Most architects treat engineers like a service you hand work to, but what if your breakthrough moments happen when you start conceptual conversations before making any structural decisions? What you'll learn: → Why bringing consultants to the table "as quickly and early as possible" unlocks structural innovation most firms never discover → How to reject the three-legged stool myth and achieve budget, schedule, AND quality through honest upfront planning → The resource coordination system that pr...
Jul 25, 2025•45 min•Ep. 123
Architects don’t design alone. But real collaboration between firms? That’s the hard part. In this episode, you’ll learn what it actually takes to run successful projects across architecture and engineering teams, such as: → How to build trust between teams and clients → How to structure timelines across consultants → How to handle late invoices, design surprises, and municipal curveballs → The role of tools like Revit, Monograph, and Deltek → How to manage 384 active projects without burning ou...
Jul 23, 2025•55 min•Ep. 122
A&E project collaboration sounds great–until projects go over budget, scope gets muddy, and no one's sure who's doing what. In this episode, two award-winning design firms share how they actually make collaboration work: → How to staff and structure projects across two firms → How to run weekly planning and manage deadlines → How to divide scope, run client meetings, and stay on track → What tools to rely on: Slack, trace paper, Monograph, and more → How should Architects + Landscape Archite...
Jul 21, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 121
Unbilled hours. Constant firefighting. Are broken systems holding back your A&E firm? In this episode, you’ll learn a simple question to find broken systems and get a concrete example of how a 10-person structural engineering firm in Florida grew profits by 25% after switching from Excel to Monograph. Key takeaways: Ask your team to perform the same task—if their results differ, your systems lack consistency and need fixing. Use tools that visually show budgets, workloads, and schedules to m...
Dec 27, 2024•13 min•Ep. 120
Many architects and engineers struggle to manage their business, from staying on top of budgets to streamlining invoicing and forecasting. In this episode, we explore how Workbench, a California architect-developer + design-build firm, transformed their operations. By switching to Monograph from BQE Core + Smartsheets, they reduced unbilled fees by 75%, cut their billing time from 20 hours a month to just 4 hours, and sped up staffing and scheduling for their team by 8x. In this episode, you'll ...
Dec 09, 2024•44 min•Ep. 119
Many architects and engineers feel overwhelmed by the business side of their work. In this episode, we explore how Workshop/APD, a leading multidisciplinary design firm, tackled these challenges and grew their team by 78% with Monograph. In this episode, you’ll learn: How to align your team with real-time project and financial data. How to take control of your firm’s financial health using tools designed for architects. How to build a culture of accountability that empowers your entire team. If ...
Nov 27, 2024•14 min•Ep. 118
Meet Garrison Architects — a Brooklyn-based architecture firm that specializes in sustainable, modular building design through highly refined modernist aesthetics across private residential and large scale public projects. In 2023, the firm left ArchiOffice for Monograph to streamline and improve project tracking, staffing, and billing, while reducing the cost associated with managing their systems by 50%. Here's what happened: Before Monograph - +$34k annual cost on project management and billi...
Feb 22, 2024•57 min•Ep. 117
Meet the design-build firm Woodhull — an integrated architecture, construction, and millwork firm delivering thoughtful and enduring residential and commercial projects throughout New England. Their holistic ethos and business model relies on transparency, communication, and collaboration to drive successful internal operations. Everything starts with the 80 active projects in Woodhull's 25-person design studio, which switched from BQE Core to Monograph to improve speed and accuracy across the e...
Feb 07, 2024•44 min•Ep. 116
Systems are essential to organizing your workplace and maintaining order during a project. But how can you build systems to win new work? In this Best Practice interview, MVRDV Managing Director Inger Kammeraat and Strategy and Development partner Jan Knikker explained how they structure their firm to facilitate a healthy pipeline of new projects. They talked about how they use PR to drive business development, how they balance profit with their mission and how they close the cycle at the end of...
Jun 30, 2022•55 min•Ep. 113
Forming the identity of a young business is difficult. Whether you’re branching off from a parent company or launching your own startup, without a consistent set of principles and practices, it can feel like you’re living in the Wild West. If you want your business to flourish, you need to establish law and order—namely, a consistent set of workflows and processes that will keep everyone on the same page. In this Section Cut interview, Adam Gayle, Director of Architecture at Level Architecture +...
