March_1966 — Page 76

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group activity.

The architect has two fields in which to exercise the processes of management. One is in the running of his own establishment and the other is in the running of his projects. Although separate, requiring different approaches and techniques, they are in fact dependent one upon the other.

He tends to devote his energies to the management of projects, regard- ing the work of administering his establishment as a burden of low priority. His office should come first and with good management, it should become a tool reducing the day to day administrative burden, providing a good climate for the production of architecture.

There are seven "Pillars of Wis- dom" in the management world which are normally recognised as re- levant to the work of the architect, and indeed to that of the quantity sur- veyor and to most organizations.

These are well covered in the litera- ture of the subject and merely need repetition and brief explanation.

The first is Forecasting, which con- sists of the evaluation of the future situation from an analysis of what has occurred in the past, particularly important to the architect because of the variability in the commissioning of projects and of their duration, and the problem this imposes on the main- tenance of a viable establishment.

The second is Planning, a practical process which determines what has to

be done and how it is to be done, in- volving policy and decision-making. It evolves out of forecasting.

In job management the essential feature is the "brief", which sets out the objectives and the policy. The objectives will be both main and sub- sidiary, such as financial targets and timings of stages. The policy will de- tail the steps to be taken and the operations to be carried out.

Too often the brief consists only of a schedule of accommodation and an outline time programme. A full brief sets out not only the client's objec- tives but also those of the architect and the ways and means to be em- ployed to achieve them.

In office management objectives and policy are equally important what kind of a practice is it to be, in terms of size, quality of work, types of projects to be handled and so on?

Organizing

The natural consequence of plan- ning is Organizing, the third process, which concerns the utilization of re- sources in people and material for the carrying out of the plan. In archi- tectural practice it involves the set- ting up of the staff group for the pro- ject and the allocation of tasks be- tween members with regard to their capacities a process to which in- sufficient care is given, projects being permitted to start on an "ad hoc" basis and staff and other resources be-

ing deployed only when crises occur.

Arising out of the organizing pro- cess, comes Motivation; here powers of leadership and an understanding of human nature are called into play, to arouse the human activity needed for the carrying out of the work, to enthusiasm, keenness, and support and to obtain the best out of the human endeavour.

arouse

Linked with this one are the ques- tions of recognizing the individual's contribution, giving credit where cre- dit is due, financial reward, promo- tion, status, conditions of service and many other factors which constitute the "happy atmosphere" necessary for people to give of their best.

Fifthly, there is Co-ordination, which is not only a matter of inte- grating the work of individuals but also the intellectual contribution that they can make to a project as a whole, or to the effective operation of an establishment.

Of prime importance is anticipa- tion, to avoid waste of effort and re- sources. The work of the architect suffers from hold-ups, often due to causes beyond his immediate control, when for instance drawings are sent out for approvals. This can be avoided or reduced to a minimum by laying a ground work beforehand. It allows for the reinforcement of effort in good time in activities likely to in- hibit progress in others.

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Far East Architect & Builder March, 1966