Architecture & Engineering Business Strategies

Latest Episodes:

How Workshop/APD Transformed Their Architecture and Design Business with Monograph Nov 27, 2024

Show notes

Many architects and engineers feel overwhelmed by the business side of their work. In this episode, we explore how Workshop/APD, a leading multidisciplinary design firm, tackled these challenges and grew their team by 78% with Monograph.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

How to align your team with real-time project and financial data.
How to take control of your firm’s financial health using tools designed for architects.
How to build a culture of accountability that empowers your entire team.

If you’re ready to solve the business challenges in your firm and scale with confidence, this episode is for you. Listen now and discover actionable strategies to grow your firm while staying focused on what you love—design.

Want to learn more? Visit monograph.com to book a demo today!

How Garrison Architects cut costs 50% by leaving ArchiOffice for Monograph Feb 22, 2024

Show notes

Meet Garrison Architects — a Brooklyn-based architecture firm that specializes in sustainable, modular building design through highly refined modernist aesthetics across private residential and large scale public projects.

In 2023, the firm left ArchiOffice for Monograph to streamline and improve project tracking, staffing, and billing, while reducing the cost associated with managing their systems by 50%.

Here's what happened:

Before Monograph

- +$34k annual cost on project management and billing systems

- 40-48 hours a month on monthly invoicing

- 45-60 days time-to-payment

After Monograph

- 50% reduced cost on project management and billing systems

- 66% less time on monthly invoicing

- 2.6x faster time-to-payment

Read the story here - https://bit.ly/49nlNJp

New to Monograph? Start here - https://bit.ly/4bI3S1N

Design-build firm Woodhull streamlined collaboration after switching from BQE Core to Monograph Feb 07, 2024

Show notes

Meet the design-build firm Woodhull — an integrated architecture, construction, and millwork firm delivering thoughtful and enduring residential and commercial projects throughout New England. Their holistic ethos and business model relies on transparency, communication, and collaboration to drive successful internal operations. Everything starts with the 80 active projects in Woodhull's 25-person design studio, which switched from BQE Core to Monograph to improve speed and accuracy across the entire business.

Here's what happened:

Before Monograph

- 4-6 hours per week on reporting latest project schedules

- 5-10 days invoicing process due to back-and-forth between PMs and bookkeeper

- 50% errors on retainer fee invoicing, causing client refunds

After Monograph

- 95% less time preparing project reports for firm owners

- 53% faster monthly invoicing process

- 100% error reduction on retainer invoicing, avoiding client refunds

Read the story here - https://bit.ly/3OBJ7Lj

New to Monograph? Start here - https://bit.ly/3w8y4mx

MVRDV: How To Win Work (w/ Inger Kammeraat, Jan Knikker) Jun 30, 2022

Show notes

Systems are essential to organizing your workplace and maintaining order during a project. But how can you build systems to win new work? In this Best Practice interview, MVRDV Managing Director Inger Kammeraat and Strategy and Development partner Jan Knikker explained how they structure their firm to facilitate a healthy pipeline of new projects. They talked about how they use PR to drive business development, how they balance profit with their mission and how they close the cycle at the end of each project.

Interview Takeaways

Document new systems
Build a supportive culture
Don’t kill creativity
Use PR to showcase your wins
Close the project cycle
Check in regularly
Align with the client’s goals
Balance profit with mission
Overbook your projects
Set boundaries

Show Links

Connect with Jan Knikker on LinkedIn or Twitter
Connect with Inger Kammeraat on LinkedIn
Check out MVRDV
Connect with George Valdes on LinkedIn or Twitter
Connect with Chris Morgan on LinkedIn
Check out Monograph
Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
Listen and read more about Monograph

Level Architecture + Interiors: Success Stories: Leveling up Practice Ops (w/Adam Gayle) May 17, 2022

Show notes

Forming the identity of a young business is difficult. Whether you’re branching off from a parent company or launching your own startup, without a consistent set of principles and practices, it can feel like you’re living in the Wild West. If you want your business to flourish, you need to establish law and order—namely, a consistent set of workflows and processes that will keep everyone on the same page. In this Section Cut interview, Adam Gayle, Director of Architecture at Level Architecture + Interiors, shared how you can help your business level up by organizing your practices and processes.

Interview Takeaways

Establish your identity
Create consistency
Start with good documentation
Guide your employees
Get the right people
Be transparent
Identify your weaknesses
Break down projects by phases
Form intentional habits
Generate staff buy-in

Show Links

Connect with Adam Gayle on LinkedIn
Check out Level Architecture + Interiors
Connect with Nathan Malone on LinkedIn
Check out Monograph
Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
Listen and read more about Monograph

bldg.collective architecture + design: Achieving Balance: Creative Expression Meets Professional Service (w/ Steve Perce) May 11, 2022

Show notes

One challenge architects face is the pressure to deliver their signature creative style while also serving the client’s needs. This push-and-pull relationship between creative practice and professional service never goes away, but there are a few tactics you can use to help strike a balance. In this Section Cut interview, Principal Steve Perce of bldg.collective explored how to deliver an excellent client experience while also honoring your creativity. He talked about the importance of guiding the conversation, educating them throughout the process, and creating moments of delightful design.

