At a time when many architectural practices are cutting back, the firm, Munday and Cramer could be said to be ‘bucking the trend’ by placing an order for a major upgrade to their existing time management system. The twenty strong practice has upgraded from IRIS TIMEminder, a time management system used extensively by architects, to the financial project management system, IRIS PROJECTminder, in a strategic move that will enable an even tighter control of the business. Sixteen of the AJ 100 (Architect’s Journal top 100 practices) use IRIS PROJECTminder (www.iris.co.uk/
For some, this may seem bold in today’s uncertain economic climate but Luigi Munday, who runs the practice, appreciates a good system when he sees it. He is particularly qualified to comment as he had spent approximately ten years developing and refining his own time management system prior to seeing IRIS TIMEminder for the first time.
He explained: “I have always believed that a good time management system plays an essential role in building a successful business and for many years, I committed to developing a bespoke solution that was suited to the way we worked. All in all, the work continued over a ten year period and it still wasn’t complete. It was then that I saw a demonstration of IRIS TIMEminder for the first time and realised that we could benefit straight away from a system that was complete with all the reporting capabilities I was aiming for.” The practice has been using the IRIS time management solution for the past four years.
‘The decision to upgrade to IRIS PROJECTminder was not a difficult one’ according to Luigi. He describes the system as ‘fabulous’
With architects facing an array of new challenges, it makes sound financial sense to implement a highly visible project management system that can help the practice make more astute decisions about where to put effort and to ensure that it retains optimum profitability. The information PROJECTminder provides allows the practice to see each project in detail so that if any project is not going well, the drill down facility will explain the reasons why.
Luigi sees the current economic climate as a challenge and predicts that it will be down to ‘the survival of the fittest’. The full project management system will allow Munday and Cramer to make informed decisions on whether to take on a project or not. He continued: “If a business isn’t doing well, there is an inclination to take on jobs that are never going to be viable. PROJECTminder allows us to see in ‘black and white’ whether a project will be profitable and we can decide accordingly.”
The transparency of the system is already helping to encourage members of the team to ‘flag up’ any variation to ongoing projects and to charge additional time if more work is required. This, Luigi adds, presents an opportunity to bill more hours. He said: “If just ten members of the team can bill an extra hour each every week that adds up to an additional forty hours in a single month.”
One of the unexpected benefits of implementing the system is to boost staff morale. At a time when many in the industry are concerned for their jobs, the unrestricted access to the PROJECTminder system allows every member of staff to see whether the projects undertaken are ultimately profitable.
Luigi said: “This open book approach allows everyone to see whether we are making or losing money and it encourages everyone to work as efficiently as possible.”
A proponent of quality business systems, Luigi firmly believes that the successful future of the practice lies in the implementation of IRIS PROJECTminder.
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