Synthesis Spotlight: Streamlining Business Processes with Online Forms at Schmidt, RCH, and ESA
Featured Guests
Libby Budack, Data Specialist at Schmidt Associates
Matt Richmond, Chief Technology Officer at RCH Studios
Eric Klotz, Principal at ESa
Webinar Summary
In this month’s Office Hours, team members from Schmidt Associates, RCH Studios, and ESa shared how they are using Synthesis to improve information flow across the firm with online forms.
Schmidt Associates’ Libby Budack shared how they gather internal employee recognition nominations with formstack.
RCH Studios’ Matt Richmond shared how they engage employees in employee & project information maintenance with Microsoft Forms in Office 365.
ESa’s Eric Klotz shared how they use a Smartsheet form to streamline the process of starting up new projects.
In this webinar, you’ll:
Understand several common business processes that can be automated using online forms
Learn about a variety of online form technologies that can integrate with Synthesis
See how forms are displayed on Synthesis
If you only have a few minutes, we recommend jumping to three highlights:
The Starfish Award Form (10:13)
Office 365 Forms Tutorial (16:07)
New Project Request Form (28:28)
Launching Synthesis @ RDG Planning & Design
Featured Guests
Ron Heims, Principal and IT Director at RDG Planning & Design
Susan Strom, Director of Client Success at Knowledge Architecture
Webinar Summary
Twelve years ago, RDG Planning & Design developed an intranet to help employees find firmwide standards, procedures, and company announcements. Over time, their homegrown intranet had become cumbersome to maintain and the content became outdated. As RDG evolved, they needed a knowledge-sharing solution that was more flexible and supportive of user-generated content.
Last year, RDG partnered with Knowledge Architecture to reboot their intranet technology, governance, and team. The result is their new Synthesis intranet, “The Know.”
Today, 100% of employees visit “The Know” monthly, 95% of employees access essential standards and guides monthly, and 80 - 95% of employees open news and announcement posts weekly.
In this webinar Ron and Susan share RDG’s story along with current best practices for launching an awesome intranet, including:
What makes an awesome intranet?
Who makes an awesome intranet?
How to launch your intranet awesomely.
We wrap up with a brief tour of RDG’s awesome intranet!
If you only have a few minutes, we recommend jumping to three highlights:
Great Intranet Teams (19:04)
Kübler-Ross Change Curve (29:24)
Brief Tour of RDG’s Awesome Intranet (38:48)
Synthesis Spotlight: Employee Onboarding @ Parkhill, Smith & Cooper
Featured Guests
Dawn Moore, Corporate Director of HR at PSC
Webinar Summary
Using their firm’s recent growth as a catalyst for change, Parkhill, Smith & Cooper (PSC) revamped their employee onboarding experience to be more efficient and to connect more deeply with each new team member.
The new employee onboarding process starts with in-person storytelling on key topics such as firm culture and strategy and continues with just-in-time digital resources hosted on their intranet, RED, throughout the first year. PSC has successfully onboarded 70+ employees in the new program and is seeing improvements to new employee engagement on and off the intranet.
In this office hours, Dawn Moore, Corporate Director of HR at PSC, takes you behind the scenes of their revamped employee onboarding program.
You’ll learn how PSC:
Kicks off employee onboarding with an interactive session using the intranet
Orients new employees into firm culture and builds community from day one
Collects feedback from new employees and integrates this into the onboarding process
If you only have a few minutes, we recommend jumping to two highlights:
Onboarding After Red (11:33)
myPSC Community (17:07)
Synthesis Spotlight: Elevating Design Conversations @ Diamond Schmitt and Turner Fleischer
Featured Guests
Michael Leckman, Principal, Diamond Schmitt
Sam Horton, Administrative Assistant to the Principals, Diamond Schmitt
Ellen Bensky, Principal, CEO, CFO, Turner Fleischer
Peter Frost, Manager - Marketing + Communications, Turner Fleischer
Marco Marcoccia, Senior Designer/Technologist, Turner Fleischer
Webinar Summary
This Office Hours featured team members from Diamond Schmitt and Turner Fleischer sharing how they engage their firms in design conversations on their intranets.
