One Key For Creating the Self-Managed Firm (and Why My Daughter Was Angry at Me)

In this article, you'll discover one essential key for creating a firm that doesn't depend on you for every little thing - so you can go from putting out fires to doing deep, meaningful work.

But first, a story about why my daughter exploded at me -

My kids have been begging me to let them stay up as late as they want on a Friday night …

... they're at the age where this still seems like a good idea.

So my wife and I made a deal - if they do their daily tasks and chores all week long without Carly or me having to remind them, then they can stay up as long as they want on Friday night.

To make sure they understood the conditions of satisfaction of this exercise, I had them each individually repeat the expectation:

"Yea, we know … to do all our chores and tasks without being reminded."

Ok. So far, so good.

Monday I lost my 8-year old daughter - she didn't do her readings. Better luck next week.

Today, my other three girls fell off the wagon - or so we thought.

Their room wasn't clean in the morning.

When Carly told them they'd lost their chance this week, my eldest daughter Rivka was NOT happy.

"I spent last night cleaning up the room, and the little girls got it messy again this morning!"

Now Carly and I are in an awkward position.

What should we do?

The room wasn't clean, but is it Rivka's fault?

We decided to give her a pass on this one.

And here's the principle at work here - the murkier the expectation, the more chance for chaos.

... The murkier the expectation, the more chance for chaos ...

Chaos entered our system because we didn't proactively clarify the expectation of what it means to have a clean room.

Do all the girls lose their privilege if the room is messy? Or just the girls who messed it up? And how do we determine this?

Now let's roll this principle over into creating a smooth-running architecture firm.

You're out of the office.

The phone rings.

The staff, busy working on drawings and other tasks let the phone ring - hoping someone else will pick it up.

Finally, the most junior person on the team who is painfully shy and soft-spoken picks up the phone.

"Hello … ?"

Your prized client gets an experience that would make you cringe - if not get downright angry.

What impression does this give of your firm?

Your client now doubts your ability as a firm.

So why do these things happen?

This situation, and a thousand like it, happen because of lack of training, ill-defined expectations and lack of accountability.

The fix? Crystal clear expectations tied to a clearly defined job role - with training around that role.

This is our key for today - having clearly defined job roles with accountability.

When your team members are crystal clear on what they are expected to do not only to get the job done, but also to help the office run smoothly, this is when you get back your uninterrupted time for important work.

Truth is … you already possess everything you need to solve this business challenge and others like it.

Just apply your design thinking to your "business."

This is just one of the steps that Scott Beebe and I take firms through in the DREAM Practice Accelerator - clarifying job roles and descriptions for you and your team.

Because we've already worked with 100+ firms, you don't have to create this from scratch or do this alone.

Use our proven framework and get a short-cut -

Use the roles we've already created and plug and play - modify them to suit with our guidance.

To get started, I've created a free online training for firm owners showing you 4 keys to creating a self-managed practice:

4 Keys to Put Your Architecture Firm on Autopilot So You Can Focus on Serving Raving Fan Clients Instead of Dealing with Chaos (Even If You Have a Small Team and No Free Time)

On this training you'll discover how unpredictability in your practice is ultimately COSTING you time, energy, money, freedom, health and impact ...

...and how dozens of firm owners just like you are using the DREAM Practice Accelerator process to build sustainable, profitable practices, without killing themselves in the process - even if you're currently overwhelmed or don't know where to start.

Click here to access this free training.

Carpe diem.

Enoch Bartlett Sears AIA