When Gillian Hutchison joined RIOS, project management was often seen as secondary to design. Her challenge was to help the firm rethink that relationship and build a culture where strong project management was recognized as essential to delivering great work.
Rather than imposing a top-down solution, Gillian took a different approach: listening to project teams, identifying shared challenges, building coalitions across studios, experimenting with new practices, and finding ways to make improvements stick. Over time, those efforts attracted executive sponsorship, created stronger alignment across the firm, and helped establish project management as a strategic priority.
In this 90-minute webinar, Gillian will share the story of that transformation, including the successes, setbacks, and lessons learned along the way. She'll also demonstrate how RIOS is using learning and development to reinforce change, including its Project Management 101 course, delivered through Synthesis LMS.
We'll explore:
How to build momentum for change, even without widespread organizational support
How to develop coalitions, engage leadership, and create shared ownership of new practices
How to balance firmwide standards with the different needs of studios, disciplines, and project types
How to use experimentation, feedback, and continuous improvement to develop practices people will actually adopt
How to turn new expectations into lasting capabilities through learning, training, and knowledge sharing
How RIOS is using Synthesis LMS to deliver project management education and support its evolving learning program
Following the presentation and demonstration, Christopher Parsons, Founder and CEO of Knowledge Architecture, will facilitate an open conversation with Gillian and the audience about the practical challenges of leading organizational change and what other AEC firms can learn from her experience.
The webinar will take place on Thursday, December 3, at 11:00 AM Pacific and will run for 90 minutes.
We hope to see you there.
Featured Guest
Gillian Hutchinson, Associate Principal, Project Operations
Gillian is a business operations and PMO leader at RIOS with over 10 years of experience driving enterprise transformation, organizational efficiency, and cross-functional strategy across global, multi-office organizations. She has a proven track record of building operational infrastructure, financial controls, and governance structures that scale, including overseeing a $100M portfolio and driving the largest unbilled-time reduction in firm history.
About RIOS
RIOS is an award-winning global design collective working to create destinations that spark wonder. Founded in 1985, the collective practices interconnected design across architecture, interiors, landscape architecture, master planning, and placemaking for diverse projects, including residential, commercial, civic, hospitality, retail, and institutional. Known for creating bold solutions inclusive of the broader context, RIOS believes design is an act of optimism through which invention and ideas change the world.