Jim Chambers, VP, Practice Management, Shepley Bulfinch
Jim Martin, VP, CIO, Shepley Bulfinch

Talk Description
In 2020, Shepley Bulfinch embraced the Hybrid Practice model, drawing on our decade-long expertise in cross-office project teams. We committed to a hybrid work policy that ensures every Bulfinch has an equal opportunity to work effectively and produce high-quality work from various locations. During this transition we were focused on maintaining a high level of quality in our project work, while preserving our strong culture of positive interpersonal relationships at the firm. In this talk, “the Jims” will share some of the strategies we have used at Shepley Bulfinch to transform our organization from a predominantly in-person one to a mix of in-person and virtual modes.

Speaker Bios
As the Vice President of Practice Management, Jim Chambers provides leadership for the overall performance of the design organization. In partnership with the business operations, Jim develops and directs processes and standards that improve all aspects of the design practice with a focus on the management and delivery of our product. He holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Carnegie Mellon University.

Drawing on over 25 years of Information Technology experience, Jim Martin leads the development of strategies for technology tools that support and advance design, delivery, and collaboration at Shepley Bulfinch. He has been particularly successful at creating an innovation center inside of Shepley Bulfinch's IT department, focusing on new technologies and how they affect the design process. Jim is a Six Sigma Green Belt and holds a Bachelor's degree in Architecture from Roger Williams University.

Talk Timeline

Introduction
00:00 Jim Martin and Jim Chambers
01:57 Shepley Bulfinch
02:33 Hybrid Milestones Timeline

Do We Return to the Office?
03:05 Q: Who is working mostly in-person/hybrid/remote?
03:44 The Decision to Go Hybrid
04:12 Survey: Are People Ready to RTO?
05:00 Location of Project Teams
06:12 Working Well Virtually

Building Empathy
07:08 Q: Who here thinks empathy has been a challenge at their firm?
07:52 Staff Surveys
08:50 Persona Exercise: Hypothetical Bulfinches
10:17 Example Results

Strengthening Our Hybrid Practice
10:46 Q: Who has changed things about their practice to support hybrid?
11:25 Lessons Learned: Working On + Managing a Hybrid Team
13:30 Virtual Scrum Boards
14:06 Strengthening Bonds: Not All Business
15:25 Communication Expectations
16:15 Be Conscious of Time: Cross-Office Meeting Times
17:05 Hybrid Social Norms Miro Template
18:10 Town Hall Icebreakers
19:19 Town Hall Bulfinch Spotlights
21:14 Hybrid Vision
22:14 Balancing Expectations
22:38 Intra-Office Travel

Asking Better Questions
24:43 Q: Who has delegated work and had it come back wrong?
26:11 Creating a Support Structure
27:44 Better Questions Exercise
29:47 Give Better Direction Exercise
31:25 Bingo Card Download

Measuring Quality of Life
32:01 Q: Who feels like it’s harder to know what people are going through?
33:13 Return to Office Survey
33:51 Passive Data: Employee Data, Time Cards, Project Data
34:48 Dashboards: Staffing Perspective
35:43 Dashboards: Firm-Wide Metrics
36:47 Are People Working Too Hard?
37:30 Are People Spread Too Thin?
39:08 Burnout Metric

It’s A Fixer-Upper
40:55 Q: Who else feels like they are working at a fixer-upper?

Christopher Parsons of Knowledge Architecture interviews Jim Chambers and Jim Martin of Shepley Bulfinch at KA Connect 2024.

Q+A Timeline

00:30 How do you make communication preferences continuously apparent?
02:30 Who monitors the quality of life dashboard, and has the dashboard helped people identify problems for themselves?
04:18 How do you decide which architects join the IT department for cross-training?
06:16 How did you get started with PowerBI?
10:15 What are some of the big challenges you have yet to crack?