Young Architects Forum

Architecture firms across the country (and around the world) have had to find innovative ways to work from home and complete their contractual responsibilities for Construction Phase services. While using technology to work remotely and to access or view construction site progress have kept the work moving, there is growing concern that staff (particularly emerging professionals) are missing out on the invaluable learning opportunities that being in an office or visiting a job site brings. Many are calling this a "lost year."

 

However, there is also greater virtual access to client meetings, team meetings, and electronic video observation of sites that can be viewed or attended by people who might not otherwise be involved. While there are limits to what activities remote involvement can replace, are we ready to concede that professional growth is "temporarily lost"? Or are we finding ways as a profession to fill these voids and expose staff to opportunities that, while different, are nonetheless educational in other ways?

 

We'd love to hear from members that are newer to the profession, as well as practice leaders that are looking at the issue from a management perspective.

------------------------------
Jeffery Reynolds AIA
HOK
Washington DC
AIA Construction Contraction Administration KC- Chair
------------------------------

Jeffery,

I do not have an answer for: "Are we finding ways as a profession to fill these voids and expose staff to opportunities that, while different, are nonetheless educational in other ways?", but I do have some other thoughts:

While it certainly feels "lost" in a lot of ways (a lot of our local AIA committees are giving the chairs 2021 as a do-over year), there's also been a lot of growth. It's forced a lot of late adopters to become more fluent in the digital platforms that some of the younger staff navigate more easily... this has been overdue and I believe it will be of net benefit in the long run and help improve quality of life across the board.

The difficulty in mentoring remotely is something that I've heard from several folks, both from emerging professionals and from people in leadership positions at their firms. The big discrepancy is that emerging professionals want to be mentored while enjoying working from home and the more senior staff see the failure in mentorship as a reason to return to the office (even if the region's R₀ value doesn't support it). Hopefully we'll have a new normal soon, but in the meantime: I think what the shift to digital and remote has exposed is that most people are just not natural teachers / mentors, not a failure inherent to the system. Once an emerging professional's primary exposure is exclusively to their project team, they'll either be collaborating with someone who enjoys mentorship, or stuck with someone that doesn't.

Therefore, the "water cooler talk" that crosses team/project assignments has to become a deliberate effort: the natural mentors in your team have to be empowered and allowed the space to spend what seems like a bit more time on targeted attention for all the younger staff members. You have to force initial interactions between staff members that wouldn't normally interact - in order to make it easier for them to ask that "oh, where can I...." question later. Set up meetings where a non-project topic is discussed (marketing, firm management, fee structures, etc), and restrict the audience so they don't feel watched, or self conscious at asking the "silly" question. Set up an anonymous question form for internal meetings like Mentimeter. And give the less-than-natural mentors on your teams tools to improve: simple things like exercises on active listening, or even just suggesting that they jot on they calendar if they hear any important dates coming up. Then, they can send a quick "good luck" message before a test or big presentation.

Specifically with regards to construction administration phase services, (and the reason I find your question so interesting): I don't think our operations have changed substantially; most of projects that require regular visits are not dried in yet, or are rather large, so a five-person team walking together can stay physically separate and be relatively safe. Whether any staff member is attending client meetings or site visits still mostly comes down to how the project is staffed (I'll caveat that's much more likely to be the case for local projects).

We certainly haven't figured it out yet, but I have to believe that there is a future out there where we can be part-time remote and still successfully develop the emerging professionals in the field (speaking as one). I look forward to hearing more from some of my fellow YAF members!

------------------------------
Amaya Labrador AIA
Perkins&Will Houston
Houston TX
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 03-05-2021 10:18 AM
From: Jeffery Reynolds
Subject: Architectural Professional Growth- The "Lost Year"?

Architecture firms across the country (and around the world) have had to find innovative ways to work from home and complete their contractual responsibilities for Construction Phase services. While using technology to work remotely and to access or view construction site progress have kept the work moving, there is growing concern that staff (particularly emerging professionals) are missing out on the invaluable learning opportunities that being in an office or visiting a job site brings. Many are calling this a "lost year."

 

However, there is also greater virtual access to client meetings, team meetings, and electronic video observation of sites that can be viewed or attended by people who might not otherwise be involved. While there are limits to what activities remote involvement can replace, are we ready to concede that professional growth is "temporarily lost"? Or are we finding ways as a profession to fill these voids and expose staff to opportunities that, while different, are nonetheless educational in other ways?

 

We'd love to hear from members that are newer to the profession, as well as practice leaders that are looking at the issue from a management perspective.

------------------------------
Jeffery Reynolds AIA
HOK
Washington DC
AIA Construction Contraction Administration KC- Chair
------------------------------

This does pose an interesting question that, I'm sure many emerging professionals have wrestled with.  I agree with Amaya, that the quick turn to digital platforms have allowed some younger staff to shine by building a trust with seasoned staff by helping in this transition.  We have seen principals turn to some of our youngest staff for help and in return they often insist that the emerging professional be present during the online meeting.  Benefit for both.

As our firm went virtual we had a quick chat or video call each morning (we have a staff of 8 so it is pretty easy to schedule).  I would also try to set up a video chat with my team to answer any questions and build the line of communication by asking what they need from me.

Site visits have been hit and miss.  We have some clients that for a long period, would only allow one person from each office on site at a time.  This greatly reduced chances for younger staff to participate.  One way to ease this frustration is site photos (as many as possible) then upon returning to the office (whether virtually or in person) share the photos and have a call to walk younger staff through them explaining what was going on and answering any construction or site relate questions.  This takes a bit more time on the mentor's part but is worth it in the benefit that the team receives.

------------------------------
Cody Henderson AIA
Director of Science & Education
FSA, LLC
Maryland Heights MO
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 03-05-2021 10:18 AM
From: Jeffery Reynolds
Subject: Architectural Professional Growth- The "Lost Year"?

Architecture firms across the country (and around the world) have had to find innovative ways to work from home and complete their contractual responsibilities for Construction Phase services. While using technology to work remotely and to access or view construction site progress have kept the work moving, there is growing concern that staff (particularly emerging professionals) are missing out on the invaluable learning opportunities that being in an office or visiting a job site brings. Many are calling this a "lost year."

 

However, there is also greater virtual access to client meetings, team meetings, and electronic video observation of sites that can be viewed or attended by people who might not otherwise be involved. While there are limits to what activities remote involvement can replace, are we ready to concede that professional growth is "temporarily lost"? Or are we finding ways as a profession to fill these voids and expose staff to opportunities that, while different, are nonetheless educational in other ways?

 

We'd love to hear from members that are newer to the profession, as well as practice leaders that are looking at the issue from a management perspective.

------------------------------
Jeffery Reynolds AIA
HOK
Washington DC
AIA Construction Contraction Administration KC- Chair
------------------------------