Architecture & Engineering Business Strategies

With the surging demand for diversity in the workplace, many companies are scrambling to figure out how to increase—and manage—gender and ethnic diversity within their own firms. To help your people to work well together, you have to learn how to handle a diverse team of employees, which means focusing on four values: justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI). In this Section Cut interview, Yiselle Santos, VP and Director of Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at HSK, Inc., explains what a JEDI mindset looks like in the workplace and how to direct your company toward a more equitable future.Interview TakeawaysPrioritize a JEDI mentalityCreate a safe spaceLearn how to manage diversityGender equality increases profitabilityEncourage authentic conversationsFocus on transparencyChallenge yourself and othersThink people-firstEstablish goals to achieve successAccountability comes through transparencyDisrupt your biasesData defines the truthShow LinksCheck out HKS, Inc.Connect with Yiselle Santos on LinkedIn or TwitterConnect with George Valdes on LinkedIn or TwitterCheck out MonographCheck out Section CutFollow Monograph on LinkedIn or InstagramListen and read more about Monograph 

Financial management isn’t just standard accounting. It also involves looking at the big picture of your financial performance to make smart business decisions. When you understand what’s going on financially, you can improve and plan for the future. In order to get that understanding, you need to track your time and do some calculations. In this Section Cut interview, Rena Klein, Vice President for Investment Partnerships at Charrette Venture Group, explains why firms need to know things like their utilization rate, break-even rate, and billable ratio in order to understand and enhance their profitability.Interview TakeawaysUnderstand financial managementConduct cash and accrual reportingKnow your utilization and break even rateTrack your hoursIncrease utilization ratesIncrease billable ratiosNix scope creepUse best practices to avoid over-deliveryHave routine projects to up efficiencyCalculate your hourly rateCheck for profitabilityUse a fixed fee for greater profitabilityShow LinksCheck out Charrette Venture GroupConnect with Rena M. Klein on LinkedInConnect with Joann Lui on LinkedIn or TwitterCheck out MonographCheck out Section CutFollow Monograph on LinkedIn or InstagramListen and read more about Monograph 

The world is changing fast. In order for your practice to survive, you’ll have to change along with it. New technologies and new ways of communicating can be scary, but humans have always evolved and adapted by using new tools. During this Section Cut interview, Libo Li, CTO of KatalystDI, talked to us about how becoming an adaptive organization has to start from the firm culture, how better organization tools can lead to better design, and how experimentation and permission to fail is key to improving.Interview TakeawaysAdapt to surviveOrganize for better designsMove past paper-based communicationBe a tool maker, not just a tool userCreate an adaptable cultureExperiment and iterateAdapt in the right directionReduce blocking events & introduce independent actionCreate tools within NotionUse templates for repeatable workCode what you knowKeep a growth mindset and allow failureShow LinksCheck out KatalystDIConnect with Libo Li on LinkedIn or TwitterConnect with George Valdes on LinkedIn or TwitterCheck out MonographCheck out Section CutFollow Monograph on LinkedIn or InstagramListen and read more about Monograph 

Finding and hiring top talent is a challenge for any company, especially in today’s competitive hiring environment. To give your business the best shot at attracting and retaining great employees, you have to know how to market your business to job candidates. In this Section Cut interview, Talentstar’s founder Marjanne Pearson and Principal Connector Linda Wallack share how to attract potential hires by knowing who your brand is, what values you need your employees to share, and how to utilize every company resource.Interview TakeawaysAcquire talent through effective marketingKnow your brandShare core values and a common approachStay competitive by following industry shiftsKeep up with the latest technologyHire people with compatible goalsLook at future potentialTake care of your current teamCultivate diversity by getting involvedMake every member a marketerUtilize a nontraditional workforceAsk tough questionsShow LinksCheck out TalentstarConnect with Marjanne Pearson on LinkedInConnect with Linda Wallack on LinkedInConnect with Chris Morgan on LinkedIn Check out MonographCheck out Section CutFollow Monograph on LinkedIn or InstagramListen and read more about Monograph 

How can you finally say goodbye to an unwieldy spreadsheet system and streamline your operation from start to finish? At Workshop/APD, the team develops strategic and custom solutions at scale. When they doubled their team over the course of the pandemic, a smooth project management system became more important than ever. Thankfully, they already had their “secret weapon” in place in the form of Monograph. During this Section Cut interview, principal architect Thomas Zoli shares how the once boutique New York design firm is now bigger and better than ever. Interview TakeawaysGrow your verticals as you grow your firm Foster cross-pollinationScale your custom workUse Monograph to enable data fluency Let Monograph be your secret weapon Say goodbye to Excel spreadsheetsDon’t throw meeting money out the windowCreate an internal workflowEnable ownership of time trackingDrive meetings with Monograph Show LinksCheck out Workshop/APDConnect with Thomas Zoli on LinkedIn Connect with Chris Morgan on LinkedIn Check out MonographCheck out Section CutFollow Monograph on LinkedIn or InstagramListen and read more about Monograph 

