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O P I N I O N
M anaging workloads across multiple offices has never been more challenging; especially with many staff also working remotely during the unexpected COVID-19 pandemic. The ever-changing technological advances have certainly helped, especially with collaborative platforms like Microsoft Teams or Zoom. COVID-19 has pushed leaders in the design industry and beyond to develop new strategies to manage an increasingly untethered workforce. Manage workloads across multiple offices
David Bluhm
Everyone should develop their own style of managing workloads and project teams across multiple offices. What works for one does not necessarily work for all. But here are some strategies that will most likely cause you to fail. Don’t: ❚ ❚ Be hands-off ❚ ❚ Delegate all the responsibility and none of the authority ❚ ❚ Fail to communicate ❚ ❚ Let technology replace face-to-face communication COVID-19 is pushing us to develop new strategies to manage our increasingly untethered workforce, and, from my experience, there are many best practices you should be utilizing for project success across multiple offices. But managing
really begins and proliferates with a great first kickoff meeting. Our teams are often assembled with staff of differing specializations – a challenge for sure, but also an excellent opportunity to develop synergy and relationships. The kickoff meeting ensures that everyone not only knows their own role, but each other’s roles as well. Getting everyone on the same page at the beginning is vital to having successful communication throughout the project’s lifecycle. Some of the tools we use to develop staff, create team synergy, and bond as a company across our nine offices include: ❚ ❚ Building time into projects for face-to-face collaboration early on in a project. This improves
See DAVID BLUHM, page 12
THE ZWEIG LETTER AUGUST 10, 2020, ISSUE 1356
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