Finding Your Fit in Studio Culture: Insights from Julia Nichols
In the dynamic world of architecture, finding the right studio culture is as crucial as landing the job itself. This was the heart of our recent conversation with Julia Nichols, a seasoned communications strategist with over two decades of experience in the architectural industry. Here’s what aspiring architects and industry professionals need to know about navigating studio cultures and carving their niche in this vibrant field.
The Essence of Values and Purpose in Architecture
Values and purpose form the bedrock of any architectural practice. As Julia insightfully noted, understanding the ‘why’ behind a firm’s operations is fundamental. It’s about aligning personal and professional ethics with the company’s ethos. Whether it’s a commitment to sustainable practices or a focus on social housing, identifying with a firm’s core values can significantly impact job satisfaction and career trajectory.
Ways of Working: More than Just Office Hours
The architectural process and workplace dynamics vary widely across firms. Julia emphasized the importance of understanding a company’s approach to project management, employee engagement, and work-life balance. It’s not just about the hours you clock in but how those hours are spent – from project inception to completion, and the levels of autonomy and creativity encouraged within the team.
The Physical and Social Fabric of the Studio
A studio’s physical space speaks volumes about its culture. The location, amenities, and layout contribute to the daily working experience. Julia pointed out the importance of a workspace that supports both collaborative and focused work. Furthermore, a studio’s social dynamics, from communal dining to flexible working arrangements, play a significant role in shaping its culture.
Internal Communication: The Lifeline of Studio Culture
Open and transparent internal communication is vital. It’s about more than just keeping employees informed; it’s about involving them in the journey of the firm. As Julia highlighted, this can range from sharing project wins to discussing business strategies. An environment that fosters open dialogue and feedback nurtures a sense of belonging and investment among the team.
Nurturing Career Progression
Career progression in architecture isn’t just about climbing the corporate ladder; it’s about continuous learning and development. Julia underscored the importance of structured performance reviews, support for qualifications like part three, and opportunities for upskilling. She also touched on the value of external engagement, such as industry events and panel discussions, in broadening one’s architectural perspective.
Inclusion: A Non-Negotiable Aspect
Inclusion in the workplace is critical. Julia rightly pointed out that representation across various levels of management and roles is key. A firm’s efforts in training, engagement with diversity initiatives, and creating an inclusive environment can significantly impact an employee’s experience and the firm’s overall culture.
Well-Being: A Priority, Not an Afterthought
The well-being of employees is paramount. Practices that prioritize sensible working hours, physical and mental health support, and a balance between work and personal life are more likely to retain talent and foster a positive work environment.
Staying Inspired: The Fuel for Architectural Creativity
Staying inspired is crucial in a field as creative as architecture. Julia mentioned the importance of investing in research, engaging in stimulating CPDs, and learning from practice experiences. Exposure to innovative ideas and technologies keeps the architectural practice vibrant and forward-thinking.
The Social Dimension: Beyond Work Hours
The social aspect of a studio can significantly influence one’s experience. Julia advised considering how optional or integral social activities are within a firm. A balance that respects individual preferences and commitments is key to a healthy and inclusive social environment.
Community Engagement: Extending Beyond the Studio Walls
Finally, community engagement reflects a firm’s commitment to making a positive impact. Julia highlighted the importance of local engagement, sharing skills with community organizations, and being a good neighbor. This aspect of a firm’s culture not only contributes to personal fulfillment but also to the broader societal impact of architectural practice.
Conclusion
Navigating studio culture is about finding a place where your values, working style, and aspirations align with those of the firm. As Julia Nichols aptly demonstrated, understanding these facets of studio culture is essential for both personal and professional growth in architecture.
Transcription
Stephen Drew: Hello everyone. Dry January. If you’re drinking already, you’re a very naughty boy or girl, but I won’t judge you for me. I’m sober, Joe. We’re gonna get this show on the road. Don’t worry. It’s been a long day. Blue Monday’s gone, I don’t know what it is. Thursday down, not living up to the old dry Jan theme.
Anyways, all will be revealed in 15 seconds. Woo. Who’s still on LinkedIn at this time? I wonder. I’m glad you’re here anyways. 3, 2, 1. Woo. Hello everyone. Thank you for tuning in. If you do have that alcoholic beverage, I’m not gonna judge you, but don’t worry, I won’t be sleeping at the wheel. Julia, my guest might have a little taste of something over here on Non-alcoholic or no, I don’t know.
But anyways, I should probably introduce this show. Welcome everyone to the Architecture Social, and we are gonna go deep, deep and talk about is this for me? What do I mean by that? 10 tips that Julia here has on finding your fit in studio culture? Cuz I always think that when you’re going for a job, you are always thinking about impressing that company.
You are worried about what they’re gonna think about you, however, We’re gonna talk about is it right for you? And going through that search. And this was Julia’s amazing idea. So Julia Nichols, welcome to the stage. How are you?
Julia Nicholls: thank you. Thank you very much.
Stephen Drew: You get a virt virtual round of applause.
Julia Nicholls: Yeah. No, I’m really good. Thank you. I think it’s a really important thing to discuss that, an interview is a two way thing. You should be finding the right fit for you. They should be finding the right fit for them. So I guess today is about helping people work out how to find that fit.
Stephen Drew: Yeah, I think you’re right. And to help people find their fit. Julia, I know what you’ve done in industry, but for those who might not know you yet, can you tell everyone about all the wonderful things you’ve done in the industry?
Julia Nicholls: Okay. So I am a communications strategist. I’ve worked with architects for over 20 years, helping them to communicate with their clients with the wider industry, with their community around them. And really just, working with startups to really establish studios. I think communications has to be really authentic to each practice and backed up with evidence and activity.
There’s no point in having really great messaging if you’re not actually doing that work as well. And for those 20 plus years, have mostly been in practice. I’ve only been a consultant for two years, so I’ve been a part. A culture or several cultures and been on that journey. I’ve experienced the sort of culture and the social life from being a graduate and a sort of young employee hungry to make a good impression.
I’ve then become a parent. I’ve now, I guess what you term midlife . It’s just a bit before you get old. And I’ve experienced from all levels of management. I I left my last practice as a director, so I’ve been like a participant and I’ve also been responsible for creating and nurturing culture.
