Spice Up Your Architect Meeting

Architects have to attended meetings just like everyone else. In you have every attended a board meeting at a company then you’ll know that most workers dread them. They are usually held in stuffy conference rooms with not much for a buffet presented to each worker attending. Each employee usually utilizes PowerPoint presentations or even flip charts. The repetition of all these events can drive a worker insane. Especially since they always use the same tactics to try and liven up the meeting ,and these actions never work. These time consuming meetings often don’t even have the desired effect on the people that attend them. Afterwards, most employees are simply thrilled to be released back to work at their desk in private.

Thankfully, many architecture firms find subtler, more creative ways to inject energy into the off-site meetings. For example, take SALA Architects. At a recent even on an island in northern Minnesota, the firm’s 45 employees watched “Rivers and Tides”. This is a documentary film that follows British environmental artist Andy Goldsworthy. The video follows him as he makes site-specific projects with found ephemera such as sheep’s wool, icicle shards, red stone dust, and random groupings of sticks and stones. This movie’s main point is trial and error when creating something beautiful. To the architects, some of these processes seemed very familiar.

After witnessing the video they spent the rest of the afternoon outdoors making Goldsworthy-type projects. Most of the architects that were n attendance to this event said it was a very enjoyable experience. These meetings must take into account all the separate factors that make them successful. These factors include inspiration, strategic planning, and part problem solving. Most of these retreats are often considered a waste of time by the employees that are sometimes even forced to attend. Attendance is often required to maintain the sense of a healthy organization. Without everyone being on the same page then how can the company be expected to function as one.

The first point to think about is should these retreats be held every year ? That depends on the company and what kind of projects they are having to tackle. For some of the larger organizations, an annual get-together might just involve the senior staff members. No matter if the getaway is low-budget or lavishly furnished, a work session or a summer dinner, all management involved will agree that there should be a set goal in mind. That doesn’t mean you can’t have fun while getting these goals accomplished and points across to their workers.

So how exactly do we go about this ? “In my experience, retreats are useful for both assessment and planning, and I think annually is a good place to start,” says Rena Klein, a Seattle architect and business consultant. She is quite often to called in to help her superiors to help plot out the future meetings, and what comes of it is a need to involve everyone in the planning. Simply being original will get you the most appreciation by the people attending these activities. Remember that architects are often intellectual people. Exploit this fact to get the most positive results.