Pub. 2 2021-2022 Issue 1

34 REFLEXION | 2021-22 | AIA Utah Staying Open for Business During Uncertain Times BY JOCELYN ROGERS F lexibility and perseverance. Those are the bywords that got architectural firms of all sizes through 2020. In a panel discussion, David Haresign, FAIA, (founding partner of Bonstra | Haresign ARCHITECTS) and Barbara Campagna, FAIA, (Principal — Barbara A. Campagna/Architecture + Planning, PLLC) shared how they navigated an unprecedented year. For Haresign’s 32-person firm, 2020 was set to be a landmark year. To celebrate its 20th anniversary, the firm had planned parties, a book — even a bike tour of its most notable projects that revitalized DC communities. Instead, Haresign and his colleagues found themselves shifting to telework virtually overnight. The transition certainly had its pros and cons. “We found it extremely difficult in a collaborative, creative enterprise to be able to collaborate effectively,” he recalled. “We had to prepare as if we were doing on-screen presentations to clients [even] when we were doing simple internal collaboration.” The complications of virtual collaboration brought time- consuming “perfectionism and formality” to the internal review process. Also lost was the spontaneous “learning by osmosis” the firm’s members benefited from when together. Bonstra | Haresign implemented a number of strategies to “maintain and reinforce culture” — including Monday morning coffee chats, monthly “staffy hours,” and weekly remote lunch-and-learns. On the bright side, the level of effort and preparation required just to conduct day- to-day processes provided experience that impacted client presentations in a positive way. “It has forced organizational planning and discipline to our presentations that I hope we carry forward.” The response from clients? A “new politeness” in which clients allow more time for presentations and are more engaged and attentive. For sole practitioner — or “solopreneur” — Campagna, the 2020 transition was equally abrupt. The Buffalo-N.Y.- based architect was celebrating her business’ 10th anniversary. And she had just finished moving into a new office space “designed to have a lot of parties and events” the very week New York went into lockdown. Campagna found herself working from home in a “business bubble” with her sister, a business consultant. To compensate for the sudden lack of in-person interaction, she “started participating in every online webinar and conference I could find,” which provided the “intellectual stimulation and participation with colleagues” she was missing. The financial outlook was even more daunting. “Every single project I had stopped by the end of March,” Campagna recalled. “These were all projects with contracts I’d anticipated working on for the next one-to-five years. Needless to say, I was panicked that all of my billings were gone within a week, and I now had a big, fancy office to pay for and I couldn’t actually work there.” Both Campagna and Haresign credited Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, local micro-grants, and other programs for helping them weather 2020. “Thank goodness we were able to participate in PPP,” Haresign put it. Without such assistance, the firm would have been forced to “take a very hard look” at staff levels. Instead, the firm