And now as a consultant, I guess I get to speak to a lot practices about what they do to create a culture or not. Yeah,
Stephen Drew: brilliant. I think that’s super cool and helpful for this topic to be someone that’s done the job, but also someone who, you’ve got to that management level, cuz you can see both sides of the coin because, and it’s, I think when you’re on one side, Is you think, oh, we should be doing this and that, but when you’ve actually been a manager as well, sometimes you know, certain things come to light that you think, oh wow, okay.
There’s a reason why that didn’t happen
Julia Nicholls: and I think how your experience of culture kind of changes according to the position you’re in your kind of career, but also in your life. Different bits will be more important than others at different life stages. And I think very much people create a culture like a company has to invest in setting a framework, making time and resource available to create a culture.
But then it’s the culture plus the employees that kind of have an active role in making that culture come alive. And for me, that’s where. , it’s absolutely essential that a company needs to listen to and understand the people in their organization to know that they’re going to create a culture that people are gonna want to engage in.
You’ve got to know your people and know your audience. It shouldn’t feel like something that’s imposed on you by a single person’s want of what a culture should be. It really needs to be felt by the whole company and the team.
Stephen Drew: Very cool. Now. I was just thinking while you, because you’ve sent me this awesome list that you’ve curated. So we’ve distilled all those years of knowledge, Dan, so I’m gonna bring up number one, actually. So I’m just typing away. I promise Julie, I’m not distract. I’m in the room. I was just doing as we go, a number one that you put down on these 10 tips for finding your fit within the studio cultures was values and purpose.
Now, that could mean a di few different things in different contexts to different people, but what’s your understanding of value and purpose?
Julia Nicholls: Yeah. So to start off with, I think purpose and values as well as culture for me is the starting point of every communication strategy I work on. I couldn’t create a strategy without knowing all of those three things. For me, values and purposes is the why of a company. It’s the reason that they set up practice.
It’s the driving force behind the work that they do. It’s not just a manifesto that sits as text on a website page. It’s something that is deeply felt and is consistently evidence in action. So some practices are very clear about their purpose and values. It’s basically about clear, being clear about what you do, but more importantly why you do it.
So if I’m thinking about building sustainably with timber and hybrid structures, one of the first practices that comes to mind is Wal Hilton. And if you look at Walton, you’ll see that they are. Consistently talking about why it’s so important, what the benefits are. If I’m thinking about practices that might improve the quality of social housing, I’m thinking immediate of people like Bell Phillips, Pitman Toes, ao, those practices that are always talking about their why.
So sometimes it’s easy to find values and purpose, sometimes it’s not. You can look for things like what kind of clients are they working for and organizations, are those clients and organizations that you want to be working for? Are there any kind of ethical issues there in terms of regimes or organizations that you don’t think fit with, who you would be comfortable working with?
And also that, that applies to projects. Would you be comfortable working on an airport, for example, in a sort of, climate crisis? One of the high profile projects at the moment is the Neon project in Saudi Arabia. , that’s picking up a lot of stick of people calling it an ecological and moral atrocity.
But for others it’s a real innovative challenge in engineering and in Architecture. Just thinking, w would you be comfortable in that scenario? Thinking about the accessibility and the affordability of the Architecture being created there. So yeah, those are the kind of things I would be thinking about in terms of values and purpose.
Where does that practice sit in the sort of industry and what do they really believe in?
Stephen Drew: Very interesting. And also just to add to that as well, it’s probably this list, a lot of it as well it can go a two-way thing, like I think values and purpose is a good middle ground perhaps in an interview to, to talk about. And I think it really helps the Architecture practice know that you’ve considered the company seriously.
If you re, if you’ve read those values and purposes and maybe there’s some common. Then that can break the ice a little bit. Have you seen examples of that when you’ve been the hiring manager for your team? Is that something you’ve looked for
Julia Nicholls: Yeah, I think definitely because I think that like having shared purpose and values is a real motivator. I, I think someone’s way more likely to stay in the job and see their career in that company if they really have aligned values. So definitely for me that would be a kind of tick in the box if, there was evidence on both the people and the practices side of a shared purpose.
Stephen Drew: Nice. I think that makes complete sense. Do you know what I’m gonna put in number two here? I should have done this before, but we’ll do it live anyways. It’s no problem. Ways of working now. That’s really interesting. How would one find ways of working? Is it asking in the interview or?
Julia Nicholls: there’s a few strands to this. There’s some kind of like top level ones, like what’s the business structure? Is it an employee ownership trust, a partnership? Who are the shareholders? That kind of a very sort of top section. And there’s like a leadership, is it traditionally hierarchical?
Is it more collegiate? Is it a practice that needs to be thinking about succession bearing in mind that succession takes sort of five plus years. It’s a perfectly reasonable question to ask if you think that applies to that practice. Also the management of projects. So how are different aspects of Architecture managed in that practice?
Do they have a kind of front end concept team and then a different team for delivery? Is that how you want to work or do you want to see a project through right from the start to the finish? How do they value the sort of design process? Is, are they more on commercial programs where the, delivery comes really quickly or do they make time for experimentation and, is that something that you want to be doing in practice?
Does their process involve community engagement or working with young people? Those are the kind of things that if they’re fundamental to you, I you’d wanna see they’re fundamental to the practice you’re working for. And then I think management of people is another side of that, obviously, ways of working, being, what does your ideal working week look like?
Is it full-time, part-time, flexible hybrid, all in the studio. And again, I think at different life stages, you might wanna do more or less time in the studio. And this is a real kind of hot topic in the industry at the moment, because there are practices that will not evolve at all to allow any kind of hybrid working.
And there are others that have almost gone completely the other way. And it’s not to say there’s a right way or wrong way, but you’ve gotta find your fit. So yeah, I think th those would be the aspects of ways of working. I’d be thinking about.
Stephen Drew: Very cool. And it was interesting as you expanded on the answer, you’re right. There’s, what are APA stages? There’s the kind of approach to designing, but then as you said, is the logistics, isn’t it? It’s like, how do does one go about it? JTP is very community driven. The teams are all built around that.
But then also, on the other end it’s what’s the actual job gonna the what are the hours? Are you a laugh? Today was because I’ve hired someone, we were talking a little bit about it before Julia, the Architecture, Social is expanding, but it was our first day working remotely.
