Performance management process for Architecture practices: reviewing design work, not just late hours
In a studio, long hours are visible and design quality is not. A review process that looks at project work, learning and delivery rewards the right things and spares the hardest-working juniors from being judged on presence.
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Share your requirementsWhy performance management process matters in architecture practices
Some principals judge by who was there at night. The junior who stays late on a messy drawing looks more committed than the one who finished clean work in time. Over a year the wrong habits are rewarded and the quiet, careful people are overlooked.
A review process built for a practice looks at three things: the quality of drawings and design thinking, the delivery of stages on time and within hours, and the growth of the person. It uses the project as the unit, because that is where the work is seen.
Architecture practices bill by stage, so time overruns hurt the margin. A review that looks at hours against stage budget alongside quality shows who works efficiently and who needs help with scoping. It also protects juniors who were given an unclear brief and then blamed for the overrun.
How to set it up
1. Define what good looks like per level
Describe in plain terms what an intern, architect and associate should show in drawing quality, coordination and client handling.
2. Collect project feedback
At the end of each stage, the associate and one peer write a few lines on each team member. Keep the form short.
3. Hold a half-yearly conversation
Discuss projects done, skills gained, hours and the next step. The principal joins for the senior ones. Record agreed actions.
4. Separate effort from output
Note hours but judge by quality and delivery. Ask whether late nights came from planning or from the design itself.
5. Compare hours with stage budget
At each stage end, note hours planned and used and discuss the reasons, with focus on learning and not blame.
6. Include site and consultant coordination
Review how well the person coordinated with engineers, consultants and site staff, as this is a large part of delivery.
7. Link the result to growth and pay
Use the outcome to decide promotion, training and pay changes. Share the logic so people see how decisions are made.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. Use your own records for a defined period and note gaps in the evidence. The review may take longer if records are incomplete or spread across teams.
- Ask three juniors how they think they are judged.
- Look at last year's promotions and see what they were based on.
- Check that feedback is gathered at the end of each stage.
- See whether the reviewer saw the work or only heard about it.
- Compare the hours of two projects of similar size and see whether the reasons are recorded.
GullyHR can do this with you. Read how we approach performance management process in general, or share your requirements and we will tell you where to start.
Questions owners ask
Yes, in a light way. A half-yearly conversation with notes on projects and skills is enough for a team of ten or twenty.
Judge by drawings and delivery, ask what caused the extra hours and look for patterns. A person who regularly stays late may be overloaded or unclear on the brief.
They can, when relevant. A principal may share useful remarks on a person's client handling, but treat them as one input, not the verdict.
Gather feedback from the site team and the project architect, and note site reports, measurements and coordination work. Site time is real contribution.
Hold a short talk at the end of each project stage, and a fuller one once or twice a year. Keep notes so that no review comes as a surprise.
We set up the interview and hiring process for architecture practices
Every business interviews, but few have a written process that works the same way for every role and every interviewer. GullyHR designs yours, from the role brief to the offer, trains your managers to run it, and can run it for you on the roles you hand us.