How can you reduce your risk?  Of all of the risk drivers in the architectural industry, communication accounts for the greatest percentage of claims, according to XL insurance, at 39%.  Communication?  Sounds too simple to be the reason for lawsuits, but the statistics don’t lie.  As professionals, how can we mitigate this risk?  Create and define your firm’s communication strategies, both with clients and internal staff, consultants and other project stakeholders.  This may include internal systems and policies about how to file communications so they are easily available to all who need access, setting expectations for the client, and presenting pertinent information in several formats, understanding that each person learns and processes information differently.

Architectural firms are no different than any other successful entrepreneurial business.  Communication is an area of extreme importance; however it can easily fall by the wayside when the amount of work becomes overwhelming.  Just remember, it may be your prevention of a lawsuit.

Architects used to be a major part of the development preocess.  More often than not, architects are not even involved.  What if you could add this service to your menu of services?

Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/480428273

Ask anyone what idea a porch evokes and most will talk of nostalgic times when a slower speed of life was the norm.  A place where giggling children drink lemonade after a game of tag, the magical first kiss of a courtship is captured, or two old men play checkers to pass the long summer afternoon. 

There is something so inviting and open about a porch.  It is a place for diplomacy and where differences wane. President George Bush said in his Inaugural Address in 1989, “We meet on democracy’s front porch, a good place to talk as friends.  For this is a day when our nation is made whole, when our differences, for a moment, are suspended.”

Below are several photos I have taken of porches. 

Not only does “Everyone deserve an Architect,” Everyone deserves a porch!