And so our ways of working are in development. right? But rather than thinking, do you know what? Everything wasn’t perfect today. No, we’re not gonna go back in the office. It was like, actually we’ve got to learn how to get better in that way of work. And a quick one maybe before we move on, before I get the next point up.
It actually ties in nicely with this. I I was gonna say you’ve got point number three actually is studio and Studio in 2023. There’ll always be an office, there will always be a culture,
Julia Nicholls: It’s true.
Stephen Drew: is it’s physical and now it’s slightly metaphysical and teams and this and that and so forth.
But what’s your, you mentioned in terms of the top 10 tips to look for in the right fit. Why is studio so important?
Julia Nicholls: I think particularly when you’re looking at studio culture, the feel that you get from a studio environment. Really says a lot and how you can evidence like, who’s working there. Does it seem accessible and friendly? Do people seem happy? Do you think you’d be able to work collaboratively in that environment?
This is obviously gonna be different depending on how often people are in the studio or is it in a kind of WeWork type of space where it’s more difficult to create your own environment. But I guess, firstly I’ll be thinking about location. Does it suit you that, there’s now a sort of growing trend for actually architects to be based more in like neighborhoods, even suburban neighborhoods rather than all in bunched together in Clark Andwell or whatever.
How does that work with you? Someone’s awkward neighborhood to get to is actually somebody else’s total dream location. . So thinking about will you take public transport cycle to walk, how will that impact your experience of working there? If you are gonna be cycling there, do they have showers and changing and storage?
Also, do they have space for, a kitchen to prepare food or just heat up some food? Is there communal dining? So that kind of environment, does it feel welcoming? Does it feel like somewhere that you could just be comfortable being talk about this or bringing your authentic self to work?
Do you feel like you could be yourself in that space? And also something I think would be really important is can you see spaces to do focused work but also collaborative work or be social because, you no longer need to come to an office just to sit at a desk all day. That’s, we can do that at home.
So you are actually going to the studio for other reasons. Does the environment support you doing those other activities, social and collaborative? . So I guess that those are the kind of physical studio things, assuming that there is a physical studio, which I think, to be honest, like in my opinion I feel it’s a shame not to have any kind of studio at all.
I think culture, of comes from being together. So I’m I in this context, I’m assuming there is some kind of studio
Stephen Drew: Yeah. I agree. I’ve been making these decisions very recently and I went from we can do a bunch of it remote, and then now I’m going into the office and I agree with you. There is something nice about being together. You got the camaraderie. There’s something nice about being in a space where you can like, tangibly touch stuff and be close with one another.
At the same time though, I think, like you said, studio environment, flexibility. Flexibility is a key. And I think employers have to embrace flexibility. It’s not going away. And I probably think like maybe the old garden stuff are trying to get people back in the office four to five days a week.
They probably lose out a lot of people
Julia Nicholls: Yeah. They do. Yeah. No, I completely agree. I think if you’re not going to evolve, you are going to, slice off a huge amount of potential employees who, you know are, there’s a lot of talent there that you are just counting out. And I definitely feel that, studio’s important, but I also strongly feel you don’t need to be there all the time.
I think that, that’s a management issue of when do people need to be in and when do they not need to be in?
Stephen Drew: Yeah, I agree. And be, before we moved on to the next point, I’m glad you touched upon something. You’re a proud mother, you have a family and my experience before Julia is that I would meet really amazing architects or even people at different points in their career where they got a look after someone or they’ve just had their firstborn child or whatever.
And yeah, it is a bit of a strange situation before because it was like, oh, you have to be in the office by nine because everyone elses. So PE basically, people’s careers were of put on hold and which is a shame. Whereas now I think people are starting to realize hang on.
If we start doing things remote and flexy, then you can make something work for everyone. Have you seen a big change on that side?
Julia Nicholls: Yeah, I’d like to have seen more of a change but it’s definitely changing and I think the younger practices, it’s just a given. I also think very strongly that you don’t need to, you don’t need to ha start a family to want some flexibility. You know that you have other things going on in your life that are important to you.
So obviously starting a family is a really big moment, but there are other big moments and big priorities that you could have in your life that just mean you want some flexibility. So yeah, I think it’s really important.
Stephen Drew: Yeah. Said Alan. I what? I’ve got the next tip coming up. I was just gonna say that we’ve got one or two little comments coming in from the lovely audience. Those who are on LinkedIn at this time and night, I applaud you. Lovely to see you AO, who says totally agree. Have to admit I’m going to start in a coworking space now and then to mix things up and to see people more.
I tell you what, if you are in WeWork, Waterloo, come join me, say loads of pool tables and stuff, and that’s where I am at the moment. Although that might distract you because I am quite loud and weed, but somehow in that WeWork, it’s so loud that I, you don’t hear me, which is amazing.
Normally. Normally it’s the other way round and I was distracting people in the studio and causing loud internal communication. This is, that’s probably not what you meant though when you put this point. I’m dying to know what, why you thought number four internal communication was a good tip that people should look out for
Julia Nicholls: I think you could probably do a whole episode on internal communications, but I’ve whittled it down. In fact, I, like you shared a stats earlier this month, Stephen about transparency. You said 96% of job seekers say transparency is really important to them. And I think it, I completely agree.
It’s really important. It’s also, I think, worth saying a fairly new or sort of recent management consideration. I think if you were managing. 10, 20 years ago, no one expected transparency. And so it’s almost something that has to be learned of what are the boundaries to transparency.
But I do think there’s a real benefit to bringing people on the journey with you of running a business, of winning new work of, taking the practice forward. I think with all the employee ownership, trust and all this kind of thing, people want to feel invested, and if they don’t, they’re gonna be more likely to move off and try and find that somewhere else.
So I think transparency is really important. So things like open forums this is something to think about if you’re in a studio at the moment as well, not necessarily at the work and thinking how could we do this better? Architecture’s such a slow game. You could be on a project for years.
without working on anything else. So it’s really nice to know what else is happening in the business that might be quite exciting that, could be the next thing you work on. So what are kind of project wins or, competitions that are happening? What’s the strategy for kind of, the business moving forward or communications or succession as we spoke about earlier, all these things that people might actually be interested in outside of their particular project.
