Newsletter - March 2020

AIA Maine | News


news | March 2020
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Resources for Architects: COVID-19
We aren't experts, but we thought we would share a few tips from our network about how to pivot in the era of social distancing.

Work from Home Tips:

  • Have a virtual all-staff or team meeting every morning. This will keep everyone connected.
  • Allow employees to take office computers, chairs, and desks home with them if it suits them. Not everyone has proper office equipment at home.
  • Make time to move around. Working from home means you are likely moving less than you usually do.

Tips for Job Site Visits:

  • Be flexible with the timing of site visits.
  • Be strategic about who needs to be on-site during the visit.
  • When limiting the staff on-site, it is helpful to use your phone to audio-record the meeting rather than have a person on hand just to take notes.
  • Establish office policies for site visits. A written policy will empower employees to advocate for themselves while on-site.

Helpful Technology:

  • Microsoft Office 356 Teams has helped some members with online collaboration.
  • iPad with Apple Pencil has helped people mark-up drawings and share those drawings without being in the same space.
  • Zoom is a very intuitive resource for online meetings.
  • Try Slack for instant messaging with your team. Slack helps to avoid lengthy email chains that can drain time and energy.

Tips to Maintain Cash Flow:

  • Check-in and follow-up with clients regularly.
  • Get your invoices out regularly – maybe more often now.
  • Consider pre-billing for your services or a retainer model.
  • Talk to your clients about the importance of cash flow for a small business.
  • Do not work on new work for a client when there are outstanding invoices.
  • Review federal government programs for Small Business. Link here

Opportunities

  • Be empathetic!
  • Understand your clients' new problems and provide services to address the issues they are facing. Use your existing skills to be their trusted partner.
  • Understand that not all clients are tech-savvy. Do your best to make things seamless for them.
  • Expand your skills / re-invest in yourself.
  • Consider taking on new roles that you may have previously hired out. For example: general contractor or interior design roles.
  • Consider a recurring-business revenue model rather than a project-revenue model.
  • Keep marketing your business. Clients will still need to find you. Tune up your website. Be visible.

Messaging to Clients and Contacts:

  • Convey calm and show stability.
  • Help clients problem-solve. For instance, if a community meeting has to be canceled, suggest an online meeting instead and then help them figure out how to make that happen.
  • You do not need to highlight any process changes with clients (like work from home strategies) unless they ask or are interested.

Best Practice Materials from AIA & AIA Trust:

Join us today at noon for a virtual social.

If you have tips to share or just want to have a lunch-time chat, please join us today for a virtual social.

Today, Friday, March 20th, at noon

Here are the details to join us. 

Join Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 785 121 232

One tap mobile
+16465588656,,785121232# US (New York)

Dial by your location
   +1 646 558 8656 US (New York)
Meeting ID: 785 121 232

You will have the best results if you join us from a computer with video and headphones.

And if a kid or pet joins in, that is okay with us.
AIA Update on Federal Relief Packages Approved Post COVID-19 Outbreak

There is a lot of action on Capitol Hill to help mobilize relief for small business owners and workers during these unprecedented times. We feel that it is important that AIA members stay abreast of these developments and want to provide periodic updates as the information develops. 

AIA Small Firm Compensation Report

Newly updated for 2020 is the second-ever AIA Small Firm Compensation Report, dedicated to the unique needs and structure of small architecture firms, defined here as those legally structured as sole proprietorships (regardless of number of employees) and architecture firms with fewer than three architectural staff employees.

To develop a survey to best meet the unique needs of small firms, AIA collaborated with a working group of members of the AIA Small Firm Exchange to develop a survey that could address the different types of small firms—and to begin to compile a body of reliable and accurate salary data.

This report includes data on compensation trends, employee demographics at small firms, as well as details on employee benefits offered by small firms, and 23 detailed compensation tables broken out for six positions by firm type, firm revenue, region of the country, and more.


Jeannette Schram