Jul 16, 2024
As a national architecture and interior design firm with over 120 dedicated employees and hundreds of active projects, effective project and client management is paramount to the success of the firm. We’ve discovered that leveraging the right tools is crucial to maintaining successfully managed outcomes for our clients. Smartsheet has become our go-to platform for enhancing transparency, streamlining communication, and optimizing resources. Here are 10 ways we position ourselves as a differentiator in our business:
Our project management workflow provides Chipman Design Architecture’s clients with real-time visibility into project progress, schedules, and milestones. This transparency fosters trust, as clients can see exactly where their projects stand at any given moment. By sharing Smartsheet dashboards, we ensure that all stakeholders are on the same page, reducing misunderstandings and enhancing collaboration.
Clear and effective communication is the backbone of successful project management in any industry. Smartsheet’s comment and notification features facilitate direct communication among team members and with clients. We can easily tag team members in comments, set automated reminders, and ensure that no critical message goes unnoticed.
Keeping projects on schedule is a top priority for complex architectural projects where many factors can affect outcome. Robust task management capabilities allow us to assign tasks, set deadlines, and track progress seamlessly. This level of organization ensures that every team member knows their responsibilities and deadlines, leading to timely project completion.
Change and unpredictable circumstances are inevitable in any project. Smartsheet helps us track client changes on a project basis or from a prototype standpoint. This ensures that the client’s brand evolution is effectively integrated into current and future projects, maintaining consistency and alignment with their vision.
Using Smartsheet’s Gantt charts and planning tools, we create detailed project plans that show clients a structured yet flexible approach to their project. This visual representation of the project timeline helps clients easily understand the workflow and anticipate upcoming milestones.
Clients appreciate tailored updates on project status. Smartsheet allows us to generate custom reports and dashboards, providing clients with updates on budget, milestones, change logs, permitting updates, and more. This customization ensures that clients receive the information most relevant to them.
Design reviews and feedback sessions are crucial to our process. Smartsheet’s collaboration features enable efficient iteration and approval processes. Team members and clients can review designs, provide feedback, and approve changes directly within the platform, streamlining the entire review process.
Effective resource allocation is key to project success. Smartsheet helps us manage resource allocation by ensuring the right resources are assigned to each project phase based on availability and expertise. This optimization maximizes efficiency and project outcomes.
Automation frees up valuable time for our architects and designers. Smartsheet allows us to automate repetitive tasks such as approvals, agendas, notifications, and reminders. By automating these tasks, our team can focus more on core design and project activities, enhancing productivity and creativity.
We consistently use reporting and analytics capabilities to analyze project data, identify trends, and make informed decisions. This data-driven approach helps us optimize project outcomes, ensuring that our projects are delivered on time, within budget, and to the highest quality standards.
Smartsheet has become an indispensable tool in our project and client management toolkit. Its robust features and flexibility allow us to maintain a high level of transparency, efficiency, and effectiveness in our client’s projects. By leveraging software that enhances our processes, we continue to differentiate ourselves as a leader in technology driven architecture firms on a national level.
Since joining Chipman Design Architecture in 2014, Caitlin Gurra has acted as both Project Manager and Project Architect for numerous custom and prototypical ground-up and custom in-line restaurant locations. She has a wealth of restaurant knowledge to help current and new clients develop and improve upon processes to help them stay organized and understand all the needs that go hand-in-hand with implementing an architectural project in difficult spaces. She has been successful at leading and expanding current client teams such as Chick-fil-A, Reformation, Chewy Vet Care and Edward Jones by implementing processes and protocols that create efficiencies and serve as mentoring opportunities for younger staff.
In addition to skilled coordination with clients and contractors, Caitlin has also taken a leadership role in development of a New Client Team within Chipman Design. This team strives to identify a client’s needs and pain points establishing a scalable process that enhances efficiency and sets up the client and CDA for success. Caitlin's primary objectives are building strong client relationships, thinking like an owner, and driving process. Caitlin graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies and is a licensed architect.
Chipman Design Architecture (WBE) is a people-first, family-owned retail, hospitality, restaurant, and senior living architecture firm composed of innovators, architects, and interior designers who love collaborating, breaking boundaries, and creating spaces for tomorrow. For over forty-five years, the firm has separated themselves with a focus on the future in regard to organizational structure, customer experience and fostering community. With corporate headquarters in Chicago, and five additional national offices, Chipman Design provides interior design, experiential design, and architectural expertise throughout North America. Today, the firm’s Principal team, led by third generation family member, and CEO, Lauren Chipman, offers innovation and professionalism through complete architectural and interior design services. Through membership in the U.S. Green Building Council, the firm’s commitment to sustainability and lowering energy consumption continues to reinforce recognition of the critical role of architects in today’s world.
