The HDR Architecture-CUH2A merger is official.
The deal, announced in early June, was made official on June 25 when executives from both companies signed off on the paperwork that finalizes the legal and financial arrangements. The combined science and technology practices of HDR and CUH2A will operate under the leadership of Scott Butler, former president of CUH2A.
According to a press release issued earlier today announcing the merger, CUH2A will now be known as "CUH2A, a division of HDR Architecture."
The firm now employs nearly 1,700 architecture, engineering, and planning staff in more than 40 locations worldwide.
HDR Architecture is an operating company within the larger HDR, Inc., with approximately 1,300 employees. The parent company, HDR, Inc., has about 7,000 people in more than 160 locations worldwide.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Outsourcing office work?
Firms are looking everywhere these days to save money. Whether it's holding off on hiring or even taking the dreaded step of letting people go, staffing represents the largest cost to a firm. But what if you could outsource some of those functions? Sure, many firms already contract with consultants for their graphic design, web site help, and IT functions. But what about other areas? Do you use a staffing agency to help answer the phones? What about your HR department?
If you are outsourcing any of these areas, or anything else, let us know! We're working on an article for an upcoming issue of PSMJ.
Thanks,
Ed
If you are outsourcing any of these areas, or anything else, let us know! We're working on an article for an upcoming issue of PSMJ.
Thanks,
Ed
Lessons from a legend
Interesting tidbit in this Brantford (Ontario) Expositor article about Hillier Architecture founder Bob Hillier's speaking engagement last week at Apotex Pharmachem, Inc.
In the article, Hillier talks about his quest to find a speaker for his graduation dinner at Princeton University, where he was class president in the late 1950s after Frank Lloyd Wright, who he had secured to be the speaker, died two weeks before the ceremony. Without answering machines or e-mails to help him, Hillier picked up the phone and called Jimmy Stewart, Harry Truman, and even Winston Churchill, who was visiting the U.S., to no avail. "That's how I learned cold calling," Hillier said. He eventually landed Truman's defense secretary to be the speaker.
Hillier merged with RMJM Design last year, creating a megafirm with more than 1,200 architects in 16 locations around the world, so his methods clearly worked.
While countless articles and books have been written about the value of cold calling, Hillier's speech reinforces the value of using your inherent sales ability and entrepreneurial spirit to build your business. When times are tough, you may have to expand your network if your existing clients don't have work for you. If Bob Hillier can call on Harry Truman, you can probably get in touch with the would-be client two towns over.
Ed
In the article, Hillier talks about his quest to find a speaker for his graduation dinner at Princeton University, where he was class president in the late 1950s after Frank Lloyd Wright, who he had secured to be the speaker, died two weeks before the ceremony. Without answering machines or e-mails to help him, Hillier picked up the phone and called Jimmy Stewart, Harry Truman, and even Winston Churchill, who was visiting the U.S., to no avail. "That's how I learned cold calling," Hillier said. He eventually landed Truman's defense secretary to be the speaker.
Hillier merged with RMJM Design last year, creating a megafirm with more than 1,200 architects in 16 locations around the world, so his methods clearly worked.
While countless articles and books have been written about the value of cold calling, Hillier's speech reinforces the value of using your inherent sales ability and entrepreneurial spirit to build your business. When times are tough, you may have to expand your network if your existing clients don't have work for you. If Bob Hillier can call on Harry Truman, you can probably get in touch with the would-be client two towns over.
Ed
I believe you have my stapler…
Most of you have seen – or at least heard about – the comedy film “Office Space”. In one scene, a pair of outside “management consultants” advise their client firm to lay off a redundant employee only to find out that the employee had been let go years before – but a glitch in the payroll system allowed the employee to continue getting a paycheck – and he continued to come to work. Rather than address the situation directly with the employee, the consultants simply “fixed the glitch” in payroll and advised that “things will just work themselves out.”
Clearly, this is an absurd example – but is it that different from what Microsoft is doing to Windows XP users as it forces them to “upgrade” to Windows Vista? While many of us face in direction of Redmond, WA and genuflect daily, we often do it with a healthy dollop of contempt because of the ham-fisted way in which the monolithic software provider gets us to jump through their hoops. After all, for most of us software is just a tool that we use to do the work we are getting paid to do. Being obliged to learn new software is often seen as a distraction from the job at hand – particularly if the new application doesn’t deliver immediate benefits.
Look at some practical examples of this from our industry: Deltek acquires Wind2 and promises to support it – but for how long? At what point does Deltek “fix the glitch” and start the “migration” to their Vision product? Autodesk has invested heavily in Revit – how long before Autocad is in their rear-view mirror and they start the forced march to their BIM application?
Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do about these kinds of changes. What you can and should do is work with your A/E industry-specific software providers to ensure that transitions occur smoothly. You also need to clearly communicate the benefits of new applications to your staff. Don’t let your vendors forget that you do have a choice in A/E specific software applications – insist that they help you through transitions.
Have a great Fourth!
Bruce
Clearly, this is an absurd example – but is it that different from what Microsoft is doing to Windows XP users as it forces them to “upgrade” to Windows Vista? While many of us face in direction of Redmond, WA and genuflect daily, we often do it with a healthy dollop of contempt because of the ham-fisted way in which the monolithic software provider gets us to jump through their hoops. After all, for most of us software is just a tool that we use to do the work we are getting paid to do. Being obliged to learn new software is often seen as a distraction from the job at hand – particularly if the new application doesn’t deliver immediate benefits.
Look at some practical examples of this from our industry: Deltek acquires Wind2 and promises to support it – but for how long? At what point does Deltek “fix the glitch” and start the “migration” to their Vision product? Autodesk has invested heavily in Revit – how long before Autocad is in their rear-view mirror and they start the forced march to their BIM application?
Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do about these kinds of changes. What you can and should do is work with your A/E industry-specific software providers to ensure that transitions occur smoothly. You also need to clearly communicate the benefits of new applications to your staff. Don’t let your vendors forget that you do have a choice in A/E specific software applications – insist that they help you through transitions.
Have a great Fourth!
Bruce
Friday, June 27, 2008
Friday Funnies
As we compiled the list of resources and blogs that we read regularly for the "What we read" section of this blog (just to the right of the blog postings), we came across this blog entry on the KnowHR Blog titled "Don't hire Joe Cocker for Your HR Communication."
The video, which comes from You Tube (click the link below the screenshot) and features text that attempts to make sense of Cocker's nonsensical singing at Woodstock in 1969, is hilarious.
But the message below the screenshot is a serious one. Your communications need to be clear and concise. Make sure there is no room for misinterpretation of the message you are trying to send to your clients. This is always a good idea, but it's especially true when times are tough and clients and projects are scarce.
Now, excuse me while I kiss this guy. (Those of you who have seen the Page-a-Day calendar on misunderstood lyrics will know what I'm referring to there. If you haven't, think of a certain Jimi Hendrix song.)
Have a great weekend!
Ed
The video, which comes from You Tube (click the link below the screenshot) and features text that attempts to make sense of Cocker's nonsensical singing at Woodstock in 1969, is hilarious.
But the message below the screenshot is a serious one. Your communications need to be clear and concise. Make sure there is no room for misinterpretation of the message you are trying to send to your clients. This is always a good idea, but it's especially true when times are tough and clients and projects are scarce.
Now, excuse me while I kiss this guy. (Those of you who have seen the Page-a-Day calendar on misunderstood lyrics will know what I'm referring to there. If you haven't, think of a certain Jimi Hendrix song.)
Have a great weekend!
Ed
When should a board member resign?
Interesting column posted this morning in E-Commerce Times about when company board members should resign their post...and when they should stick it out.
Columnist Theodore F. di Stefano posits that board members should only resign when there are no other options, calling it a "last resort." He writes that when a company's financials head south, that's when board members need to dig in their heels and work with management to try to turn things around. But if company management resists working with the board, that's a good time to think about leaving.
For those of you who sit on the board of directors of your A/E firm or perhaps a community non-profit organization, remember that when times are tough, that's when your expertise and perspective are needed the most. Stick it out and you (and your firm) will reap the benefits of the experience!
Ed
Columnist Theodore F. di Stefano posits that board members should only resign when there are no other options, calling it a "last resort." He writes that when a company's financials head south, that's when board members need to dig in their heels and work with management to try to turn things around. But if company management resists working with the board, that's a good time to think about leaving.
For those of you who sit on the board of directors of your A/E firm or perhaps a community non-profit organization, remember that when times are tough, that's when your expertise and perspective are needed the most. Stick it out and you (and your firm) will reap the benefits of the experience!
Ed
You mean they weren't doing that before?
National Public Radio today reported that a recent study has shown that surgical procedures in the developed world are not as safe as they could be. Interestingly, it's not inferior technology or lack of medical teams' competence that's compromising patient safety.
The reason, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) is simple lack of communication. The WHO has piloted a verbal checklist program requiring surgical teams to verify that they're about to operate on the right patient, with the right procedure, in the right place. They also must verify if the patient has allergies, if he or she may need blood, if pre-op antibiotics have been administered and, finally, if any instruments or surgical sponges are unaccounted for.
At the start of the program, the hospitals were doing everything they should only a third of the time. A thousand operations later, that rate improved to two-thirds of the time, with some hospitals approaching 100 percent. Some surgical teams scoffed at the program - calling it "Mickey Mouse stuff". However, one day in the operating theater during a routine knee replacement, a verbal check with the surgical team revealed that the hospital didn't have the right size knee replacement for this patient. Mickey Mouse stuff, indeed.
Is there a lesson in here for A/E firms - you bet there is. At every phase of the project - from the proposal to presentation, contract negotiation to closeout - insist that your project managers and teams are verbally communicating on everything with a checklist that applies to each specific phase. Most of the time, you learn you have nailed everything down. Sometimes you'll avoid costly mistakes - saving enough money and headache for you and your client to make the process worthwhile a hundred times over.
Still skeptical? Pilot the process and see if it makes a difference.
Until next time,
Bruce
The reason, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) is simple lack of communication. The WHO has piloted a verbal checklist program requiring surgical teams to verify that they're about to operate on the right patient, with the right procedure, in the right place. They also must verify if the patient has allergies, if he or she may need blood, if pre-op antibiotics have been administered and, finally, if any instruments or surgical sponges are unaccounted for.
At the start of the program, the hospitals were doing everything they should only a third of the time. A thousand operations later, that rate improved to two-thirds of the time, with some hospitals approaching 100 percent. Some surgical teams scoffed at the program - calling it "Mickey Mouse stuff". However, one day in the operating theater during a routine knee replacement, a verbal check with the surgical team revealed that the hospital didn't have the right size knee replacement for this patient. Mickey Mouse stuff, indeed.
Is there a lesson in here for A/E firms - you bet there is. At every phase of the project - from the proposal to presentation, contract negotiation to closeout - insist that your project managers and teams are verbally communicating on everything with a checklist that applies to each specific phase. Most of the time, you learn you have nailed everything down. Sometimes you'll avoid costly mistakes - saving enough money and headache for you and your client to make the process worthwhile a hundred times over.
Still skeptical? Pilot the process and see if it makes a difference.
Until next time,
Bruce
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