Design+Dialogue

Strong relationships are the hallmark of good business practices. The best leaders hold relationships at a premium and invest in their relationships as aggressively as many invest in their 401ks and retirement plans. By taking a few simple steps that might not be obvious, you can boost employee and team [...]

The professional relationship you create with your boss will be the most important relationship of your career. It’s up to you to know your boss and their work style. How well you know your supervisor and like working with them will most likely impact your success with your firm. Ninety-two [...]

LinkedIn still matters, like it or not.  Regardless of your job search status, LinkedIn is a critical part of your career.  Is yours up-to-date?  Check out my latest Design+Dialogue to learn how to bring it up to 2022 standards.  

You’ve seen the migration, and you’ve likely experienced it in your own design firm. People are leaving their jobs and changing their roles, not just in Architecture and Design but everywhere. Candidates are placing emphasis on meeting personal goals and over-achieving career goals. Having witnessed the decades their parents and [...]

With more job openings than ever in architecture and design, firms are discovering that they are competing against each other for the same top talent. Recruiters who partner with design firms have observed, “There are a lot of openings right now, but they’re just aren’t a lot of candidates. When [...]

Remote work has taught employers that their employees can be as productive remotely as they were when working from the office. How do you keep your employees motivated, engaged, and productive in this new norm of working remotely? Today we will discuss one factor that can help your employees stay [...]

Gathering feedback after you have met the candidates in the qualifying meeting is important. Receiving and delivering candidate feedback helps you decide if the candidate is the right fit for the position. Do you move forward or reject the candidate? Does the candidate possess qualifying skills and aptitude for the [...]

Participation is half the battle.  Once you show up you are halfway there.  In this post share some time on how to participate in your industry.

Most HR managers simply don’t have the time to evaluate the candidate beyond their resume. If it looks like they have diverse skill sets and communicate decently, they are hired in hopes that they’ll hit the ground running once on the job. However, the reality is that getting up to [...]

In today’s competitive market the new hire’s fit with your organization’s culture is extremely important.  These simple questions will allow your interview team to understand a candidate’s emotional intelligence, and thus their fit with your firm.

Architects and designers felt the impact of the fluctuating economy on their operations as growth slowed down and new clients were difficult to come by last year. As a result, more than 70%of architecture firms witnessed a drop in their annual billing. This was a cause for panic, but only [...]

Many design leaders amass a considerable portfolio of skills needed for their roles. Their toolboxes consist of solid education and training, hands-on experience, and a hefty dose of confidence in their ability. When it’s time to bring the past forward, they’re ready to step up, especially if they’ve taken the [...]

Key leaders in architecture and design understand how to maximize team success. By being in the trenches, managers, and owners take action by working where the team works. As a leader, it is critical to be in the trenches. It helps to create a strong corporate culture of trust and [...]

Building an awesome interview team is THE BEST tool for finding top talent in today’s market. The market for talent across all industries is very competitive but none more so than in the Architecture and Interior Design industry.  Our industry is still feeling the sting from so much talent leaving [...]

As a CEO of an architecture and design firm, one of the potential assets to think about is what’s known by so many as “contract labor.” Here at DBI, we refer to it as “interim solutions.” Regardless, contract labor is contract design talent that the firm doesn’t hire on. A [...]

Every interviewer has to have a set of tools in their arsenal. In the architecture and design industry, there is one specific tool that, when executed properly, can mean the difference between hiring ideal candidates and hiring people that aren’t the best fit for the position. This tool is called [...]

Work cultures have seen dramatic changes since the pandemic. COVID-19 enabled employers and employees to think about their values and make changes in their professional lives. Unfortunately, while some changes led to positive outcomes, others negatively impacted the architecture and industry. According to research, the pandemic resulted in the loss [...]

Here at DBI, we are swamped! We require great candidates, which is challenging because we are also in a candidate-friendly market. Now more than ever, we have to accommodate our candidates’ needs if we want the best candidates to choose to work with our firm. Because of this, we have [...]

Marketing plays an integral role in keeping your firm afloat. The architecture industry, in particular, saw a massive decline following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, research by Appleseed Strategy showed that 70% of architecture firms experienced a drop in their billings during the second quarter of 2020. [...]

Core Leadership Skills in Design are many but some are more important for success than others.  In this week’s design and dialogue I share four critical skills every design leader must master. I have another blog that goes more in-depth here.