Diamond Schmitt's Michael Leckman and Sam Horton shared how they:
Brought offline design conversations online
Achieved 20% growth in Open and Engagement rates within 6 months
Use positive reinforcement to mitigate employee fears about this type of sharing
Turner Fleischer’s Ellen Bensky, Peter Frost, and Marco Marcoccia discussed how they:
Integrated a new Design Director into the firm
Changed the conversation to bring design back to the forefront of their work
Build transparency and understanding through design discussions during a period of change
If you only have a few minutes, we recommend jumping to two highlights:
#DesignMatters Within the Office (14:27)
Sharing Design Intent (29:18)
Synthesis Spotlight: Essential Content Reviews @ GRAEF and GMB
Featured Guests
Tony Balistreri, Knowledge Manager, GRAEF
Shelly VandeWege, Marketing, GMB
Stephanie Eiler, Marketing, GMB
Webinar Summary
This Office Hours features short case studies from GRAEF and GMB, two firms that participated in our Essential Content Review (ECR) Beta program.
Keeping intranet content accurate and current can feel like a daunting task. Following a short introduction of the Essential Content Review (ECR) process by Knowledge Architecture, you will hear how GRAEF’s Knowledge Manager, Tony Balistreri, and GMB’s Intranet Champions, Shelly VandeWege & Stephanie Eiler, adapted this process to meet their needs and create value for their organizations.
In this webinar, you’ll learn how each firm:
Tactically implemented a regular cadence of ECRs
Adjusted Knowledge Architecture’s ECR process to meet their firm’s needs
Identified gaps and launched intranet improvement projects to meet those gaps
If you only have a few minutes, we recommend jumping to three highlights:
ECRs Then and Now (18:00)
Discipline Wiki Pages (30:28)
Q: Do you have any advice for other firms to get started? (46:20)
Synthesis Spotlight: Elevating Leadership Communications @ Dewberry
Featured Guests
Kimberly McVicker, Communications Manager
Webinar Summary
We all know that firm leaders have unique and valuable insights to share with the rest of the organization. This is exactly the kind of content you want to see on your intranet! Yet, many leaders are not confident about what to share, how much to share, or where to share.
Last year, Dewberry set out to change the way firm leaders communicate on their intranet, ID. Over the course of 9 months, they increased the number of firm leaders who post on ID by 33% and realized several unplanned benefits along the way.
In this webinar, you’ll learn how Dewberry:
Planned their approach
Delivered sustainable 1:1 coaching
Used analytics to reinforce behavior change
If you only have a few minutes, we recommend jumping to two highlights:
Prep: Provide Common Topics, Examples, Potential Posts (09:21)
Lessons Learned and Tips (17:05)
Planning for Essential Content Maintenance
Essential Content comprises the policies, procedures, templates, forms, standards, documentation, how-tos, and FAQs you need to run your AEC firm. Your corporate operating system, if you will.
Getting your essential content on the intranet is a huge feat and generally happens during your implementation process. Keeping your essential content up-to-date is just as important. It is critical that your end users can trust that the content on the intranet reflects the way your firm does business today, not how it did business at some point in the past. “Trust” is the operative word here. Building trust in the quality of your essential content will lay the foundation required to leverage the intranet for a multitude of strategic initiatives outlined on the Intranet Maturity Model.
In this Quick Reference Guide, we offer a systematic approach for ensuring your essential content is always relevant and up-to-date.
Synthesis Spotlight: Using Video for Business, Technical, and Cultural Communications at Dewberry, Diamond Schmitt Architects, and KTGY
Featured Guests
Kimberly McVicker from Dewberry
Emre Goktay from Diamond Schmitt Architects
Donovan Helminiak from KTGY
Webinar Summary
This Office Hours webinar features short case studies with three firms who are using Synthesis Native Video to tell their firm’s story, albeit in very different ways.
Kimberly McVicker from Dewberry, Emre Goktay from Diamond Schmitt Architects, and Donovan Helminiak from KTGY each picked a high-performing video from their Synthesis intranet and took us behind the scenes.
You will learn:
What types of video content these firms produce
How a high-performing video is produced and shared
What each firm considers “high-performing” when it comes to video
If you only have a few minutes, we recommend jumping to one or all of our three featured stories:
Pancake House @ KTGY (06:23)
Rendering Time Lapse @ Diamond Schmitt (14:30)
7-Minute Speed Talks @ Dewberry (25:00)
Building a Firmwide Q+A Program @ Boulder Associates
Featured Guests
Todd Henderson, Principal at Boulder Associates
Webinar Summary
In Spring of 2016, Todd Henderson attended his first KA Connect conference where he heard a talk given by Jim Martin of Shepley Bulfinch on Shepley’s firmwide Q+A program, #AskFinch.