And then transparency in terms of coming back to values and things, are there focus groups for perhaps skills and training that people might need? This often needs to be fed from the bottom to the top. In terms of where things are moving and what they might need upskilling in, are there diversity and inclusion focus groups or like a social focus group that kind of, bring that side of the culture forward?
That’s the sort of internal communication that I was thinking about in terms of if you’re in practice or you’re looking at a practice.
Stephen Drew: Yeah, I think that’s a really good point and I like what you said. These tips could be used to improve cultures, but also maybe they, things that you haven’t thought about and maybe it could set off some alarm bells or things you should think about. Cuz sometimes when you get an environment you’re taking it for a given, I remember when I went into a new office, I’m like, really?
Is person saying that? That’s just, and then you go, oh, that’s just what they’re like
Julia Nicholls: I know. Yeah. You get I totally agree. Oh, it’s just the way it is here. And you think there should be an openness to, from management to listen to younger people because the people who won’t listen to younger people won’t evolve. And we know what happens to those companies.
Stephen Drew: Yeah. A hundred percent. I think it, it makes complete sense. And also now I’ll tell you the last point in that before we move on to a big one. Number five’s pretty big. I’ll keep everyone
Julia Nicholls: It is
Stephen Drew: Internal communication though is it’s also not just about what said, it’s all the vehicles, isn’t it?
And it gets confusing there with teams and you’ve got Slack and Zoom and WhatsApp groups, so it can get pretty messy. I so when I’m trying to work out the right kind of balance as well, but.
Julia Nicholls: It’s a really good point. Yeah. I I think you could do a whole show on it. Yeah. How how to streamline it a little bit more so that people feel involved but not like overwhelmed with information.
Stephen Drew: Yeah. And you also want like a place to blow off steam, and I think that’s quite important. How do you emulate that kind of kitchen coffee shop nonsense that one or two people talk to each other on online? It can be quite a tricky one. Because definitely today on my first working from home experiment, I still think it was really good and it’s quite nice.
Maybe he’s peaceful to do certain things. I did miss the fun, the banter, there’s only so much a gift can replace be, rather than people. I will move on to the next point now, which is , like a 70, 80% of the content on the Architecture Social. So good luck summarizing it very quickly, but I agree it’s really important career progression.
Julia Nicholls: really important. Oh, there’s so many things we could say here. I’m gonna start with, are there regular structured performance reviews? Remember again, these are a two-way process. Any decent employer is gonna want to know how you are doing and feed that back, but also how they are doing, how’s your experience?
And in terms of setting goals and following up on those goals. There sh there should be notes written that you can come back to. I’m a really big champion of those really structured and recorded reviews because things can easily get forgotten. And I think it really does help motivate If you are still qualifying, what kind of support is there?
Informal or formal. So part three peer groups, which may be led by somebody in practice or actually it could just be peer group. Just supporting each other in that way. Do they engage with apprenticeship schemes? Is there any mentoring or reviews? Again, just informally that if you’re doing a part three and you just wanna run through with someone, is there somebody there assigned or just somebody you know, friendly that you can talk to, to get a bit of a steer?
, how do they invest in upskilling people when you know, new software technology? Are they willing to send people on training courses or to get somebody in to do like a bulk training and also management training? I think this is really important, and it may not be for you yet, but your managers who may be, have been an Architect and they’ve suddenly been promoted to a sort of people management role.
Are those people being trained to manage people? Because I think you’ll find most often they won’t and they really should be because that’s a completely different skillset. That’s not what you learn at Architecture School. But if you are in charge of managing people, I think that you really should be trained in some way.
And there are programs there’s a one called the Step Up Program, which is really coaching people into managing people when you’re actually a creative yourself. If they don’t do that, it’s gonna lead to very poor support for their staff and possibly a rapport experience. And the other thing I think is worth I’ve seen this be a problem in other practices where, is the practice open to you being somebody perhaps outside of management, attending industry events or taking opportunities.
There’s a lot of next NextGen networking opportunities. Would your firm be happy to pay for your tickets to go to those events? If you said, look, I’ve been asked to join a design review panel, or I’ve applied and got accepted, would they be happy to let you do that in work time because it is actually beneficial to you in the practice if you are invited to quit or do a kind of occasional teaching role.
How supportive is your practice of that? Those are the kind of things that I think if they’re important to you if being like staying part of academia is important to you, those are the kind of things that I think you should be thinking about with career progression.
Stephen Drew: Yeah, exactly. And I think if you asked to go to an event or on a topic which could help improve yourself and by effect of that, improve the company and the company says no, or kind huff some puffs or complains that you’re not, You know you’re interfering. If that’s a pattern of things that going on, you’re right, it’s probably not a progressive environment, which is really short term because I’m always amazed, like the employer will always get something out of it.
And for instance, like London Build Expo, I popped out there last year and it’s oh, I’m a bit tired. Should I do it? Will it be good for me? Will it be good for the business? I’m not too sure. When you go to these things, you make so much connections, you learn so much. And I, like you said, that maybe being involved in Grasshopper Group or the BIM London Circuit, you’re gonna learn really cool stuff.
It’s gonna make so much network and it is great for the company outward facing person. Isn’t it great when your employees are knocking around, meeting people and talking about how good the company is? So there’s loads of benefits. I think you know
Julia Nicholls: Yeah, definitely. I think it’s a win-win, but I’ve definitely seen practice be like, no, you need to be at your desk, working on this project and I agree with you, it’s really shortsighted.
Stephen Drew: Yeah. And the last thing I’d add to that before we move on is that career progression doesn’t necessarily need to be expensive in, in, in that sense. It can be everything from a LinkedIn cause all the way up to yes, okay. Proper career progression. But actually a lot of it is even simple as stuff like taking the junior staff members to a site visit.
They’re gonna learn lot, they love it, you’re gonna go there anyways. And it’s those little things like that really key people being excited if they’ve been behind the computer for a while, going on site and going there with someone you look up to can be a total thrill and okay, take a camera and send them to the marketing department.
Julia Nicholls: Exactly. Yeah. I think it’s thinking about their journey, making sure everyone’s having a good journey in your company and then they’re more likely to, want to stay and continue there.
Stephen Drew: Yeah, I think so. Okay. Now this is Ja I’m super impressed by it. This is all Julia’s work, everyone. I’m just the, I look like I’ve written all these and I’m organized, but it’s, this is all Julia. So the next point that you’ve put down, which is really important is inclusion. Now I find that people struggle to unpack this or sometimes it, it’s such an overwhelming topic that people shy away with it.
