Financial underperformance • Administrative failure through inadequate recording or under-resourcing • Marketing failure due to poor product development • Legal liability • Criminal liability Dunstrathtosh Short Course 2011

Management Overview • Resource Management • Employment law • Company structure • Staff/employer relationship • Staff development • Professional Office Procedures • Control Mechanisms • Recording Procedures • Project Administration • Quality Assurance Dunstrathtosh Short Course 2011

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT • INTRODUCTION TO RESOURCE MANAGEMENT • The Cost of Staffing • As an employee, you are an overhead, a cost to your employer. It is necessary for you to produce work that creates income sufficient to justify your employment. This is usually 3 times your salary. • The Cost of Supervision • Supervision of employees is a very unrewarding activity, financially. Improving employee competency through training makes good financial sense in the long run, though it can be costly. • Fixed and Variable Costs • Fixed costs are those which are borne by the practice irrespective of workload. Variable costs depend upon workload. Administrative staff are generally a fixed cost, whereas drawing and project running staff are variable. Dunstrathtosh Short Course 2011

TEAM MANAGEMENT • MANAGING OTHER PEOPLE • Communication • Reporting Systems • Motivation • Effective Communication: • Be clear, be heard • The unimportance of the message • Use the right medium • Record what was agreed • Develop assertiveness Dunstrathtosh Short Course 2011

TEAM MANAGEMENT • MANAGING OTHER PEOPLE • Meetings: • Effective agendas • Running meetings • Brainstorming • Conflict Management • Negotiate • Separate the person from the problem • Focus on Interests not Positions • Concentrate on the Win-win Dunstrathtosh Short Course 2011

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT • EMPLOYMENT LAW • Employer’s Obligations • The employer is obliged by law and by the contract of employment to provide safe and suitable accommodation or conditions for the employee to carry out his/her activities. • The employer is also obliged to pay the salary, usually monthly, on time. • An employer should not endanger and employee or ask him/her to do something that is not in his/her job description or beyond his/her capabilities • For an architectural practice, there may be further obligations in relation to training and treatment of qualified staff to meet ARB or RIBA criteria. • The employer should give the employee a contract of employment which outlines working conditions, requirements, restrictions, holiday entitlement, provisions for sickness, disciplinary and grievance procedures, etc. Dunstrathtosh Short Course 2011

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT • EMPLOYMENT LAW • Employee’s Obligations • An employee is required to be punctual and to work as instructed. • An employee should obey the employer’s rules and should be loyal to the employer. • Employment Contracts • A contract is created by statute after 13 weeks employment, even if the employer does not issue one. It is good practice for the employer to do so. • After six months more rights are accrued by the employee. • An employee cannot be made redundant – their post is made redundant. • Exclusivity of Contract • An employee should not work for a second employer without permission Dunstrathtosh Short Course 2011

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT • COMPANY STRUCTURE • Reporting Relationships • Reporting relationships are noted within the staff handbook. One grade above is usually responsible for management, except in large teams. • Grievances and disciplinary matters • Staff and employers must understand these processes. Both involve 3 stages. The effective resolution of grievances leads to staff retention. Appropriate disciplinary procedures prevents relationship breakdown. • Leadership development • Well-managed companies undertake senior staff development. Bad leadership can lead to staff dissatisfaction, loss of morale and inefficiency. • Climbing the tree • Staff will gain seniority through completion of continuously more onerous tasks. Ensure that senior staff are aware of such development. Dunstrathtosh Short Course 2011

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT • STAFF/EMPLOYER RELATIONSHIP • Induction • Carried out on beginning employment. New staff should be provided with an Induction Handbook. Health & Safety and office procedures should be addressed. • The Staff Handbook • Provides all detail necessary to fully understand the contract of employment. • Communication and Reporting Systems • Effective communication between staff and employers is essential. Staff meetings allow the monitoring of staff progress as do assessment and review meetings. • Motivation • The motivation of staff is complex but it is a mix of psychology, remuneration, communication, leadership, training and development. Dunstrathtosh Short Course 2011

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT • STAFF DEVELOPMENT • Training • Staff are most effective when properly trained and when they are involved in their own self development. • CPD Requirements • Under the ARB code, it is necessary for architects, both employers and employees to undertake CPD. • The RIBA require “Core Subjects” to be covered. 35 hours of CPD should be recorded each year, 17 hours of which should cover “Core Subjects”. • There is no policing of CPD, but if an error occurs as a result of a lack of competency, the lack of recorded CPD could stand against the architect. • Training and development plans and Investors In People • IiP creates training and development plans for staff, dovetailing staff and company aims. Continuous updating ensures that personal goals are met and the company makes best use of the employee as a resource. Dunstrathtosh Short Course 2011

PROFESSIONAL OFFICE PROCEDURES • CONTROL MECHANISMS • Training • Control Mechanisms should be in place to ensure that staff are sufficiently trained to carry out their tasks. • Process • There need to be accepted office procedures for all forms of administrative activity undertaken by staff, including forms of correspondence. • Checking • It is seldom acceptable for any work to be carried out be non-qualified personnel without checking by an architect. • Review • Staff brought onto a project “late in the day” need to be given time to check though the file and past documentation to ensure that nothing is missed. Dunstrathtosh Short Course 2011

