The ‘Standard Details’ concept is deceptively simple. “An easily accessed library of building details that describe how you like to do things.” Everybody gets that. 

Have you ever tried to do it?

Successfully?

I found success elusive. But it is worth a try. Here is why ...
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The Kolbe System is a very useful tool that gives you an insight into another dimension of your colleagues - how they prefer to take action. This is something you should be aware of sooner rather than later. It is especially helpful when hiring.

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Due to nearly a year of research, I know a lot about the problems that most firms face with their accounting systems. Those problems fall into all three major bookkeeping tasks that architect’s have - Timekeeping, Invoicing, and Expense Tracking. Those three problems often lead to difficulty with Project Accounting, too. That is another problem shared by many firms - not knowing if a project is profitable or how profitable/unprofitable. 

MyCorbu is a project-oriented, cloud-based timekeeping system designed by a retired architect for other architects and creative people. I am going to show you how you can solve your Timekeeping issues. Cheaper. Faster. Better.
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 How To Get Where You Want To Go

                             
GPS? 

Yes, but No.

I'm not talking about travel. I'm talking about how you achieve goals, objectives and non-physical stuff like that. We have all had the experience of making a plan or setting a goal that proved hard to implement or achieve. Somewhere in the process, often right at the beginning, obstacles appear. Not tasks, but real ’how am I supposed to do that’ obstacles. I am going to show you why that is a good thing and not the ’killer’ that you might suppose it is.

When I first got out of college, twenty years before the internet, I searched and searched for a description of how to do project management.  I wanted a how-to. A checklist. 

I never did find one...until one day...

Priorities Are Good

Here is a general rule of thumb for setting priorities when you are working on a project. I find that it is the best way to move a project ahead effectively during the design phases.  It is ideal to tackle design issues in this order: 
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One of the major differences I found between designing projects in school and designing projects in a firm was the need to meet others' expectations. To me school design was like solving a puzzle. Having a solution was what mattered. Not how you got there.

​When I was designing 'for real', I was never entirely on my own like in school. Getting all the drawing done in time for final printing was just one objective. The client needed to be kept in the loop. The consulting engineers needed drawing updates in time to complete their work. And they needed them far enough in advance for me to make sure their work was coordinated with everything else. Codes. Budgets. Specs. Having all these other expectations encouraged me to find a process. 

That's where Lessons Learned comes in.

I have always been interested in the 'process' of architecture. Early on, any path I took felt like I was getting somewhere, but sometimes I was and sometimes I wan't.  Once I was convinced that the solution to a small school admin office was designing the building from the front door inwards. Two days later with nothing to show for my effort except my boss's observation:

"What in the hell are you doing?"

I guess this wasn't a path that produced useful results. 

I continued to be on the lookout for "the Way".

Nearly twenty years later I stumbled upon a magazine article describing when types of design decisions should be made in the design process to minimize re-work.

Finally, a clue!
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I should be a genius at delegation. I certainly put in the hours researching, planning, trying things out. I am mediocre at best. 

This is a problem because business is dependent on delegation, and the architectural business is not any different. 

Now that I am retired, I am pretty much out of the business world, but I was thinking that many other architects face the same thing. 
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When I am not screwing around on my phone, I am using my iPad. 80% of what I do with Architekwiki is done with my iPad. The app I am describing is for the iPad.

I use the hell out of Trello; but for some things I've found another visual planning tool that works really well. Cardflow.

Cardflow mimics index cards on a tack board - but lots better.

Here Is How I Use Cardflow

"Overall, this guide is awesome!. 
I will definitely be implementing this in our practice.
This is great stuff. Not only do you go into creating the
​template, but using it too! Perfect."

     - Danny Cerezo, Firm Principal



View Screenshots below, and learn more.

A guy who knew me from my Corbu adventure mentioned me to Enoch Sears. Enoch has a website called The Business Of Architecture. Part of what Enoch offers is a podcast that interviews people in the architecture industry. He invited me to be interviewed. I said, 'Yes'. And here we are.

The interview is broken into two parts below.
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​We got our first email system when we moved into a building where an IT consultant was also a tenant. He wired us into his system and we used his domain name. The monthly cost was affordable and there were no maintenance headaches or costs. It was 1993 and Al Gore had just invented the Internet two years before. We were ’on it’.

Over time all those drawing attachments started clogging up his email server, so we got our own email server with our own domain name. The cool factor balanced out the costs and hid the fact that we were stepping out on a slippery slope.

If you have been following along with my description of how to develop your own customized project management system using Trello, you know it's time to start implementing the idea. Implementing Trello in your firm is pretty simple.
Here are the steps I suggest. 

• Get your free Trello account.
• Check out these Trello resources.
• Decide who will manage your PM System
• Present Trello to everyone 
• Share the Trello orientation tool
• Try out Trello with a simple group project
• Set Up your master project template

​I think Trello works exceptionally well for architectural project management because its features align with the way design projects are organized. Trello’s flexibility easily accommodates an unusual project and all types of other projects.

The images below show how.
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​I have been promoting Trello for a while now. I think Trello is a good tool for planning and managing just about anything, but especially design projects. Here’s why I like Trello for Project Management.

• ​​Easy Metaphor Concept
• Visual
• Short Learning Curve
• Complete Flexibility
• Checklists
• Communications

and more...

It used to be real simple - floppy disks carried from computer to computer, a sneaker-net.

Then came a hard drive for your computer, but you still used a sneaker-net with floppies. Next came ethernet wiring for a real network. When modems arrived you could access files and even programs remotely with Citrix over telephone lines.

The Internet changed everything again, making it possible for your server to be in the cloud using Dropbox. Now all my stuff is in the Cloud, and storage via Dropbox has been joined by my three Google Drive accounts, plus an iCloud Drive, plus the special cases of photo and music storage.

Things were simple; then they got complicated; then simple again; and now they are complicated again.

It's time for a reset.
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