Foundation · 6 lessons · all video · about 18 minutes
Running a practice on systems
Simple, repeatable systems for setting up projects, tracking fees, controlling documents and running the practice week, so good work does not depend on heroics.
For: Practice directors, practice managers and project architects running jobs
Every practice has a few people who hold it together. They remember which drawing went to which contractor, which client agreed to the extra rooflight, and which project is quietly running over fee. When they are on holiday, things slip.
That is heroics, and it doesn’t scale. This course is about replacing it with simple systems: a consistent way to set up projects, a weekly look at fees against progress, a document register people trust, and a practice week with a clear shape.
None of it is complicated. Most of it can be done with a spreadsheet. The hard part is doing it every week, and the lessons are written with that in mind.
Six lessons, about forty minutes in total.
Lessons
- 01 Why systems beat heroicsWhy practices that rely on a few people remembering everything struggle, and what a good system looks like. ▶ 2:46 · exerciseFree
- 02 Setting up a project wellHow to turn a signed fee letter into a project set out by RIBA stage, with deliverables, fees and hours you can track against. ▶ 2:48 · exercise
- 03 Tracking fee burn and spotting overruns earlyA simple weekly method for comparing the fee you have used with the progress you have made, and acting before an overrun becomes a loss. ▶ 2:45 · exercise
- 04 Document control: registers, revisions and approvalsHow to run a drawing register, revision system, issue sheets and approvals that everyone in the practice trusts. ▶ 2:29 · exercise
- 05 A weekly practice rhythmHow to give the practice week a simple shape: a Monday review, timesheets that actually get done, and a Friday close-out. ▶ 2:37 · exercise
- 06 Choosing and rolling out tools without losing the teamHow to choose practice software for the problems you actually have, and introduce it so people use it. ▶ 2:20 · exercise