Interview Takeaways

Get in the right mindset
Guide the conversation
Connect over creative opportunities
Create moments of delightful design
Communicate the impact of client decisions
Align on goals and scheduling
Educate clients through the process
Tailor your conversations to the client
Treat your work as an ongoing practice
Balance creativity with feasibility

Show Links

Connect with Steve Perce on LinkedIn or Twitter
Check out bldg.collective
Connect with Nathan Malone on LinkedIn
Check out Monograph
Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
Listen and read more about Monograph

Defining Design Practice: Defining Change (w/ Lorena Galvao) May 09, 2022

Show notes

Industry expectations and standards are constantly shifting. If you want your company to keep up, you have to adjust with the changing times. But to be ready for whatever lies ahead, you have to institute a flexible, agile mindset within your company and be ready to adapt to new practices. In this Section Cut interview, Lorena Galvao, co-founder of Defining Design Practice, shared her experience working in the changing architectural industry and how companies can prepare for future shifts.

Interview Takeaways

Spend your time wisely
Prepare tomorrow’s leaders
Find community
Recapture your market share
Think forward
Focus on innovation
Give opportunities to younger people
Keep adapting
Discover your niche
Find your communication channel

Show Links

Connect with Silvia Lee on LinkedIn
Connect with Lorena Galvão on Instagram
Check out Monograph
Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
Listen and read more about Monograph

Charrette Venture Group: Designing the Client Experience (w/ Lucas Gray, Dena Alspach) May 06, 2022

Show notes

The client experience is at the heart of architectural work. Delivering an attentive experience through every phase is what will lead to a happy client, repeat business, and referrals for your firm. In fact, this experience starts before you even land a client. Becoming in tune with your potential clients’ feelings, thoughts, and questions will help you to meet them where they are. In this Section Cut session, Lucas Gray and Dena Alspach of Charrette Venture Group explained how delivering an excellent client experience from day one is what will elevate the relationship with your client beyond a transaction.

Interview Takeaways:

Get in tune with potential clients’ feelings
Nurture the client relationship
Set the right expectations
Strengthen your onboarding process
Find the best way to share documents
Document when you reach milestones
Reach out to the client regularly
Show where the money is going
Get feedback
Check in annually after a project closes

Show Links

Connect with Lucas Gray on LinkedIn or Twitter
Connect with Dena Alspach on LinkedIn or Twitter
Check out Charrett Venture Group
Connect with Joann Lui on LinkedIn
Check out Monograph
Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
Listen and read more about Monograph

Studio Balcones: Growth Rooted in Community (w/ Jennifer Orr, Tiffany Rasco) Apr 25, 2022

Show notes

When growth is rooted in community, it becomes self-sustaining. At landscape architecture firm Studio Balcones, Principal Jennifer Orr and Office Manager Tiffany Rasco believe that being active in their community is essential to their firm’s growth and success. In this Best Practice interview, they talk about the importance of educating others by collaborating with project partners, applying for community certifications, participating in diversity programs, and teaching clients throughout the process to ultimately create designs rooted in the local landscape.

Interview Takeaways

Create designs rooted in existing ecologies
Design for the soil in each neighborhood
Align with the project partners
Get involved in community programs
Be prepared to wear multiple hats
Work with the landscape, not against it
Educate clients
Hire the right amount of hands
Build systems as you grow
Have the confidence to try something new

Show Links

Connect with Jennifer Orr on LinkedIn
Connect with Tiffany Rasco onLinkedIn
Check outStudio Balcones
Connect with Silvia Lee onLinkedIn
Connect with Nathan Malone onLinkedIn
Check out Monograph
Follow Monograph onLinkedIn or Instagram
Listen and read more about Monograph

Ennead Architects LLP: How Civic Architecture Can Inspire Change (w/ Molly McGowan, Thomas Wong) Apr 22, 2022

Show notes

Studio-based organizations can prevent architects from getting their hands on a variety of projects and experiences. Ennead Architects takes on a whole range of different scales, different typologies, and different locales in their projects. They see that as the dream training of an architect. Their teams are able to share ideas and transfer skills through this spectrum of projects. In this episode, Ennead partners Molly McGowan and Thomas Wong discuss how they manage all of their diverse civic projects, build teams, and define success.

Interview Takeaways

Build better architects with diverse projects
Merge business and creative goals
Help clients make the right decisions
Build trust and relationships
Be proactive about filling in where needed
Staff team strategically
Rely on peers for validation and inspiration
Create a lasting impact
Cultivate a culture of client service
Have a tech leader on each team

Show Links

Connect with Molly McGowan on LinkedIn
Connect with Thomas Wong onLinkedIn
Check out Ennead Architects
Connect with George Valdes onLinkedIn or Twitter
Connect with Silvia Lee on LinkedIn
Check out Monograph
Follow Monograph onLinkedIn or Instagram
Listen and read more about Monograph

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