Architects don’t receive a lot of training on business and finance. And staff members with business experience don’t often understand the design side. So, how do these two groups collaborate and run a practice? During this Section Cut interview, Arthur and Marie Eddy of Traverse Landscape Architects shared how they’re using Monograph to speak the same language across groups and get things done faster. From better understanding the project process to determining what’s working and what’s not, Monograph has allowed them to streamline tasks and educate their staff.Interview TakeawaysUse Monograph to take stock of business operationsEducate people in the whole businessStreamline reporting and accounting with Monograph Understand what’s workingSpeak the same languageReduce time on monthly invoicesDo revenue forecasting as a teamCollaborate across projectsShow LinksCheck out Traverse Landscape ArchitectsConnect with Arthur Eddy on LinkedIn or TwitterConnect with Marie Eddy on LinkedIn Check out MonographCheck out Section CutConnect with Joann Lui on LinkedIn or TwitterFollow Monograph on LinkedIn or InstagramListen and read more about Monograph 

How do you operate a national practice that encompasses art, architecture, historical preservation, and construction documents all under one roof? That’s the task of Verdant Studio, an Arkansas-based firm with incredible breadth and reach. Founder Jessica Hester credits Monograph for keeping the team on schedule and on budget while shaving hours of meeting and accounting time off their plate every week. In this Section Cut interview, Jessica and colleague Natasha Brand shared how Verdant Studio tackles complex projects and uses Monograph to pave the way. Interview TakeawaysCreate places people loveEnable public artBring historic projects to lifeMarry research and artEnable innovation with MonographReduce meeting time with MonographStreamline billing with MonographUse saved time to rechargeShow LinksCheck out Verdant StudioConnect with Jessica Hester on LinkedInConnect with Natasha Brand on LinkedIn Check out MonographCheck out Section CutConnect with Joann Lui on LinkedIn or TwitterFollow Monograph on LinkedIn or InstagramListen and read more about Monograph 

When an architecture firm is just starting out, almost anything goes in the quest to get up and running. But once you’re more established, two things need to become foundational to how you do business:  transparency and discipline. In this Section Cut conference interview, Tom Jacobs, co-managing partner at Krueck Sexton Partners, discusses how these two values were key to the firm’s success story—and how Monograph has helped make it all possible. He explains why embracing data-driven project planning and performance allows you to scale your business while also scaling your time for creativity. Interview TakeawaysStay transparentDefine your spheres of activityCreate a nimble value propositionShare documents widelyMonograph links data with project performance  Upgrade your resource planning with Monograph Organize planning and executionMonograph is a technology accelerator Fuel innovation with greater purposeChoose collaboration over competitionShow LinksCheck out Krueck Sexton PartnersConnect with Tom Jacobs on LinkedIn Connect with Chris Morgan on LinkedIn Check out MonographCheck out Section CutFollow Monograph on LinkedIn or InstagramListen and read more about Monograph 

When you think of practice operations, you may think of the tools, information systems, and resources that have to be managed on a daily basis. But Marjanne Pearson, founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Talentstar, wants you to reframe how you look at practice operations. It should be about mobilizing all those resources to create value and seek opportunities for transformational change. As a speaker at our Section Cut conference series, Marjanne talked about the future of practice operations and how firms can position themselves for long-term, sustainable growth.Interview TakeawaysLook for ways to create valueDetermine how to improve in the futureReframe practice objectivesLeverage your developmental assetsEmbrace transformational changeFocus on what’s nextEstablish an energy gridGet leadership support for innovationShow LinksCheck out TalentstarConnect with Marjanne Pearson on LinkedIn or TwitterConnect with George Valdes on LinkedIn or TwitterCheck out MonographCheck out Section CutFollow Monograph on LinkedIn or InstagramListen and read more about Monograph 

Have you considered a unique firm structure? RIOS’ practice structure might just take the cake, as it is unique at every level. Not only do they have two CEOs, but they have a multidisciplinary office with architects, interior designers, and graphic designers all working together. What really stands out about the practice is its values. Things like audacity, joy, and agility top a  list of core values that are all about breaking the rules and doing something new. During this Section Cut interview, co-CEOs Jessamyn Davis and Andy Lantz discuss how those values are put into action and what they see as their practice’s playbook.Interview TakeawaysBalance skills with co-CEOsCreate a management committeeHarness the passions of your teamCelebrate trying new thingsGet clients to take calculated risksBring joy into the officeBreak the rules with a multi-disciplinary officeEmbrace changeGo global with your staffStick to short-term strategies to stay agileRely on dataStand out by prioritizing joyShow LinksCheck out RIOSConnect with Jessamyn Davis on LinkedIn Connect with Andy Lantz on LinkedIn or TwitterCheck out MonographCheck out Section CutFollow Monograph on LinkedIn or InstagramListen and read more about Monograph