Blogs

Research-related content at AIA24

By Emma Tucker posted 27 days ago
Be the first person to recommend this.
If you are coming to the AIA Conference on Architecture & Design (AIA24) this year (June 5-8 in Washington, DC), there is an official PMKC event plus many more great sessions on the topic of research to consider! PMKC events Thursday: Practice, Present & Future: PM Luncheon EV213 | 11:30am-1pm | $95 Carol Ross Barney, FAIA, winner of the AIA Gold Medal, will set the tone at this luncheon exploring practice and career in the 21st century. The founder of Chicago-based Ross Barney architects has won 220+ awards over more than four decades of practice, continuing the Windy City's storied heritage of trailblazing architects. ...
0 comments

Practice content at AIA24

By Emma Tucker posted 03-21-2024
Be the first person to recommend this.
If you are coming to the AIA Conference on Architecture & Design (AIA24) this year (June 5-8 in Washington, DC), there is an official PMKC event plus many more great sessions to consider! PMKC events Thursday: Practice, Present & Future: PM Luncheon EV213 | 11:30am-1pm | $95 Carol Ross Barney, FAIA, winner of the AIA Gold Medal, will set the tone at this luncheon exploring practice and career in the 21st century. The founder of Chicago-based Ross Barney architects has won 220+ awards over more than four decades of practice, continuing the Windy City's storied heritage of trailblazing architects. Like Ross Barney, today's ...
0 comments

AIA Practice Management Digest - Febuary 2024

By Rebecca W. Edmunds AIA posted 02-22-2024
Be the first person to recommend this.
Business Basics Let’s start the year with fresh thinking on business basics to tackle challenges such as digital threats, small firm benefits, best practices for M&A activity, business development and marketing, and new ways of thinking about fees. Letter from the Editor By Rebecca W.E. Edmunds, AIA, NOMA 2023 has been quite the year with year-end billings at a low after 7 months of decline, a rise in inquiries seems promising for 2024 (see Kriston Capps, “​​ Design Edition: The Architecture Forecast for 2024 ,” Bloomberg, December 31, 2023). Often during slow times, we turn internally and reexamine our business operations and ...
0 comments

The Threat is Real: Cyber Attacks Against Architectural Firms

By Rebecca W. Edmunds AIA posted 02-22-2024
1 person recommends this.
Contributed by The AIA Trust Many architectural firms are tempted into believing they’re safe from cyberattacks because they don’t consider their data to be “sensitive” enough to attract criminals. Cybercriminals are sophisticated, deliberate and efficient in how they monetize their efforts. If you use the internet for any reason – even if just for basics such as email, submitting invoices or sharing designs–you are at risk–and cyber risk is a problem for every professional services firm. A risk report published by the AIA Trust is filled with real case studies and highlights how very attractive architectural firms are to cyber criminals, the most ...
0 comments

Nurturing Growth: Tools for Marketing and Business Development in Architecture Firms

By Sarah Elizabeth Hernandez Assoc. AIA posted 02-22-2024
Be the first person to recommend this.
By Sarah E. Hernandez, Assoc. AIA, Chief Marketing Officer, Ci In an industry where the creation of physical spaces can impact communities for generations, the strategic roles of Marketing and Business Development (BD) cannot be overstated. These processes and activities are not mere back-office functions; they are the driving force behind the firm’s growth and market presence. The architectural profession has a history of resistance to understanding and embracing the importance of a solid and empowered Marketing and BD team. Now is the time to change your perspective on what these professionals can do for your firm’s viability and success. ...
0 comments

From Strategy to Integration: Best Practices for Successful Mergers and Acquisitions

By Rebecca W. Edmunds AIA posted 02-22-2024
1 person recommends this.
By Cynthia Anderson, CPA, Entrepreneur & Founder, ThincStrategies In today's changing business landscape, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have emerged as a powerful strategy to accelerate expansion, innovation, and leapfrog the competition. However, executing a successful transaction is no easy feat. The following is a guideline to help you and your firm through each phase of the M&A process with best practices to find the right fit for your team, whether you are a buyer or a seller. Professional firms consider a merger or acquisition based on a few common motivations: Growth: Mergers and acquisitions can speed up firm ...
0 comments

The Importance of Employee Benefits for Small Business

By Rebecca W. Edmunds AIA posted 02-22-2024
Be the first person to recommend this.
The Importance of Employee Benefits for Small Business Contributed by The AIA Trust For small-business owners, the importance of employee benefits is a significant factor when it comes to attracting and retaining talent. The majority of workers prefer attractive types of employee benefits—like insurance, paid time off, and a retirement plan—more than pay raises. Whether you’re competing for talent or keeping the high performers you already have, small-business employee benefits are essential for making your staff feel valued and supported. To stay competitive through an economic downturn, it’s important to focus your limited resources on the types ...
0 comments

AIA Practice Management Digest - November 2023

By Rebecca W. Edmunds AIA posted 11-07-2023
Be the first person to recommend this.
HR in practice The rules for attracting, retaining, managing and mentoring staff keep changing--a factor exacerbated by a talent shortage. This issue shares insights from leaders across the profession. Letter from the editor By Rebecca W.E. Edmunds, AIA, NOMA Who knew that when we emerged from the major events of 2020—the pandemic, the rise of Black Lives Matter, and a reckoning with the demographics of our profession—that the norms of practice operations would be forever altered. Hats off to any of you who saw all these changes coming at once! Some of us felt they were long overdue. As one of those architects with a previous degree ...
0 comments