Todd realized that a Q+A Program on Boulder’s intranet, BiscuitNet, was just the knowledge sharing solution his firm needed. With support from Knowledge Architecture and an idea from the community, Todd and his colleagues successfully implemented a firmwide Q+A program, #AskBA.
Today, Boulder Associates has an average of 8 posts per month to the #AskBA hashtag.
In this recorded webinar, you’ll learn how Boulder Associates:
Established its firmwide Q+A program
Engaged top subject matter experts in knowledge sharing
Adapted a best practice to fit their culture
If you only have a few minutes, we recommend jumping to two highlights: Establishing a Firmwide Q+A Program (15:25) and Year One Results (24:39).
Synthesis Spotlight: Cross-Office Communication @ Shive-Hattery
Featured Guests
Amy Anderson, Marketing Information Coordinator
Webinar Summary
In 2017, Shive-Hattery’s employee survey turned up an actionable insight: Employees were beginning to feel disconnected from their colleagues due to geographical barriers. Firm leadership saw an opportunity to use Shive-Hattery’s intranet, SHare, to reconnect the offices and help fulfill the firm’s One Firm Vision.
Today, all seven offices are sharing news and announcements on SHare, and 30-60% of employees read 1+ office news post weekly.
In this recorded webinar, you’ll learn how Shive-Hattery:
Created a shared vision for change
Supported change agents with analytics
Incorporated change into firm culture
If you only have a few minutes, we recommend jumping to two highlights: Example Posts that Demonstrate a Range of Office Cultures (6:22) and Communicate the Vision for Buy-In (19:53).
Synthesis Spotlight: Improving Project Management @ CTA Architects Engineers
Featured Guests
Fran Quiram, Project Manager + Architect, CTA Architects Engineers
Webinar Summary
CTA's board set a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) to increase the efficacy of their project management function. Fran and her fellow committee members took this challenge on, and the results have exceeded board expectations.
In this webinar, you'll learn how CTA got from BHAG to results by:
Creating a process for continuous improvement of project management tools
Defining project manager roles and responsibilities
Utilizing Synthesis to help project managers across 14 office learn and grow
If you only have a few minutes, we recommend jumping to two highlights: Accountability + Creating Alignment at (7:05) and Gather, CTA's PM Community on the Intranet, at (16:30).
Synthesis Spotlight: Behind the Scenes of DOWL's Operational Excellence Initiative
Featured Guests
Rachel Steer, Chief Administrative Officer, DOWL
Kristin Folmar, Quality Manager, DOWL
Webinar Summary
In 2016, DOWL launched an Operational Excellence (OpEx) program designed to improve project management, enhance client experience, and establish accountability across their 24 offices. DOWL leveraged their Synthesis intranet, The Point, to engage employees across the business in this critical initiative.
In this webinar, you'll learn how DOWL:
Established The Point as the center for content, communications, resources, and training related to OpEx
Developed a user-friendly home for OpEx which includes a graphical landing page linking to key OpEx resources, an OpEx FAQ, and introductory videos
Supported the launch of the OpEx initiative through a series of posts by key executives and project stakeholders
Continued the dialog through posts about new and updated OpEx resources, early wins, and #OpExStories
If you only have a few minutes, we recommend jumping to two highlights: Origin Story of the Operational Excellence (OpEx) Initiative (6:00) and Intranet Tour: The OpEx Community (16:34).
Launching Synthesis @ RS&H
Featured Guests
Jennifer Stutts, VP of Communications, Marketing & Strategy
Krystal Modigell, Marketing Communications Specialist
Webinar Summary
A couple years ago, RS&H was faced with a communications and information access problem.
Many of their 800 employees were struggling to find the information they needed to be effective and to understand what was happening across the business. At the same time, RS&H was preparing to onboard 200 – 300 employees. The management team knew they needed better infrastructure to support their growing workforce.
Today, they are meeting these fundamental business needs for 1,100 employees with Blaze, their Synthesis Intranet.
