Design Management

Stephen Emmitt

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9781317396802
• Topic: Architecture
• Subtopic: Architecture General

This is a design guide for architects, engineers and contractors concerning the principles and application of design management. This book addresses the value that design management and design managers contribute to construction projects. As part of the PocketArchitecture series, Design Management is divided into two parts: Fundamentals and Application. In Part 1, Fundamentals, the chapters address the why, what, how and when questions in a simple and informative style, illustrated with vignettes from design management professionals. In Part 2, case studies from Colombia, Norway and the USA represent unique examples of the application of design management. This book offers a concise overview of design management for postgraduate students and early career design managers.

Fundamentals

chapter 1
Design management fundamentals

IN THIS CHAPTER the fundamentals of design management are explained and illustrated to set the context for the chapters that follow. We start with explaining what design management is – that is what it is we are managing and why. Then we explore the different levels of design management from an architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) perspective. This is followed by a review of different design management roles and the business of design. We then turn our attention to managing six fundamental aspects of design: design activities, design data, design processes, technologies, people and expectations.

Design management: what it is

CLIENTS EXPECT THEIR PROJECTS to be delivered effectively and efficiently by their project delivery teams. Clients demand and should expect:

• ■ A consistent level of service
• ■ Certainty over build cost
• ■ Certainty over program
• ■ Assurance about the quality of the completed artifact
• ■ An artifact that performs as designed during its service life
• ■ An artifact with minimal negative impact on our environment.

These demands and expectations are influenced by the decisions made by the design and delivery teams within an appropriate managerial framework for a project. Underlying all decisions is design (with a small ‘d’), and all of the client demands just listed are influenced by the way in which the designers and constructors interact and their collective performance.

Design is a creative activity. Creativity comes from the fear of failure, or more accurately the luxury of failure. It concerns the exploration of possibilities and opportunities, testing different solutions to see what works and what does not, and embracing the better solutions to come to a workable proposition. This is an iterative process often involving a large number of participants. In architecture, engineering and construction, design is concerned with translating wants and needs from the world of clients to the world of constructors and building users. The remit of designers is to constantly draw out the unexpected and create value. The work of the constructors is to translate the value codified in design information into a built artifact. It is the constructor who delivers the value. Of course this is a rather simplistic view because many stakeholders are involved in the cocreation of design, ranging from clients and building users to specialist subcontractors, suppliers and trades.

The creation and delivery of design value are often a lengthy and complex series of interactions, lasting many years for the larger projects. The entire process needs to be managed to keep process waste to a minimum and to ensure that the maximum possible value is delivered to the client and building users. Project managers, design managers and construction managers are typically the primary actors in this process. It is the design management team that is responsible for the design aspects of the project.

The word ‘design’ may be interpreted in many different ways, and therefore it is necessary to use some definitions to ensure everyone understands what is being ‘managed’.

The verb design is concerned with doing various activities that fall under the umbrella of designing – creating something new. When designing we are using cognitive and social skills, thinking and interacting with others in the cocreation of design. This involves communicating and making decisions in a collaborative group or team environment, using the most appropriate technologies and tools to hand. This helps to eliminate uncertainty about what is required to resolve design clashes and is fundamental to the creation and delivery of design value.

The noun design describes the output of the design process. Initially this is codified in design information (drawings, specifications, models and calculations) and then translated by the constructor into a physical artifact.

The verb manage is concerned with doing various activities that fall under the umbrella of managing. Similar to when we are designing, when we are managing we are using cognitive and social skills to forecast, plan, coordinate and direct people towards a common goal. This also involves communicating and making decisions in a collaborative group or team environment, using the most appropriate technologies and tools to hand. This helps to eliminate uncertainty about what is required from the designers and constructors. Management, like design, is fundamental to the creation and delivery of design value.

The noun management is usually used to describe managerial systems and processes that are put in place to allow people to achieve their tasks safely and efficiently. The word ‘management’ is often used as a synonym for administration, although management is more correctly concerned with setting goals and controlling the means to achieve them.

Putting design and management together we get design management.

Definition

Design management is the management of design information and the management of designers in a team environment.

Design management comprises the convergence of two cultures, the culture of design and the culture of management. Although the two cultures use different language, fundamentally they are not dissimilar. Design is concerned with exploring and shaping solutions to problems, as is management. Designers are concerned with bringing many disparate elements together to realize the bigger picture, as is management. Design managers need to understand how designers and constructors work; they also need to understand management principles and techniques. This emphasizes a need for commercial awareness – the business of design (discussed ahead).

Definition

Design managers are responsible for delivering design quality.