Developing women leaders by building greater workplace flexibility

By Evelyn M. Lee FAIA posted 11-07-2023
Be the first person to recommend this.
By Evelyn Lee, FAIA Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion from AIA Houston's WIA Equity Series Re|Define. The panel featured mid-career women in practice and other areas, talking about how they defined success and, in large part, how to break down the barriers that have made it so difficult for us to pave a better way forward for women in practice. What was particularly interesting is that we all defined our success under a common theme: flexibility within the workplace. Or, more specifically, success was defined as the ability to create our own schedule and focus on what we are most passionate ...
0 comments

The student experience // AIAS Speaks

By Rebecca W. Edmunds AIA posted 11-07-2023
Be the first person to recommend this.
Julia Andor, AIAS, NOMA, Assoc. AIA (she/her), 67th National Vice President 2023-2024 and Nicole Bass, AIAS, NOMA, Assoc. AIA (she/her), 66th National Vice President 2022-2023 Young people are entering the field of architecture for countless reasons, and there are also many reasons why they may decide to stay in or leave the profession. Let’s explore the expectations and realities that students face as they graduate and go into the workforce. From our experience as the current and past National Vice Presidents of the AIAS, the most prominent motivator to study architecture comes from a creative spirit and an ambition to solve problems in unconventional ...
0 comments

HR policy trends

By Rebecca W. Edmunds AIA posted 11-07-2023
Be the first person to recommend this.
By Hannah Brown, SHRM-SCP, Brown Creative Consulting LLC In 2020 Policy in HR was thrown, like most other things, into a reactionary mode with many architecture and interiors firms forced to figure out work from home. Most had never considered remote work as feasible. The combination of physical and mental isolation was taxing and work meetings often become our sole source of socialization leading employers to also become focused on health. Our industry pulled together to make remote work a reality, often looking to employers outside the AEC industry that already embraced remote work with policies in place to reimburse employees for expenses related ...
0 comments

A look at work culture

By Rebecca W. Edmunds AIA posted 11-07-2023
Be the first person to recommend this.
By Iva Kravitz, Assoc. AIA Full disclosure: I’m not an architect, but I’ve spent my career doing strategy, communications and marketing for architects and designers. As a consultant to the profession for 30 years, I have an inside-outside view of the strong and intangible role of culture in work life. I’ve seen small firms thrive with strong culture and happy employees, and large firms succeed despite terrible leadership. Here are a few notes as well as my own observations. Culture basics A lecture I once attended made the excellent point that corporate culture is not “getting together for beers after work once a week”. Rather, ...
0 comments

Creating systematic programs to strategically develop aspiring architects within our firms

By Matthew E. Szymanski AIA posted 11-07-2023
Be the first person to recommend this.
By Matthew Szymanski, AIA, Owner, Architect | Arx Design Co. Traditionally, aspiring architects learned by apprenticing with experienced team members and watching how they: design, communicate, and make decisions. The AXP program approximates this model, but mentors must purposely supplement lessons of professionalism, business development, and emotional intelligence if well-rounded future leaders are the desired result. Today's managers face significant time constraints when trying to provide the consistent guidance necessary to develop new team members. In addition, new remote working arrangements and increasingly flexible/varied schedules result ...
0 comments

AIA Practice Management Digest - September 2023

By Rebecca W. Edmunds AIA posted 09-06-2023
Be the first person to recommend this.
Industry-changing technology No more pertinent topic for our practice community exists than understanding and preparing for the wave of new technologies that will change architectural practice. Letter from the editor By Rebecca W.E. Edmunds, AIA, NOMA What better way to kick off my term as editor of the AIA PMKC’s publication, PM Digest, than putting a spotlight on industry changing technologies? I’ve fed my curiosity about all the tech that’s buzzing across our industry—A.I., generative design, automation and extended reality (VR, Virtual Reality; AR, Augmented Reality; MR, Mixed Reality; and RR “real reality”)—and now I want ...
0 comments

Industry-changing tech: an interview with Phil Bernstein

By Phillip G. Bernstein FAIA posted 09-06-2023
Be the first person to recommend this.
By Rebecca Edmunds, AIA, interviewing Phil Bernstein, FAIA My Q+A with Phil Bernstein occurred after he spoke at the Practice Management Luncheon at A’22. His talk, “New value propositions for practice: Models and strategies for innovation,” has been a topic of conversation in the PMKC ever since. Rebecca Edmunds: What is the most significant challenge to the traditional practice dynamic today? Phil Bernstein: Architectural practice must define its value proposition for the future; how do we as architects best deliver the value of all we do for clients and convert that value to align with, and take advantage of, the technological ...
0 comments

The impact of emerging AI technologies on architecture

By Rebecca W. Edmunds AIA posted 09-06-2023
Be the first person to recommend this.
By Michael Schroeder, CCM, Partner at SGA As we move swiftly up the exponential curve of technology, artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly weaving its threads into our professional lives, rewriting the rules of engagement across disciplines. For architects and designers, this new wave of AI integration holds the potential to reshape our roles, and even the very definition of design itself. An increasing array of specialized software programs tailored for targeted sectors have begun to signal the imminence of a profound shift: AI's impact on the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction industry promises to be nothing short of transformative. ...
0 comments

Future now: Additive manufacturing and construction

By Melodie Yashar posted 09-06-2023
Be the first person to recommend this.
By Melodie Yashar Future now: Additive manufacturing & construction Additive manufacturing (commonly known as 3D-printing) is frequently used in architectural practice as a rapid prototyping technique to advance early design visions and formal concepts in three dimensions. However, one of the most disruptive aspects of 3D-printing is that it enables the realization of new computationally generated design possibilities, which have been difficult or impossible to fabricate using conventional construction techniques and methods. Enabling architectural design freedom. The great benefit and appeal of large-scale additive manufacturing ...
0 comments