KEEP WORKING EVEN WHEN YOU HAVE EMPLOYEES

LAW: Excerpt from the book
48 Laws Of Architectural Consulting

KEEP WORKING EVEN WHEN YOU HAVE EMPLOYEES

Don’t hire staff to replace you, hire people to help you keep being great at what YOU do.

As is very common with every business owner or professional practitioner, the moment they find someone who can stand in for them at work, they become lazy and start skipping their own CEO duties. The tendency to become slack with tasks that they ordinarily would have attended to keenly sets in and this is a natural human feeling often fueled by the belief that they (employees) are being paid to do ‘the work’ therefore we don’t have to do anything, any more.

CBN SOLAR CITY ESTATE ENUGU

Client: CBN staff multi-purpose Co-operative Society.

Project Synopsis

The project is a state-of-the-art, prime real estate, to be situated in the Emene Residential Layout of Enugu State, Nigeria. It is sited on a piece of land measuring, 14 Hectares of land to be beautifully transformed to a safe, conducive residential haven.

Sept 21, 2017

Geometrix Consultants have been commissioned to be the technical project consultants producing and compiling all relevant Construction drawings and supervising construction works under Architect Uche J. Uche. Funding Strategies and Logitics are being worked out presently.

Any inquiries regarding sales and purchase should be directed to:

For more information on Architectural design or other Technical details, kindly contact the technical consultants here.  Contractors who are interested in undertaking construction works here are advised to write the consultants directly.

If you are an Architect and you desire to improve your professional practice with sure-fire techniques that have worked for me; you may like to consider the e-book: 48 Laws of Architectural Consulting.

PROJECT MANAGER : ISSUES WITH THE STAFF

Posted by :  Kosi Emmanuel Chukwujindu

This post is a sequel to the earlier post: "Project Architect: resolving staff conflict in site"

from left: Architect, Carpenter

As a construction project manager, issues with staff are going to abound. What matters in the end is still Results!

In my experience, workers over time tend to grow too friendly and thence become rebellious. They suddenly seem to have got a hunch that you have been manipulating them into doing 'your' Work while you get all the 'big' money. This feeling if not checked leads them into acting abnormally uncooperative and even ready to end the relationship.

As the Architect, and project  manager, you have the responsibility of keeping your site in control so that you can continue to produce results, Especially if you work for a senior Architect who has entrusted the site in your management.

Here are a few of my own  tips on managing crisis in the site:

1. Understand that; when all is said and done, violence or force benefits nobody. With this in mind, you are left with the effective tool : diplomacy. Use diplomacy to coerce your workers into doing whatever you want without realising they are all players in 'your' game.

2. Your boss expects results, results and more results, he hardly has time to attend to reports from you or your staff, he believes you should Handle whatever situation arises on site with minimum supervision. Dont prove him wrong! 

3. Preach and emphasize teamwork to your workers. They would think twice before starting up a fire next time, if they see you as a brother instead of a boss.

4. Remain aloof, but make sure you are the smartest guy in the site. No tricks can evade you unless you let it for a higher cause. Use occasional little favours like careless tips, relaxed timing or bonus pays, to buy the hearts of your workers in preparation for the day you will make huge demands from them. 

ENSIBUM PROJECT ROUNDING OFF : REFLECTIONS ON LESSONS LEARNT

By Kosi Emmanuel Chukwujindu
Project Architect

ENSIBUM is short for the : Enugu-South international Building materials market. The first phase of its development is 95% complete. This zone is for sale of reinforcement bars. 

It features a small 3m x 2m office space with large 6m x 12m frontage/ per occupant for stacking the reinforcement bars for sale. A total of 200 single units have been completed so far, and is on sale to the general public at a flat rate of N2,500,000. 

As we know the developer is Mc.Donalds manufacturing and industries ltd. The technical consultancy service from scratch was rendered by GEOMETRIX consultants and Builders ltd. while the construction was done by MALDINI construction company ltd. our sister company. I have been the project manager here for over a year now.