PROFESSIONAL OFFICE PROCEDURES • RECORDING PROCEDURES • Every architect’s office should operate systems that allow the efficient recording of all activities of staff members. These will ensure that: • Disbursements and expenditures can be logged against jobs • Drawing issues are recorded, covering the date and revision of the drawing and the designation of the recipient. • Signed copies of important correspondence are kept on file. • Site or client visits are recorded. • Time charges can be allocated. • All staff members should also keep a day book recording every activity they undertake. This not only helps in accurate preparation of time sheets, but helps as a paper trail to track down the cause when things go wrong. Dunstrathtosh Short Course 2011

PROFESSIONAL OFFICE PROCEDURES • PROJECT ADMINISTRATION • Architectural staff must maintain minimum standards of administrative competency throughout a project in undertaking the duties of a Contract Administrator, or as a pre-contract design architect. • All meetings, phone calls and any relevant information must be effectively recorded under a system where retrieval is straightforward. • The client’s file must be maintained in good order. • Client instructions should be acknowledged by letter, fax or email. • The processes within the Architect’s Job Book should be followed to ensure that no required procedure is missed out. • Beware of corner-cutting in administrative procedures just to save time or money. Projects must be adequately resourced. • Mistakes and omissions are often caused by an otherwise competent professional being overworked or being given unrealistic deadlines. Dunstrathtosh Short Course 2011

PROFESSIONAL OFFICE PROCEDURES • QUALITY ASSURANCE • A Quality Assurance system is a codification of good administrative practice that allows a paper trail to be kept of all relevant processes undertaken by the architectural office. • Some offices operate the ISO 9001 QA system, which requires regular external audit and accreditation of processes undertaken. • Some others operate their own in-house systems, designed to suit their own processes, but based upon the ISO 9001 model. • Some larger clients will only work with other businesses (including architects) who are ISO 9001 compliant. • The benefits of a good QA system is that targets are set and met, processes are checked, verified and reviewed and ultimately the service provided by the organisation is of an “Assured Quality” Dunstrathtosh Short Course 2011

PROFESSIONAL OFFICE PROCEDURES • QUALITY ASSURANCE • A good Quality Assurance system run by an architectural practice would, for example, at least cover the following areas: • Preparation of a plan of all activities required for the completion of an undertaking. • Confirmation of fee agreements and modifications to fee agreements. • Confirmation of client brief and instructions. • Checking and cross referencing of decisions and issued product. • Signing off of each Plan of Work stage and recording of the authority to proceed to the next. • Review of project performance for future service improvement. Dunstrathtosh Short Course 2011

PROFESSIONAL OFFICE PROCEDURES • Continuing Professional Development • It is necessary for you to comply with the institutional codes of conduct to undertake CPD and maintain a record of it on an annual basis. This is mandatory but is not fully monitored. However, it may be if there is a problem in the practice and lack of CPD may be regarded as misconduct if the practice is found to be at fault. To undertake CPD one must: • Continually assess practice knowledge. • Develop knowledge and skills. • Read journals and newspapers. • Read information from professional bodies. • Take training courses and run in-house courses. • Monitor development progress. Dunstrathtosh Short Course 2011

OFFICE PROCEDURES AND STAFF • In Summation • An architectural practice is involved in a series of management processes, both for the benefit of the practice itself and for its clients. • Good management entails motivation, control & effective use of resources. For an architectural practice, its most important resource is its staff. • As an architect you manage your own workload and may be responsible for the management or review of the activities of other organisations. • You must also remember the communication imperatives within the practice itself, for seeking authority and for cross-checking. • Planning of activities in advance and programming, use of advance diary entries and other “aides memoire” are important administrative tools. • Remember, while you can, that every day from now on, your ability to remember things reduces. STRESS makes this worse. Dunstrathtosh Short Course 2011

OFFICE PROCEDURES AND STAFF • SO • Record everything - develop your own personal QA routine. • Organise yourself and those in your charge. • Work neatly and hit deadlines. • Refuse to be overworked. • Share and discuss problems. • Use the knowledge of senior staff and more experienced personnel and record their advice. • If you think you are overstretched and undervalued to the extent that you are actively unhappy, advise your employer. If it is not addressed - • LEAVE THE PRACTICE, BEFORE YOU GET INTO TROUBLE Dunstrathtosh Short Course 2011

CONCLUSION • Any questions ? Gordon Gibb Director of Professional Studies The Mackintosh School of Architecture 177 Renfrew Street Glasgow G3 6RQ tel: 0141-353 4662 fax: 0141-353 4703 ADMINISTRATION ASSISTANT TO PROFESSIONAL STUDIES: Lorraine Garner tel: 0141 353 4656 email: l.garner@gsa.ac.uk Dunstrathtosh Short Course 2011

Management & Professional Office Procedures