Virtual Design Firms
By forming strategic alliances with key partners, interior consultants can create virtual design firms that are strategic and flexible, and that add value to client relationships.
By Jon Holten
Phyllis Moore, ASID, was thrilled to renovate a kitchen in a historical home - until she saw the room was a jumble of awkward shapes. Rather than tangle with an unfamiliar problem, Moore, owner of Interior Designs, a two-person firm in Decatur, Ala., called H. Don Bowden, ASID, owner of H. Don Bowden Architect, a six-person architecture and interior design firm in Mobile, Ala., who employed a specialist in kitchen design.
The kitchen turned out great. "Better than I could have done on my own," Moore says. "We were able to include all the latest ideas in kitchen design - features that I only knew the basics about. Now that my client is giving my name to her friends, I'll be working with Bowden's kitchen specialist on two or three more renovations."
Through this informal partnership, everybody wins: Moore captures a new niche for her business; the kitchen specialist lands work she wouldn't have known about otherwise; and, since two heads are better than one, the client enjoys a renovated kitchen with a superior design.
A Virtual Alliance by Any Name
Whether you call it partnering, teaming, a joint venture, a strategic alliance or a virtual design firm, this relationship represents a fast-growing trend throughout the business world. Businesses are working together. They remain independent, but on select projects suited to their talents, they act as informal partners - a virtual staff of specialists that can do much more than take orders.
"Strategic alliances are the future for businesses, from self-employed individuals through major corporations," says Paul Edwards, who partnered with his wife, Sarah Edwards, and author Rick Benzel to write Teaming Up: The Small Business Guide to Collaborating with Others to Boost Your Earnings and Expand Your Horizons. One skill of the 21st century will be to work in amorphous teams, says Sarah Edwards. People who can do it will thrive. Those who can't will find it harder to compete and succeed.
It's no secret that competition is tougher than ever. Clients are demanding better, faster and cheaper services. Even simply meeting client needs these days can seem tough in a firm that doesn't have every discipline on staff. Partnering is not just a way to get more business, "It's crucial to the health of our business," according to Bowden. Businesses are taking note and taking action. In a recent survey of 100 small companies, conducted by Paul and Sarah Edwards, 61 percent said they collaborate more now than five years ago, and 81 percent said they expect to collaborate more five years from now.
Think Strategically
A virtual design firm is not about convenient short-term solutions or outsourcing specialty work. Like Moore and Bowden, it might start out as a collaboration, but it becomes much more. "When partnering, we're after a high-quality, long-term strategic solution that gets better as we get to know each other and learn from each other," says Barbara Nugent, ASID, vice president, director of Interior Design at Corgan Associates Inc. in Dallas.
A virtual design firm develops relationships with people who represent the firm and can help make it stronger, she says. For a small business, it's important to look both ways - how individuals can help you and how you can help others.
In Moore's kitchen design project, she hooked up with Bowden's firm to strengthen her own business. In turn, her presence in Decatur, Ala., helps Bowden expand his business in a fast-growing but distant part of the state.
Made to Order
Because you build a virtual design firm on ongoing strategic relationships, you have the flexibility to create a team that best meets each client's needs. "We pull together whatever the project requires - lighting engineer, acoustical engineer or mechanical engineer," Bowden says. "We rely on the best talent and take advantage of their expertise without putting them on the payroll." For the next project, a team might include some of the same people plus others with skills especially suited to the new project.
Focus on Learning
Not only does working in teams give a virtual design firm flexibility, a strategy of long-term learning can significantly enhance a team's synergy. With outsourcing, learning is not always a priority, because consultants typically are hired to do what they're told. Teams, on the other hand, not only can improve their individual skills from project to project, they have the ability to improve their interaction as a group, according to Peter Senge, Ph.D., director of the Center for Organizational Learning at MIT's Sloan School of Management.
In his best-selling management book, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, Senge explains that teams can "learn to think and act in new synergistic ways with full coordination and a sense of unity." Through open and honest conversation, a team can build an understanding of each other and produce work as a whole that far exceeds the sum of the parts.