This post highlights my personal reflections about the project as it gradually nears hand over. As a great man said: "in life, we never really lose, its either we win or we learn something". I can say I have picked up a thing or two while working on this project.

1. Never forget who you are directly answerable to. While assuming the perfect courtiers posture to everyother interests.

2.

Never conive secretly or openly with your staff to loot the company. It will be blown out of proportion when they speak of it and you will be made to look like a thief..just like them. As much as you can, keep the books tidy.

3. Dont assume you know everything just because you have a college degree. Listen to others ideas but remain the decision maker.

4. No matter how lonely she is at home, never bring your spouse to the site. Let work be work and family be family.

5. Monthly paid or at least weekly paid staff, perform netter overall than daily paid staff. They also offer greatter degree of dependability.

6. Dont live inside your own box, ask around elsewhere for broader ideas, methods and rates before you decide on your own project.

7. Dress for the job. Wear suitable clothes for the work always..make sure there is clear distinction between the worker and you.

8. Never employ anyone who is too old or way above your physical and psychological control. Make sure your staff remains loyal to you and you alone. Do not invite them to sit with the m.d when you are having a meeting, else they get a false sense of belonging and grow rebelious. Discharge such rebellious ones at once else they plan a mutiny against you.

9. Diplomacy is the key to manipulation. Use it always to get your way, without force, plead when you have to, enforce when you need to, coerce people to do your work happily.

10. If the project does not provide a vehicle, buy one for yourself!

11. Be reacheable and ready always.

12. Dont forget to learn!

WRITING QUOTATIONS FOR PROJECTS

Posted By:  Kosi Emmanuel Chukwujindu

As an Architect, you will be required to prepare work estimates in form of job quotations for proposed projects. Your ability to predict or forecast real life site requirements from your drawing board will be tested.
Whether you fail or succeed has serious functional implications through the project timeline. Some contracts do not leave room for future amendments while some do. Whichever the case is, it is advisable to predict and provide for as much as possible afore time.

MAKING OF A MODEL SATELLITE TOWN FOR ABUJA(STAGE 1)

So having said that, lets take a look at the progress so far. Just as i recommended in my book(LEARNING TO BE AN ARCHITECT) I've been reading and searching deep to get a firm gasp of what is required in a satellite town as well as to justify the need for it in Abuja.

A lot of documents on the internet have given various enlightening meanings for the term as an English phrase as well as an element of urban design.

But here's my own simple definition;

a satellite town is a smaller community mostly consequential but sometimes planned, mostly residential but sometimes lightly commercial too, located close to a larger metropolis connected via available transport channel and which may or may not contribute to the economic viability of the bigger city but largely solves the problem of its urbanization.

I have also aswered a number of important questions such as, what are the xtics of a satellite town, what is the origin of satellite towns, why do we need a satellite town in abuja, what has the government to say about this need, what sustainable approaches could be implemented, and of course what are the town planning standards for allocation of amenities in an urban area?

In this light, I have studied three satellite towns ; satellite town Lagos, Nigeria, Gurgaon, India and Chengdu Tianfu, China. Of the three the most remarkable one has been that of china's Chengdu and that is the one I have shared here.

image: The satellite city chengdu tianfu, Chian. excerpts from my Research work.(go here to read more about the design.)

The concept is absolutely sustainable and is hopefully going to inspire my own design to a great extent. Some of the salient features of this modern self-sustaining town include;

· It has a well designed cultural and performance center
· pedestrian-ism is greatly encouraged: one can walk from any part of the city edge to the centre in less  than 15minutes
· 48% less energy and 58% less water. 
· 89% less landfill waste
· Generate 60% less carbon dioxide.
· commercial,Residential,Office,Light manufacturing & a medical campus are included in the town making it easier to live and work there,
· ECO-PARKS


Next I have to carry out a site suitability analysis. This would involve identifying potential sites for the proposed town, and will culminate in selection of the most viable one.