In this webinar, you’ll learn how RS&H:
- Introduced Blaze as the go-to place for “all RS&H” news and dialog
- Kept employee’s user experience at the center of their design
- Used SMART goals to maintain alignment with stakeholders
If you only have a few minutes, we recommend jumping to two highlights: RS&H’s Knowledge Management Objectives (8:50) and Best Practice 2: Focus on the User (18:40).
Synthesis Spotlight: Online + Offline Learning @ Payette
Featured Guests
Hilary Barlow, Architect and Community Manager at Payette
Webinar Summary
Payette is a design firm that specializes in the healthcare, health science, and academic science markets. Maintaining a competitive advantage in rapidly changing markets means that the Payette team must prioritize continuous learning and development. To maintain a competitive edge, team members must engage in a lot of continuous learning.
In her role as Community Manager for Payette’s Big Science Group, Hilary Barlow has answered a difficult question: What does learning look like for highly skilled professionals, many of whom are already experts in their field?
In this webinar, you’ll learn how Hilary:
- Identifies hot topics and good teachers
- Convenes the Big Science community
- Captures key learnings on Synthesis
- Engages community members in the process
If you only have a few minutes, we recommend jumping to two highlights: Introduction to Payette’s Knowledge Groups (9:00) and Big Science’s Monthly Meetings (14:00).
Launching Synthesis @ Fuscoe
Featured Guests
Jeff Stempson, Director of Information Technology
Brandon Norton, Senior Graphic Designer
Webinar Summary
This month’s Office Hours featured an intranet tour of Fuscoe Engineering’s Synthesis intranet, ARC. Launching a Synthesis intranet in the fall of 2016 was an important milestone in Fuscoe’s knowledge management journey. Highlights of the new intranet include:
- Analog Communities of Practice got a digital home
- Disconnected and siloed key information about employees and projects is now accessible to all employees in a single system
- Employees can now find fundamental information about how work is done at Fuscoe via a single, informative toolbox
In this webinar, Jeff and Brandon give a tour of Arc and share their insights on brand alignment and employee engagement. If you only have a few minutes, we recommend jumping to two intranet tour highlights: Engineering CADD Standards (21:40) and #AskARC (38:45).
Streamline Your Operations with the Essential Content Checklist
Clients often ask us, “what content is essential to a successful intranet?”
Because we have built over 100 intranets for architecture, engineering, and construction firms over the last seven years using Synthesis, Knowledge Architecture is uniquely positioned to answer this question.
We find that this question typically arises when a firm is either:
- Preparing for the launch of a new intranet, or
- Conducting a content audit of an existing intranet
Both of these events provide an opportunity to step back and evaluate how your intranet can give employees what they need, when they need it. Our Essential Content Checklist will help you do just that.
Establishing a Firmwide Q+A Program Using Synthesis
In this article you’ll learn…
5 Benefits of a Q+A Program
3 Key Roles in a Q+A Program
9 Steps to Roll Out a Q+A Program at Your Firm
“If you can teach people to help themselves you get an additive effect: they not only help each other; they grow themselves as experts. Essentially, you have little experts pop up left and right and they sort of grow on their own. Over time, you raise people up from basic competency towards expert level.” — Jack Chaffin, LMN Architects.
Four years ago LMN Architects hired Jack Chaffin to lead the firm’s transition from CAD-based MicroStation to Revit. They knew they had an expert to guide the process because he’d led similar transitions twice before. Jack’s expertise met such a critical need that after a short while, Jack found that “help desk issues were taking up an increasingly larger portion of [his] energy; taking focus away from other strategic activities” related to the transition.
When it comes to this problem, LMN is not alone. According to research published by Rob Cross, Reb Rebele, and Adam Grant in HBR, “up to a third of value-added collaborations [in any organization] come from only 3% to 5% of employees.” As a result, often the people who are most in demand (those with the answers) are becoming increasingly over-taxed by the burden of responding to requests for their expertise. The really scary thing is that in most organizations leadership doesn’t even know who their top collaborators are. As many as 50% of an organization’s top collaborators can’t even be identified by the organization.
Enter a Q+A program. Increasingly, we’re seeing more and more firms successfully implement formal Q+A programs inside Synthesis to identify and activate subject matter experts. We’ve learned from firms like LMN, brainstormed what this looks like at previous Synthesis Workshops, and shared some successful programs through our Office Hours webinar series. In this article we’re going to share the benefits of a Q+A program along with some of the roles and steps necessary to roll one out in your firm.