May 17, 2022•22 min•Ep. 90
One challenge architects face is the pressure to deliver their signature creative style while also serving the client’s needs. This push-and-pull relationship between creative practice and professional service never goes away, but there are a few tactics you can use to help strike a balance. In this Section Cut interview, Principal Steve Perce of bldg.collective explored how to deliver an excellent client experience while also honoring your creativity. He talked about the importance of guiding t...
May 12, 2022•22 min•Ep. 89
Industry expectations and standards are constantly shifting. If you want your company to keep up, you have to adjust with the changing times. But to be ready for whatever lies ahead, you have to institute a flexible, agile mindset within your company and be ready to adapt to new practices. In this Section Cut interview, Lorena Galvao, co-founder of Defining Design Practice, shared her experience working in the changing architectural industry and how companies can prepare for future shifts. Inter...
May 10, 2022•41 min•Ep. 88
The client experience is at the heart of architectural work. Delivering an attentive experience through every phase is what will lead to a happy client, repeat business, and referrals for your firm. In fact, this experience starts before you even land a client. Becoming in tune with your potential clients’ feelings, thoughts, and questions will help you to meet them where they are. In this Section Cut session, Lucas Gray and Dena Alspach of Charrette Venture Group explained how delivering an exc...
May 06, 2022•45 min•Ep. 87
When growth is rooted in community, it becomes self-sustaining. At landscape architecture firm Studio Balcones, Principal Jennifer Orr and Office Manager Tiffany Rasco believe that being active in their community is essential to their firm’s growth and success. In this Best Practice interview, they talk about the importance of educating others by collaborating with project partners, applying for community certifications, participating in diversity programs, and teaching clients throughout the pr...
Apr 25, 2022•53 min•Ep. 112
Studio-based organizations can prevent architects from getting their hands on a variety of projects and experiences. Ennead Architects takes on a whole range of different scales, different typologies, and different locales in their projects. They see that as the dream training of an architect. Their teams are able to share ideas and transfer skills through this spectrum of projects. In this episode, Ennead partners Molly McGowan and Thomas Wong discuss how they manage all of their diverse civic ...
Apr 22, 2022•56 min•Ep. 111
In the architect-led design-build model, the architect is responsible not only for design but for construction as well. This represents a major shift from the traditional design-bid-build way of building projects. Yet it offers unique advantages on both the architect and client end, say Thomas Gluck and Stacie Wong, both principals at Gluck+. Most importantly, it makes for a smoother construction process and a better, beautiful building. Interview Takeaways Design for the build Be the one point ...
Apr 13, 2022•50 min•Ep. 84
Many traditional architecture practices are no longer sustainable. Firms that want to lead the path into the future will need to adopt new ways of thinking. In this Best Practice interview, Christian Stayner, Principal of Stayner Architects, explains how expanding your services, collaborating with consultants, and systemizing client interactions can help you create new models for the future of the industry. Interview Takeaways Compartmentalize how you present your practice Showcase projects that...
Apr 04, 2022•56 min•Ep. 82
When unexpected opportunities arise, sometimes it’s best to say yes and figure it out later. But in order to see the project through, you need to understand how to get to the finish line successfully. In this Best Practice interview, Nik Lahiri of Essel Environmental explores how to understand your metrics for success, know where you get your energy from, and set expectations for project milestones to build lasting client relationships. Interview Takeaways Say yes and figure it out later Underst...
Mar 31, 2022•55 min•Ep. 80
Not every architect should start their own practice. It comes down to how you want to spend your time. If you want to spend most of your time being an architect, don’t start a practice. Starting a practice requires you to spend time on business processes, marketing, sales, and most of all, thinking about money. From setting fees to planning for the future, there are many financial decisions you’ll have to make right from the start. In this Best Practice episode, Marilyn Moedinger, founder of Run...
Mar 29, 2022•57 min•Ep. 78
Developers need a steady pipeline of projects to keep their businesses thriving. That means juggling multiple projects that are in various stages, from design to starting construction, to completing construction. To stay on target, you’re always balancing what you’re working on now with what comes next. In this episode, Scott Shnay of SK Development told us the rules they follow to steadily feed that pipeline while keeping their work top-notch, like working with great partners and sticking to yo...