In a design team, each person talks through the client's objectives and how they think the interior should be treated, Nugent says. "The team looks at restrictions and functional needs, and by focusing on the user, they reach a unity - a marriage of expertise."
After working with her partners over many projects, a bond of trust has developed, Nugent says. "I know they will take care of their responsibilities. That helps me step back and think more about the client - to get out of my own little world, to better understand and anticipate what the client wants. Problem-solving is more strategic, especially when it comes to using design to improve the client's business."
Approach With Caution
Despite the benefits of a virtual design firm, beware. "When it's good, it's very good. And when it's bad, it's horrid," Sarah Edwards says. Problems occur when people err in the structure's arrangement or the selection of their partners.
Many people instantly want to form a partnership. However, less formal options - everything from simple networking to joint ventures - carry less risk. Let your comfort with the level of commitment be your guide, Sarah Edwards suggests.
Likewise, interior consultants are advised to look before they leap into a major project with a new collaborator. Don't jump in too quickly. It's easy to make assumptions about a designer. You don't want to take on a big project before you really know a person. "Instead, you should date first," Sarah Edwards says.
That means starting with small projects and making decisions based on what you learn about each other's goals, values, attitudes and personal work styles. "Ultimately, it comes down to the chemistry of individuals," Sarah Edwards says. She recommends using personality surveys to identify areas of potential conflict between you and prospective collaborators.
Like many others, Nugent enjoys and depends on the relationships she makes through strategic alliances. "People work with people they like," she says. "When you build a good relationship, you want to work with those people again. You know they will deliver because they have the same expectations that you have."
SIDEBAR:
NOTEBOOK: Create Your Own Virtual Design Firm
Foster Team Spirit
To create effective alliances, authors Paul and Sarah Edwards and others recommend these actions:
Put your agreement in writing
The more detail, the better. Make it a shared statement of what you agree to do. And include how either party can get out.
"We set up clear objectives - short-term and long-term - and then we monitor our progress on those objectives," says Barbara Nugent, ASID.
H. Don Bowden, ASID, takes a similar approach. "We always make sure we have a good contract, specific to each job." It includes dollars, deadlines, penalties, insurance and other details.
Take a long-term view
Most teams become more productive and creative as the members learn how to work together. "The longer you team with others, the more comfortable you get and the easier your ideas flow together," says Phyllis Moore, ASID. Nugent sets long-term objectives for each alliance and periodically checks progress. "It challenges you to do better," she says.
Emphasize communication
Failed partnerships and joint ventures can almost always trace their problems to misunderstandings or poor communication. "We set up standard conference calls for the entire team," Nugent says. "That's a sacred time, especially when things get hot and heavy. Then we're able to talk through each issue."
Respect each other's work.
"Most of the time, interior designers do their thing and say, 'This is the way it's going to be,'" says Ron Nix, an electrical engineer in Panama City, Fla., who regularly works with interior consultants. But in a true collaboration, the team takes full advantage of one another's skills. For example, he says, he offers solutions that achieve what the designer wants and stays within the energy budget.
Agree on the project leader.
Client preference often determines the leader. Agree in advance on fees. What is billable? Will the team leader mark up other members' fees? When will team members be paid? Bowden charges no markup or finder's fee. "We are paid for what we do, not what others do," he says.
Expand your Horizons
Through virtual teamwork and technology, Bruce Brigham, FASID, principal of Planet Retail Studios in Seattle, is taking his firm worldwide.
When Cartier, the Paris-based retail chain, found Planet Retail Studio's Web site on the Internet, they requested a proposal for an assessment report and design brief for their boutiques, including schematic designs for their stores in Paris and Tokyo.
To augment his staff of five, Brigham created a partnership with the well-known firm Deloitte & Touche, which allowed him to offer Cartier a financial performance analysis, among other services. He won the bid, doubled his staff and is pursuing more international clients. "In the world of international design, the Web is a great equalizer," Brigham says. "Everyone can be a major player. But you still need to be able to perform."