Design managers can be found throughout construction, working for clients, developers, designers, engineers and contractors. The term ‘design manager’ is used quite broadly to encapsulate a bridging role between design and its delivery (see Figure 1.1). Design managers work alongside project managers, often undertaking similar tasks, but their primary goal is to achieve design quality throughout the life of a project. Design managers must have an understanding of and love for design in addition to knowledge of contractual procedures and regulatory compliance. They must have exceptional coordination and communication skills. Activities primarily relate to managing the following:

• ■ Timely production of accurate design information. This is achieved by nurturing a collaborative and integrated working environment.
• ■ Effective flow of information to those who need it. This is achieved through the effective mapping and management of the design supply chain.

1.1 Design management – integrating cultures

Levels of design management

THE ROOTS OF DESIGN MANAGEMENT can be traced back to the 1960s, with early work conducted by the architectural profession in the UK. Parallel work into industrial (generic) design management started to develop around a similar time, with early publications also going back to the 1960s (see ‘Further Reading’). Constructors started to take interest some 30 years later as they became ever more responsible for design quality. The constructors realized that they had to do something different if they were to manage design quality; hence the construction design manager role was born out of necessity. Since the turn of the century the number of design managers employed by constructors around the world has grown at a staggering rate. This is in marked contrast to a relatively modest uptake in design management within the architectural and engineering fraternity, where design managers are mainly found in large multidisciplinary organizations. Needless to say the application of design management is still evolving within the architectural engineering and construction (AEC) sector. Not surprisingly, many questions remain as to the extent to which design management is used within organizations.

The Design Management Europe Network (www.designmanagementexcellence.com) has developed a ‘design management staircase’ that graphically illustrates how organizations use design management in their businesses, ranging from no design management at the lowest level rising to the top level, where design management is an integral part of the business culture. This work has been adapted to make it relevant to organizations working in AEC and is shown in Table 1.1. Readers should ask themselves where they are currently positioned and where they wish to be positioned in the future.

Table 1.1 Levels of design management in AEC

Level 1: no design management

At this level there is no, or very little, knowledge of how to manage design. There is no consistent approach to the management of design within the organization or across its portfolio of projects. Design is not part of the organization’s culture and the management of design tends to be undertaken ‘if necessary’ and in an informal, ad hoc manner.

Level 2: design management applied only to projects

The understanding and application of design management are restricted solely to individual projects. This tends to be where many contracting organizations are currently positioned, with design managers primarily located on construction sites. This could be viewed as a ‘reactive’ approach, with design managers employed to address challenges created earlier in the preconstruction phase, such as the coordination of design information, requests for information and design changes. Design management is not integrated into business processes or office culture.

Level 3: design management used proactively

At this level there is an understanding of the importance of design management within the business. Design forms part of the business processes and there are efforts to manage design at an organizational and project level. Senior design managers will oversee the project portfolio and link performance of projects to the business. At this level architects, engineers and constructors will employ design managers as a link between the design team and the construction team. Contractors will employ preconstruction design managers to proactively deal with design-related challenges before they create problems on the construction site. Taking a proactive stance will allow the design and construction teams to deliver better design value compared to those positioned at Level 2; it will also result in fewer issues to address during construction.

Level 4: design management as culture – strategic design management

At this level organizations will be design-driven with design embedded in all business processes. Design management will be central to the culture of the business, forming the glue between the project portfolio and the business. Design management will have strategic importance to the business, and profitability will be determined by the effectiveness of design management across every aspect of the business. This allows the organization to embrace process innovations, such as lean thinking and integrated project delivery, as part of its design management activities. At this level clients should expect projects to be delivered on time, on budget and to agreed quality levels. More importantly, the organization will deliver excellent design value to its client and building users.

Elements of design management

THERE ARE A NUMBER OF ELEMENTS that make up the design management discipline, as illustrated in Figure 1.2. All of these factors influence the ability to generate and deliver design value to the client and building users. Understanding the interaction of these elements in a project and organizational environment is an essential skill. These six elements are discussed ahead.

Commercial factors: The business of design

Understanding the value of design to an organization and its clients is fundamental to a successful business. The interrelationship between effective management of design within an organization and effective design within that organization’s portfolio of projects will determine the level of productivity and profitability of the organization. It is essential that design managers

understand the commercial climate in which they operate. Commercial factors primarily relate to the following:

• ■ Business aspects of individual projects. This is often expressed in terms of cost, but it should be seen in a wider context of delivering design value to the client. The manner in which designers inte...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of figures and tables
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• FUNDAMENTALS
• APPLICATION: PROJECT CASE STUDIES
• Further reading
• Index