What’s your experience on inclusion then, Julian?
Julia Nicholls: For me, I think that. It can be a topic that, as you say, it feels too big to some practices. They’re look, we try and, put words in our adverts that, will, we hope will attract to diverse candidates, and then it just doesn’t happen and da.
But for me, first thing I’d be looking for in a company is representation. Are there black and Asian architects? Are there women in management positions? Or, do anyone with a disability work there and across the studio from junior staff to management, I’d be looking for representation.
That’s your first sort of step. If this seems like a practice who is finding representation a challenge, then I would definitely want to know what they’re doing about it. Firstly training programs and, there’s a lot of consultancies and workshops available on kind of equity, diversity, and inclusive culture change.
So there’s n nothing stopping anyone from learning what they could be doing more of to increase representation in their firm, but also in the industry. And also challenging themselves to think about is the environment we have here welcoming to everybody? Is it an inclusive environment and culture?
So there’s nothing stopping anyone doing that. And then I think, again, do they engage with any initiatives that encourage diversity in the industry? Again, of which there are so many that you could literally just plug into. So no one’s saying you have to set up your own program.
You could do open City Accelerate, R O b A, future architects building Futures reset. Go. You could, if you felt like, okay, look, we don’t have the time, you could just give to a burst. You like the neighborhood scholarship fund There’s really nothing stopping you from doing your bit to increase representation in the industry.
So those are definitely questions that I would be asking in an interview. If I couldn’t see representation, then I would be asking what are they doing?
Stephen Drew: Yeah, makes sense. This list of, I think, is also quite po in time for me who’s trying to build up my team, so thank you for this. It’s like getting a coaching session myself. It’s just, I can’t see any, Downside of why you wouldn’t be inclusive? It is absolutely Madden and Julia that we still have to put it here because there is such a long way to go still, isn’t it?
And I’m like you, I go look on some websites and you’ve got some amazing ones and there’s some great companies really inclusive and talk about going that way. And then I, oh, there’s the old school, there’s a running joke, isn’t it, of 10 50 year old, gray. White blokes and Okay. But you gotta mix it up a bit.
As you said you want different perspectives. You want a balance. It’s very important to me. I wouldn’t want a bunch of men, because that’s just one direction that the company’s going in, right? We have to be inclusive. And also, times are changing. I’m hopeful as well. I’m starting to see different people going into Architecture.
It isn’t such a middle class perceived profession. There’s nothing wrong with being middle class. What I mean is it’s really opening up now, isn’t it? And I think that as well, employers need to appeal to everyone because it’s 2023. Do I really want to work in a non-inclusive environment?
Probably
Julia Nicholls: and again, like a bit like they’re not offering flexible flexibility in terms of working. These firms are missing out on a whole tranche of talent coming through the system who are gonna look at their website and their, like you say lineup of bold white men and just be like, no, that’s not for me, and that’s their loss.
You, yeah, I think, that practices really need to make a good, decent effort to do their bit.
Stephen Drew: Yeah. And there’s nothing wrong of old grain white men. Cause I will be 1, 1 1 day. So don’t worry. We are just making an extreme point to illustrate the problem and where we’re going with the solution. Brilliant. So I’ve got the next one, which actually I think is going in the right direction.
However, it’s gone, it’s going in the right direction from quite a dire. Place Now, I often Julia use the, I think of architects. Architects. It’s like the fountain pen, that old film where the guy passes out after basically doing the model and staying up all night and saving the day. And there is that romantic notion in Architecture of, we must do what it takes because the Architect knows best, or we have to save the day, and so forth.
But it’s often at the cost of your own personal, wellbeing. It’s a, and it’s a price that adds up over time. What’s your thoughts and observations on wellbeing?
Julia Nicholls: Yeah, I, again, I think you are right. Things are changing. There’s definitely more practices that are prioritizing sensible working hours and really thinking about how they can stick to sensible working hours with, efficiency. Limiting the amount of design options that they go through.
And just knowing when a sort of creative process has come to a bit of a standstill. So there’s obviously crossover and wellbeing. What we were talking about with studio environment and way ways of working. It’s basically making sure you’re getting your work and home life balance. And know, you’re being looked after so that you are not going to burn out or, take on too much. It, I think as you say, Architecture is often seen as this sort of slightly vocational job that, you’ll just give everything to it. And I think not just in the Architecture industry, but across lots of industries, people are just like, that’s just not a way that people can work for very long.
And I think particularly young people coming through now are just not prepared to do it. good . And I think, employers need to learn that pe people do want a better balance. They don’t want to be there late at night, unpaid that’s no longer acceptable. I think, looking at how they support individuals in terms of sensible working hours policies and also a process of how to get support if you need it.
There, there’s often within management, certain people that you can talk to who aren’t your immediate boss. That if you feel something’s not right, you have another avenue, obviously in very small companies that, that sort of might be slightly more problematic. But yeah, I would really be looking at care of your physical and mental wellbeing in a studio.
Stephen Drew: Yeah. Said. And I agree that actually. Now as I’m experienced as employed, really the buck stops. Oh, my brain’s gone. The buck stop short. I think that was the right saying with the company owner, we have to be responsible for our employees wellbeing. That being said, I’ll just make one note that if anyone in the audience is particularly struggling with their wellbeing, it’s a really good resource.
The Architect’s Benevolent Society, if you work in the industry, you can contact them and they have a really good help support line and they’ll just really help you out with that if you are unfortunately in an environment which perhaps isn’t looking after wellbeing. Sometimes though, even the best companies, what I think is if you’ve got a.
Difficult project or something. Unfortunately, some people kinda slip between the cracks. And I think that goes back to what you were saying earlier, Julia, where you know, internal communication and sometimes you do have to have those uncomfortable conversations. I’m feeling a bit burnt out at the moment and hopefully that will be received in a way that isn’t like the Gordon Ramsey world we were talking about of what you absolute donkey donor, why are
Julia Nicholls: Exactly. Yeah. You we hear all these reports of like bullying and toxicity and long hours and that’s not okay and you need to be on the lookout for it. Yeah, so I think that yeah, it, it’s just, it’s a really important aspect.