What's In It for You?
ASID members say they enjoy collaborating with other professionals. More important, they say strategic alliances help their businesses compete and grow. Consider the advantages of a virtual design firm:
Produce better work.
"It's impossible for one individual to be an expert in all areas," says Phyllis Moore, ASID, owner of Interior Designs. "Collaboration lets you give your client the best possible end result. It lets you focus on what you do best, because you have other experts on the job doing what they do best."
Expand your capabilities.
"That's the other beauty of partnering," Moore says. "You can offer someone's expertise without adding to your overhead all the costs of having an employee on staff."
Expand your territory.
"You have to think outside your geography," says Barbara Nugent, ASID, vice president of interior design, Corgan Associates. "There are no borders. By partnering, you definitely can work nationally and even internationally."
Take on bigger projects.
You can do more complex work and larger projects when you have partners you know and trust.
Enter new specialties.
Nugent says she plans to do more work in retail stores, even though the firm doesn't have a specialist on staff. "I want to venture out into that realm," she says, "and I know someone through ASID I can work with who understands display and merchandising."
Market more effectively.
"We try to market the advantages of one-stop shopping," says H. Don Bowden, ASID, owner of H. Don Bowden Architect. "The convenience of having the firm assemble a team of specialists is a genuine client-pleaser, he says."
Get business through team members.
When team members enjoy working on your team, they often ask you to join their team on other projects.
Stay close to clients.
Bowden strives for repeat clients. "Our clients use us as a resource, even when the job has nothing to do with design or architecture," Bowden says. "We can help clients succeed by referring them to other professionals. Then when another project comes up, we'll be the first one they call."
Technology: The Heart of the Team
Life without e-mail? Bruce Brigham, FASID, principal of Planet Retail Studios in Seattle, can't imagine it. As the project leader for a new club designed for Seattle SuperSonics courtside ticket holders, Brigham is responsible for keeping his virtual project team in constant contact with one another. He does most of this via e-mail.
Teammates
The virtual team on this project consists of an array of specialists: an architect of record, a digital documentation firm, fire and life safety compliance contacts, a kitchen designer, a lighting designer and water feature designer, and professionals in A/V engineering, structural engineering, and mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering.
Says Brigham, "For a relatively small design firm to run a project as complex as this, technology is essential. Technology made it economically viable to do this and made it a much smoother process." Brigham also notes that technology helped keep the client connected to the process, a challenge faced by many designers.
London calling
Susan Bradford, FASID, president of Bradford Design, Ltd., in Atlanta, does nearly all of her work via e-mail, and has created a virtual team that includes an architect and imaging service. A recent vacation in London didn't keep Bradford from continuing a project for a store in Ramsey, N.J. From the comfort of her hotel room, Bradford sent her drawings and other updates via e-mail. These communications kept the team working together, and construction continued, uninterrupted.
Clear communications
Accurate communications is a must for virtual teams to be effective, according to research conducted by the University of Texas at Austin. The study found that teams with clearly defined roles and a positive attitude enjoyed the highest level of trust. And don't forget that team members need compatible software - the same version if possible - to ensure that e-communications flow smoothly. To centralize communications, more businesses are using Web sites as project archives where colleagues and clients can send e-mail, post status reports, and view drawings and documents.
Searching for the Virtual Team
It's not hard to come up with good people for your virtual firm," says Don Bowden, ASID. "Certain people get a reputation for doing good work." Think outside the interior design profession and learn as much as you can about top performers in other specialties.
Although every project is different, teams often include the client plus members from these professional disciplines: architecture, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, structural engineering, construction management, real estate, in-house facilities, technology, furniture systems, home theater, security and systems integration. The best way to find specialized team members is through old-fashioned networking: Don't miss an opportunity to talk to interior consultants, architects and other professionals about their specialties when you meet them on the job or at professional meetings.
Contact professional associations for information.
Subscribe to other trade professional publications, and look for names and projects that stand out.
