Managing Quality in Architecture

♦ align actual practice with vision and strategy,

From this, I conclude, with confidence, that the very best client relationships - where consultants enjoy a 'trusted advisor' status, where price is way down on the list of client priorities, and where clients keep returning, are those where:
♦ the relationship is focused on the client's business rather than the client's project;
♦ the client sees the consultant as expert in key aspects of her own business;
♦ consultants measure the value of their solutions by the effect they will have on the client's business.
All of which I sum up as 'solution seeking', a hallmark of the 'high-quality practice'.

We are, by training and inclination, first and foremost problem solvers. We are very good at it. But that skill presumes a problem has been identified -which is often not the case. Sometimes there is a stated or apparent problem, masking a deeper, more complex issue. Solving the surface problem is not really helping the client.

♦ knowledge of the processes that will produce the desired quality;
♦ appropriate tools and aids; and
♦ most important of all: a blame-free culture that supports learning from mistakes, rather than hiding them.

knowledge of the processes that will produce the desired quality;
♦ appropriate tools and aids; and
♦ most important of all: a blame-free culture that supports learning from mistakes, rather than hiding them.

Practices don't manage quality; people in practices manage quality. If they are to do it well, however, people need:
♦ clarity about how 'quality' is defined, to the practice and to the client, on the project;

Kaderlan notes: 'Expectations are like land mines. If you aren't clear about them, they can explode at the worst possible moment and destroy the trust you have worked so hard to develop'.

Issues that are significant to you, such as design excellence, aesthetic impact, and making a design statement, may be less critical to the client

The quality of service may be more important than the quality of work.

Excellence vs. quality
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. -Aristotle