Mar 24, 2022•51 min•Ep. 76
When you think about design, data probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. Yet, that’s exactly what you should be thinking about according to Bobby Fijan of Form Developers. Data, especially on the local level, offers invaluable insight into what people really want in a floor plan and what they’ll spend money on. That’s why you should seek out data early on as you begin a new project. Just keep in mind that it’s not the only important factor. Interview Takeaways Consider the tenant exp...
Mar 14, 2022•54 min•Ep. 74
Burnout can decrease workplace efficiency, make employees sick, and even cause people to leave their careers. In the wake of the pandemic, workers are more likely than ever to suffer from burnout, so if you want to prioritize your health, you need to set firm boundaries to keep from wearing yourself and your employees out. In our first Roundtable discussion, four Monograph team members discuss what they do to maintain a healthy work-life balance and keep burnout at bay. Interview Takeaways Look ...
Mar 08, 2022•53 min•Ep. 64
Owning the means and methods throughout the design and construction process can be challenging. This is especially true for new designers or architects who haven’t been involved in many projects before. How do you go about understanding your role, the client’s risk tolerance, and keep an open mind throughout the process? On Best Practice, NADAAA’s principals Nader Tehrani and Arthur Chang explain how they use collaboration and relationships with contractors to own the means and methods during ea...
Mar 01, 2022•50 min•Ep. 72
Business development is everyone’s job. Every employee, regardless of level or title, can and should do their part to propel their firm forward — to new clients, interesting projects, and positive PR. That’s what Carrie Villani and Doug Gonzalez of LERA believe. In a recent Best Practice episode, they talked about how marketing can naturally be incorporated into your workday, helping to grow both the firm and your individual career. Interview Takeaways Share your network Business development is ...
Feb 25, 2022•53 min•Ep. 66
The Bureau of Overseas Building Operations has high standards to meet. The buildings they design have to be secure, functional, and stand the test of time. The embassies and other facilities they design are 50-year buildings. They have to withstand a place’s climate, fit in with the local culture, and confidently represent the U.S. as an open nation. In this episode, Curtis Clay, the OBO’s director of architecture, discusses how the bureau designs buildings that will become legacies—and how they...
Feb 22, 2022•54 min•Ep. 68
In architecture, as with almost any business, the environment you create in your office can make or break your team’s productivity. But with pandemic protocols forcing many businesses to work remotely, meaningful interactions and a positive workplace culture are even harder to cultivate—but still just as important. Colin Montoute, director of architecture at WXY Studio, and managing director Amy Hau, brought their expertise to the table during our latest Best Practice webinar to talk about how t...
Feb 15, 2022•50 min•Ep. 63
An architect’s role by definition revolves around the planning, designing, and construction of buildings. But Rick Joy, principal at Studio Rick Joy, doesn’t see it that way. He believes his role is to create a lifestyle, not a building. It’s taking the setting and landscape into account and bringing the best experience to life with what you design. It’s letting nature and light in and pushing inconveniences and burdens out. It’s talking a client out of building a house on a hilltop and instead ...
Feb 11, 2022•48 min•Ep. 61
Building a strong team sounds simple: put a bunch of talented people with complementary skill sets together in the same room. But in reality, there’s a carefully calibrated science to crafting a team that produces great work. On the latest Best Practice episode, Sara Lopergolo and Oliver Link from Selldorf Architects share their experience handpicking team members and facilitating collaboration. They end up with teams whose members not only work well together, but also teach and learn from each ...
Feb 04, 2022•54 min•Ep. 60
Strong leadership is the secret sauce of strong companies. You may be the most creative and most groundbreaking firm on the planet. But if your teams don’t work well together, if they spend too much time on the wrong parts of the process, and if they don’t keep clients happy—you’ll see subpar results. In this Best Practice interview, Holly Deichmann and Zoe Small, Associate Principals at Diller Scofidio + Renfro, share exactly how good managers can uphold the business: by empowering employees, s...
Feb 01, 2022•53 min•Ep. 59
A technology-first firm is not one that merely uses the latest technology in their practice. It’s a firm that leverages that technology to allow collaboration in the sketching process all the way through a 3D experience. It’s having designers, project managers, technical architects, and software developers all working together to make things happen in tandem and instantaneously. Mancini Duffy is a firm that takes that collaboration seriously. In this Best Practice webinar, President Christian Gi...
Jan 29, 2022•54 min•Ep. 62