Stephen Drew: nice. Now the next one in the list, when I saw it, I was like, ah, that makes sense. Very I’m very interested to hear your thoughts on this. I’ve got a few ideas on it, but how does one stay in inspired? We touched upon just now difficult deadlines and stuff, and that can be a bit of a Debbie down there because you’re, oh, I’m not good and all that stuff.
But even in the good times, the importance of keep pe, keeping people inspired, what’s your experience on them?
Julia Nicholls: I think, so the, you’ve obviously got your career progression, but staying inspired generally about, this industry that we’re in does your company invest in research and innovation? So this is outside of projects but in working hours, importantly it, and it, and usually research should be based around sort of something to do with their purpose or a kind of industry cause or issue that they’re trying to address.
If actually research is important to you, are they a practice that invests in research? A lot do, but also, many don’t. So that’s something to look out for. There was also a great post thinking about c P D content and being interesting and, keeping up to speed with things.
Chris Simmons, who, I’m not sure if he’s able to make the call today, but I’m sure he’ll be listening later. He did a great post, was it this week, saying that, CPDs are not just for sandwiches, which. Didn’t make me chuckle, but he was saying, the really, this is like a really important part of your journey.
Whatever stage you are at, it shouldn’t just be a sales pitch by suppliers. It should be keeping you up to speed with evolving standards, new materials, innovative technologies. And so it should really be something that keeps you inspired and, a practice who’s just getting irony manufacturers coming in every week, or, tile suppliers.
Not that those things aren’t also part of the mix, but, I would be saying, come on, th this really isn’t, we literally are just here for the sandwiches. So I think, yeah, thinking, what does inspire you and am I learning. And I think also learning based on practice experience.
So do you have internal forums based around sharing skills and experiences? When you finish a project, there will always be lessons learned, good and bad, mistakes made, but actually also innovative things that you did that could be rolled out in the next project. That just makes good business sense, but it’s also very interesting because it’s a real live problem or solution.
And, that’s a really good learning process. And it’s a, building that you could probably visit. And that was my final point here, is actually taking your staff out of the office to your own sites, to your own finished buildings, but also to other people’s. And perhaps even contacting, I used to do this in a practice is actually contact other studios and say, can you just show us around this recently completed building?
And more often than not, they were more than happy to cuz they were really proud of it. Are there any exhibitions going on, at the building center or barbecue or n la that you could go to? It could even be a kind of four 30 trip outta the office, but, people can still be home by six if they want, if they, but they can also stay on and have a drink if they want to.
So those kind of things just to keep you inspired within the industry.
Stephen Drew: Yeah. Yeah, I I just want to go slightly back to the C p D thing cuz I saw Chris’s post and little quick interview. Chris is like the nicest guy and I know his content is starting to pop off and, but really amazing cool stuff. Yeah, Chris said. CPD is not just for the sandwiches. I was the naughty boy that went for the sandwiches, but I agree with you though.
There was one CP D went to and it was really interesting talking about the offices of the future, and you had to pick which way you think it was gonna go. It’s really interactive and I paid attention for the whole thing and it was really cool. And you’re right, like the next week was just some ceramic tiles and I was like dying in the background, but they had pret sandwiches.
I was like, oh gosh, I know that manufacturer has them, but you are right. I think the C p D as is a space for innovation. I’ve got a few ideas in the future, of what could disrupt that, but you are right. I think that could be a really nice source of inspiration. The only last thing I would say, on that, which I’ve seen a really cool example of it.
It’s like internal competitions. Okay, maybe it’s not building that’s gonna get built, but how cool is that? Suddenly people come to life. The part one comes out of nowhere with the best project ever, and you’re like, what the heck? Where’s that guy come from? He’s amazing.
Julia Nicholls: Definitely. And me as the comms team, when I’ve seen projects like that, there was once I think we perhaps did a, it was like a flamingo hide or something, or flamingo sort of enclosure. Somewhere sort of Middle East or something. And I was just, I had no idea this had gone on.
It was a totally kind of random competition and we didn’t get shortlisted, but we sh we should share that kind of thing anyway, and we did, and it went down really well, . So it’s, yeah, it’s just showing people what’s going on. Just helps everybody stay inspired.
Stephen Drew: Amazing. We’ve got a comment coming from anonymous LinkedIn, I think, cuz you’ve gotta tick the allow button. But Mr. Or Mrs. Anonymous says, hi Steve RIBA. Core 20 CBDs are fab, but pricey. Employers pay for the RIBA 20, core 20 and RIBA. Come on, let’s get a coupon codes. We gotta be, we gotta be, where’s the point?
We gotta be inclusive, right? We don’t wanna price people out of all the good stuff. Come on. R o b. Okay, we’ll put it on your list when you get there. Okay, I digress. And then I’ll go back to the track cuz we’re nearing the end of your amazing list. Social.
Julia Nicholls: We’re almost there. Yeah. Now this is like the social life of the practice. And I know it’s more or less important to certain practices, but for me, the social life, it, it can be in working hours and it can be out of working hours. But again, you need to think about your team and, what do you want out of a social life?
. think that if you are a student and you’ve just moved to a city, or you’ve just started in a practice, you a recent graduate, then obviously your social life is maybe gonna be more important because you want to create friendships and maybe meet other people from other parts of the company different departments.
As other commitments come into play and perhaps these sort of pile on in later life, then you might find the social aspect is less important to you. So you are thinking about, other responsibilities, other commitments, other passions that you have. And I would really be thinking about the social life of a practice.
How optional is it? Because there are definitely practices that kind of, if you are not on board with the social life, which can be quite demanding, you are not actually gonna progress through that company because it’s that important, that run the company. And I’m quite anti that because I think that, you shouldn’t have to give up spare time.
And I’m certainly like not an antisocial person. I’ve always enjoyed the social life of an office, but I don’t think it should be a part of your career progression necessarily. So yeah, I think it’s just how much of a social life is there? How invested do you want to be in it?
How important is it to your experience at that studio? You,
Stephen Drew: Very interesting. I agree. I really think so. Social. I now, I’m getting a bit older. I it’s still important. I think when I came to London, the first Architecture practice I went epr r they had a really good social life and had, they got the balance richly, like you said.
If you were not really going out on the Fridays and stuff, you weren’t really missing out. It was optional. It wouldn’t go against you. But it was also a really good way to make friends, and we are not on about, like you have to get absolutely muled or anything. You could go out for one drink or anything, but they put a lot of events on.
