When we talk about firm culture, our first thoughts lead us to a busy studio full of staff working with dozens of clients. Don’t we need a firm full of people before we can have a firm culture? What if we work alone, as many of you do? Do you have a culture? If so, how important is it to our ultimate success as an architect?
As you may have guessed, Mark R. LePage has a few ideas on that subject. This week on EntreArchitect Podcast, Mark shares his thoughts on The Sole Practitioner Architecture Firm Culture.
Culture is one of those things that sits there and becomes what it becomes if it’s not intentionally thought about and planned. Is your firm culture positive and healthy? Is it doing what it’s supposed to be doing? Is it a negative culture that’s harming your success? Take a look at last week’s episode for more about the importance of scheduling some time to think about your culture and develop your own Foundation of Values.
Marica McKeel, guest writer for this week’s EntreArchitect blog, is working hard to build her newly-growing firm’s culture using off-site weekend retreats to build into her team.
But what if you practice alone and don’t have any staff…do you still have to worry about firm culture? Even a firm culture of one is important. A firm culture refers to the beliefs and behaviors that determine how our teams interact and how they handle transactions inside and outside of the studio environment.
If you have beliefs and behaviors and you interact with others inside and outside of the studio environment, then you have a culture; it’s a firm culture of one. What makes up a firm culture of one?
- Physical Studio Space // Do you have your own dedicated work space? Have you created a private, well-defined space for your firm that’s dedicated to your firm’s architecture? Is it efficiently designed? Is it well-equipped with updated computers and other devices?
- Work-Life Integration // If you have a home office, is it a separate space where clients can come without going through your home? Can you intentionally design your life to integrate your firm and your family? Are you planning space for various responsibilities both at work and at home?
- Work Hours // Do you have set work hours? Can you create boundaries for work and home time?
- Relationships // How do you interact with people both inside and outside of the studio? How are your home-life relationships affecting your firm’s culture?
- Making Money // Do you have power and resources to do more of the good things you want to do? Have you created profit plans and systems to make your business work so you can focus on the parts of being an architect that you love?
- Systems // Do you have systems in place to make things easier since you are one person wearing many different hats in your firm? Are your systems effective? Time-saving? Replicable? Efficient?
- Success of Your Firm // Do you feel successful and content in your work? Are you doing what you love and what you want to be doing?
Think of firm culture as the “vibe”. When you walk into your space, what’s the vibe you get? Is it a good feeling, or do you feel your body tense up and your head start to hurt? That’s your culture speaking to you. Just as in large firms, sole practitioners have to be intentional about their firm culture.
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Referenced in this Episode
Developing a Powerful Small Firm Culture from the Ground Up by Marica McKeel
EntreArchitect Academy Digital Course: Construction Management for Small Firm Architects
Photo Credit: Shutterstock / Solis Images
Mark – First off I really enjoyed this episode! Your seven points are well thought out and oh, so relevant!
The One person firm/sole practitioner is somewhat of a mystery. Allow me to explain. I remember seeing an AIA survey that showed at least 30% of member firms being one person. This number may even be higher, when one considers many sole practitioners are not AIA members. IN any even it is a high number, yet there are so few resources avaialbe to the one person office! Years back I bought a book from Fred Stitt called ….wait for it….”The One Person Office” It was spendy ($90) and had been published in 1993. It contained some good info, but was more of a survey. It had a discouraging statistic where almost half of the one person firms survived more than 5 years! but, other than this, to my knowledge, there has been little written specifically for the one person firm by someone who is walking the talk so to say. The obvious reason being, those who have sole practices are usually way to busy to devote time to writing about their experiences and so on.
Another part of the mystery is the thought that someone would be INTENTIONAL about staying sole! It seems, for many, being sole is a starting point. Many sole practices are Occidental (as Mr. Neal Pann shared) So, a sole practice is rarely a destination, but either a place of survival, or a launching pad. Could it be a destination? Are there model sole firms out their to emulate? Are there resources specifically tailored to the one person firm? Not much that I know of. Yet, this represents such a large demographic withing the profession!
Could their be resources? Perhaps a book or manual written by a successful, seasoned sole practitioner? How about a sole practitioner academy or 3 day course? Or, perhaps you (Mark) can book a sole practitioner (again seasoned, successful, and intentionally sole) guest or round table for one of your episodes?
The reality is there is a place in the marketplace for sole practices. Yet, in addition to practicing alone, many are “going it” alone as they really don’t ave a peer group to relate to. Just some thoughts. and, thanks again for all you do!
Thanks Edward. I always appreciate your thoughts.
I don’t have the separate office space – a small desk in the corner of the main room in this small, three room house. I, like many architects must fit my business into the times when I am not needed by the family. My wife has 4 jobs that she loves and the kids have varying day to day schedules plus there are assorted “living rural” issues related to having no school buses and lots of driving. It has taken me years to get my head around this arrangement but I am happiest in this support role. If I were tuning out 40 hours a week to focus on my biz. I would not be happy. There have been some “traditional role” issues which I have faced myself and continue to face from clients and contractors. An interesting topic in itself! I am the main breadwinner but my role and career are secondary. For now, it is what it is. Also, living in a small community, I often work for friends. This is my culture – a work in progress.