They do the life drawing now and the yoga. So there was something for everything. If you wanted that cheeky beer that’s there, if you wanted to do the life drawing, it’s there. And I thought they got the balance right, because if you didn’t go, you didn’t feel the peer pressure. And I don’t know about you, but I’ve had that friend before who would always, when I was younger, try to ring me up to go out.
And in the end it just absolutely drove me mad. But then you would get the fear of missing out things so you weren’t enjoying it if you don’t go. It was like peer pressure,
Julia Nicholls: it definitely can feel like that. So I think yeah as an employer, thinking about does our offering, is it inclusive for people who don’t drink? Or, for people who I, don’t want to do the full stagger hem party kind of experience, when they’re going out.
So yeah, I think just that thinking about what you want to get out of it.
Stephen Drew: yeah, exactly. Like for instance, with me, I eat meat, my new plate is a vegan, right? And it’s totally cool. And now it’s just like something I it’s taken me a little bit, but now I think about it constantly, but it’s stuff like that, isn’t it? Where if it’s all Beas, maybe I don’t like a beer, so people have to think about being inclusive. But these all kind of feed into each other. Now, the last one,
Julia Nicholls: yeah.
Stephen Drew: I dunno how you’re gonna do, you’re going to, this is a big one. This is as big as social community.
Julia Nicholls: Community. Yep. And this is a big one for me, and certainly I’ve this, I’ve done a lot of work in this area and really enjoyed it. But for me when I community as a heading, I mean as a practice, as an employer, being a good neighbor, Having a positive impact locally. So thinking about local engagement, so we all know that, the Architecture industry can be quite difficult to access or even difficult to know that it exists and what the roots into it are.
So making that making yourselves and your organization accessible locally. Can you do a careers talk at a local school? Can you do workshops or activities or invite schools to do tours of your studio? Can you offer work experience not just to your client’s nephew, but actually to, make sure that there’s a commitment to, 50% local, 75% local and also can you share skills with local organizations and certainly I’ve seen this happen before where an Architect can work with a community organization who’s trying to get funding for redevelopment of their building or an extension and actually just a few hours of your time to sketch out what could be possible, can literally be the unlocking to them getting funding from, a grant or the borough.
And it’ll unlock the whole process. So I think there are lots of ways that architects can make a positive impact locally and should as, as should every industry. But I think, architects almost have such a useful set of skills and quite a sort of, barrier to accessibility that yeah, there’s a lot of ways you can be a good neighbor.
Stephen Drew: Very well said. And also the bit that I would like to add to community as well is also with other Architectural practices. So I think there’s softball, but also there’s a few other things where there’s like a few events like the Young Architects, developers Alliance, and that’s a bunch of architects mixing, but getting involved, getting in the community, mixing with other practices.
There’s a chicken run in the abs with all Architecture practices. They raise money for charity and then celebrate after. But also, that cross collaboration I think can be enriching in as well, rather than this silo thing where you’re the, you only. With the, your own company?
I used to, I think that’s an old way of sometimes like up there, the competition,
Julia Nicholls: exactly. Wow.
Stephen Drew: yeah. Whereas like now I’m in a WeWork. It’s quite funny cuz even in recruitment there’s this, when it’s like sales and maybe you’ll know as well, when you’re competing for bits like, oh heaven forbid, I talk about this and certain things and okay, I know there’s confidential aspects of the projects, but when you are in these environments and everyone’s coworking I realize quite quickly people, they care about their business.
They’re not, it’s fine. And when architects meet up with each other, they’re not out there to gouge information. Usually they were, it’s and it’s sometimes nice to meet people in the profession at different places,
Julia Nicholls: yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So I think that’s ano another sort of side of it, isn’t it? That kind of industry community. And you are seeing it more and more with younger practices who are collaborating together, pitching together things like the London Practice Forum, which is a sort of group of smaller architects that kind of group together to share knowledge and skills.
They even share staff. So you know, if one sort of
Stephen Drew: Oh,
Julia Nicholls: they move stuff across and then they come back, it’s, it’s a really great idea because there’s so much if your, all of those practices went away to research insurance or whatever, then that’s so many people spending time doing the same thing.
Whereas if they pull those resources then it just, it makes so much sense. There’s so much valuable knowledge that can be shared between other, other people within the same industry.
Stephen Drew: very cool. I’ve heard of one or two elusive groups in the industry of a HR and Architecture, and
Julia Nicholls: There is one,
Stephen Drew: Yeah there’s a financial director’s one there as well, so there’s a few
Julia Nicholls: there’s a couple of comms ones as well. In fact, one of them run by io. And they’re brilliant. And actually, when I set up as a consultant, I was, I was so surprised at how many of my competitors actually reached out to me in a really friendly and lovely way. And, we ask each other for advice.
We, share contacts. We we’re, it’s a really supportive landscape and I think that’s the way it should be.
Stephen Drew: Very cool. And look, we’ve covered the 10, your 10 amazing points where you
Julia Nicholls: we have.
Stephen Drew: I’m gonna do a round of applause. I was just noticed cause I got this new big cup. It’s if you were wearing 3D glasses, it looks like I’m coming out of the screen. So sorry, the
Julia Nicholls: It’s huge
Stephen Drew: jabbing you in the face, but it keeps me hydrated throughout the show.
So I’m gonna , I’m gonna talk about your consultancy in, in, in a second. But just before that, Julie, I always like to throw, give the opportunity for people to ask me questions. Now, as such a diligent character, I reckon you already knew I was gonna do that. And you might have one or two questions for me before we wind down.
Julia Nicholls: So for me or the audience,
Stephen Drew: You can ask me. Yeah, don’t worry about the audience. Oh, sorry, the audience. Oh, they’re all gonna leave now. You can ask a question, but Julie, you can ask me a question as well.
Julia Nicholls: Firstly is there anything that you think I have missed off the list in terms of culture? Would there be anything you would be looking for
Stephen Drew: I Good question.
Julia Nicholls: Or which one would be most important to you if you were giving up the Architecture Social looking for a job?
Stephen Drew: ah,
Julia Nicholls: gonna, which one’s most important?
Stephen Drew: Crikey, controversial one. Discussing salary, I think would be an important one. It’s not all about the salary. It is though important because especially now things are quite tough. And I think it shouldn’t be all about the salary, but I think we have to start normalizing the conversations of salaries because I used to remember Julia being so worried that bringing it up, that I often wouldn’t, and then it would come at the end and then I would worry about it.
Whereas actually being professionals, it’s actually okay to talk about salaries. And I think one of the baptisms of fire of learning is the hard way, as you know now, is being your own consultant. Because really the buck stops with you. And if you don’t bring up money at the front, sometimes you can waste your time down the process.
And I think that, It’s okay to talk about it when you’re talking about the full position. You should be interested in the projects you should be interested in a lot of stuff that we talked about here, what is the studio culture? You should gloss like inclusivity. You can challenge, maybe in an interview when they ask, do you have any questions?
So it’s good to talk about, wellbeing, what kind of projects, what examples of career progression opportunities do we have here. But it’s also okay if it’s not popped up to talk about salary. I think it’s, it should be normalized and encouraged in a non-confrontational way. What were you looking to pay someone
Julia Nicholls: And I think that people at the future architects front are, making a real point of the, the salary should be upfront on the job advert. People should know, what the kind of parameters of the salary are before they have to take the time to apply and perhaps go for an interview.
And yeah, I think it probably comes back to transparency as well, doesn’t it? And in terms of, , are we on the same page in terms of money? It’s important.
Stephen Drew: Yeah and just to add to that as well, cause I think where I sympathize with Architectural practices is it’s quite scary to put a number out there, but in my experience, it’s never really a fixed number unless you are in the government. And it’s always based on the individual and their experience and timing and so forth.
And I’d encourage practices to be open with the fluidity of it, but also the thing I’d throw back is that sometimes maybe too narrow a salary can exclude people that actually you’d pay extra for their skillset. And equally, sometimes maybe hiring someone a bit earlier in their career who might, could be not qualified and therefore they’re on a bit of lower salary, doesn’t mean that you need to hire someone.
On this end to do the job. It can be someone with a lot of potential. And the last thing I’d add to it is like software skills. They are important on one end of the scale, but at the end, other end of the scale, we should be open to training people. And I think that sometimes in recruitment they can clinging to the word Revit.
Oh, they don’t have Revit? Oh, I’m not sure. But peop most people, if they’re hungry and keen and eager, they will learn that stuff if you give them training,
Julia Nicholls: definitely. Yeah. And I think a decent employer will be totally open to training you, your yeah it’s just no one has all the assets, no, no one sort of holds all the cards at one point. So I think if someone’s 90% right, but they need some training in this aspect, then an employer would be stupid not to do that.
Stephen Drew: I agree. Was before I show you website, was there anything else you wanted to pick my brains on? Julianne.
Julia Nicholls: so much stuff. I’ve just noticed a question here. Should we look at that? Cause I’m aware we’re an hour.
Stephen Drew: Oh yeah, go on then.
Julia Nicholls: does the, does it harm my chances of getting into a more boutique design studio where my only experience has in big has been in big corporate firms? I would say no. And actually I’ve almost done the same where I’ve gone from being a sort of communications director in a big studio for the largest portion of my career.
And actually now working for very small firms, you’ve got to frame yourself, right? So you’ve got to look at how your experience in the big corporate firms are going to apply to a boutique design studio. So I think it’s you’ll have a lot of skills that actually the boutique design studio could benefit from. So I think it’s just really having communications for me is all about putting myself in the receiver’s shoes, what would they like to hear about? What are the kind of contacts and experience that you have that’s going to be really valuable to them?
Stephen Drew: Yeah, said. And I, the only thing I would add to that is em embrace it. I always find for instance, with if you need sponsorship of visas, it’s, again, it’s like the salary thing sometimes because it’s an awkward situation. We can bring it up at the end, but why not go into that interview or send the application going, I’ve worked in a large practice, I’ve learned all this amazing stuff.
I’m very interested in a smaller studio for X, Y, Z. And I think you get that bit out at the start and people go, okay, this is interesting. And I think then you set the scene. So that would be my advice in going from big to small or small to big, ooh. Awesome. That’s awesome advice.
Thank you. You are well. You are welcome. Julie, I’m gonna give you a quick round of applause and bring up your website, so everyone in the
Julia Nicholls: you.
Stephen Drew: audience. Julia, tell us about what you do in your business again at the moment.
Julia Nicholls: I do communications consultancy oh look, there’s my website. Yeah, so it’s basically around working with practices to understand their audiences and understand how to connect better with their audiences, which does include future employees as well as clients and collaborators.
And then create a really bespoke approach to rolling out those communications in the right way. Architects traditionally have often communicated peer to peer trying to impress each other rather than actually thinking about who, who is commissioning us and, who do we want to work with and alongside.
Yeah I work with practices for sort of two or three months and then give them a framework of advice on how I think they can best communicate with their target a.
Stephen Drew: Amazing. If you ever were in doubt of should I, or should I not speak to Julia? Listen to this podcast because it was curated by her. And on that, give you a never round of applause. Julia, I’m gonna end now this live stream in a second. You’ve been an absolute star. And for. Oh, that’s true.
But for our audio listeners, if you want to check out Julia’s consultancy, it’s www dot Julia Nichols, j u l i a, Nichols, n i c h o l s. Don’t forget the other l at the end. That’s what count me out before I,
Julia Nicholls: very important.
Stephen Drew: yeah, I sent it to the wrong one and then worked it out quickly. I was like, damn it. So get that right.
Check out Julia’s website and get in contact. Julia, can people also find you on LinkedIn as well?
Julia Nicholls: Yes, I’m on LinkedIn and I’m on Instagram.
Stephen Drew: Amazing. You’ve been an absolute start. One more clap for good measures and you know you’ve had that cheeky chart at the start. Have another one now. After this, I’m gonna end the live streaming for you guys in the audience, thank you so much for being here. If you’ve got any suggestions for more content in 2023, I’m all years.
And if, like I said, if you wanna find me, I am in Waterloo knocking around, trying to get the computers, trying to get my HR procedures, trying to be inclusive and trying to get a good environment as well. But until then, I will see you shortly for more content. Thank you again, Julia. I’m gonna end the broadcast now.
Take care everyone. Stay in the stage, Julia. See you soon.
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