This is burnout.

I have no advice today.

I have no wise words, no helpful hints, no simple tricks to try in a sticky situation. I'm bereft of helpfulness for anyone, including myself. I'm in a place where I've used up all my smart, all my funny, all my helpful, all my useful. I can no longer lean in, step up, take charge, be strong, and make things happen. It's because I've been leaning in for the past year at work on a big, fast, impossible project, and I'm burned out.

When I say "burned out", I don't mean that I'm tired and could use a week's vacation or maybe a couple months of normal workweeks and workloads. I mean BURNED. OUT. It's the kind of feeling where the thought of answering one question regarding that project--or any project I've been working on or helping out on--sends me into a fit of rage, tears, or sighing, followed by the words "I don't care; do what you want." I mean running to the bathroom every couple of hours so I can cry for five minutes, so I can go back to my desk and answer more questions and emails, be smart, be helpful, and be kind to my staff, who are not particularly the cause of my tears. I can't stand the thought of working on my existing project. I can't stand the thought of starting something new, with more ridiculous deadlines and panic and half-ass information from the client and lack of staff and mixed messages from my bosses and every other thing that has plagued me for the past year. I can't stand the thought of doing simple administrative tasks at the office--things that aren't project related but are appropriate for someone at my managerial level. And I can't stand the thought of being at home, where I'm not supposed to be at 2pm on a Wednesday but it's clear I'm not getting anything done at work.

I'm struck with the overwhelming feeling that I'm weak and I've failed. I can't bear the burden of running projects, can't stand the thought of sticking with the project and seeing it through to completion...so what kind of role model does that make me for the interns and young architects in my office? How can I tell my interns that they need to be diligent and follow through and think through RFIs and questions when I hate the thought of looking at those drawings so much that I've stopped wearing mascara because I just cry it off before noon? How can I reinforce professionalism to my staff when I'm constantly holding back the urge to give my bosses a five-finger death punch to the neck? How dare I admonish someone for a casual email or statement on a phone call when my two favorite words are "fuck" and "goddamn"?

And where do I get the nerve to post anything on this blog, giving advice to young professionals and telling them how they need to act and speak and write emails and arrange their resumes when I'm a dumpster fire in an Ann Taylor pantsuit?

I don't know what any of this means just yet. Readers have said nice things about this blog, so on the one hand I'd like to keep it up. But I'm utterly worn out to the point that even the most basic of tasks seems impossible. I also feel like a fraud telling people to get their shit together when I can't get my own together. It may mean that I'm posting less regularly, less forcing of the content and more posting just as something interesting comes to me. It may mean that this blog goes quiet for a while as I sort out this feeling of ants crawling just beneath my skin and the sound of blood constantly rushing in my ears.

I feel like I owe you all an explanation and perhaps even an apology for the poverty of content in recent months. My writing has been half-hearted and hollow, even platitude-filled to the point of being trite. You  all deserve good, thoughtful writing and discussions on meaningful topics, and I haven't really been providing that. You deserve better, and I ask your patience as I work towards whatever that better is.

Lulu

Why your managers need you to manage them

Over the past 12+ months, I have become less of a producer (i.e., someone who draws and prints and researches things) and more of a manager (i.e., someone who directs producers and reviews their drawings and research intermittently). It's been tough getting used to not having any actual product to show for your efforts at the end of the day--a page of elevations, a colored floor plan, a Photoshopped rendering. I spend a lot of my time getting the information that my staff needs to make the design and drawings happen.  This means I spend time typing emails and calling people and occasionally doing my own research. 

I also spend a lot of time in [shudder]....meetings.  I go from the exterior design meeting for one project (two hours) to the planning meeting for another project that's just starting (one hour) to an informal discussion at someone's desk about a space planning issue on the first project (30 minutes) to a meeting on that same project with the MEP engineers (three hours).  If my day typically starts around 7:15am, and I leave around 5pm (if I'm lucky), that means I've just blown six and a half hours of a nine-hour day (if I actually take a full lunch) just meeting and talking to people. My email inbox has meanwhile filled up with messages regarding a wide variety of issues along with the occasional "there's cake in the break room" emails (mmmm...cake), and some of those emails may alter what I just told my staff in one of those four meetings I had today.  Oh, and I still haven't finished the meeting notes from the client meeting I spent all day in yesterday.  Dammit.

One afternoon, an intern asked me to review a drawing he was working on for another manager and me. I said sure, let me go get some water and hit the ladies' room and I'll be right back.  As I was coming out of the bathroom, I saw another team member for one of my other projects--she asked about a code study I was working on: did I have anything on how much we can suite the rooms to reduce travel distances?  I said I'd check.  Back at my desk, I looked up the travel distance, which was going to be too long even if we made a suite out of that particular part of the floor plan.  I needed to re-layout 10,000 sf of floor plan, because I only had one person working on the plan on another area's changes, so he couldn't do it that day.  As I was about halfway through redoing the plan, a shadow fell over my desk: it was the intern whose drawing I was supposed to review.  I looked up, startled, then looked at the clock on my computer monitor.  Almost two hours had passed since he and I had spoken--I had completely forgotten about reviewing his drawing.

My intern had been hesitant to "come bother me", he said, because he knew how busy I was.  Thing is, my not reviewing his drawing held up progress on the project--his project, my project, the office's project.  Like many project architects and project managers in an architectural practice, I got tied up in putting out fires and forgot about the original task at hand. I needed that intern to "come bother me" with extreme prejudice.  I needed him to come to my desk twenty minutes after we spoke and ask if now was a good time and say that he can't really move forward until he and I talked.  I needed him to hit the reset button on my priorities, especially because I had promised him some help first.  I needed him, in short, to manage me.

Your managers get busy, frantic, spread too thin.  It's generally quite helpful for them when you know their schedules and you remind them of what you need for them to do for you.  It can feel like you're being a bit parental, but nothing's farther than the truth.  Managing your managers puts you on a bit of a level playing field with them. You're really helping them help you by making sure you have what you need from them to keep moving and to do the right things on a project.

What you should know about your engineers

I recently spoke at a large engineering firm here in Denver about what projects are like for architects, and I provided the engineers with ideas on how to help the architect help them (a la Jerry Macguire).  But I came away with some new information myself, and I wanted to pass some of these helpful hints to those of you just starting out working with engineers.

• The average intern works on 1-4 projects at any time, while the average engineer works on 10-15 projects at any time.  If they don't respond to you immediately, there's a reason why--they're effing busy. Give them the benefit of the doubt and a gentle reminder that you need X by Y because of Z.  And when you email them, make the subject of your email clear: Instead of "RFI 4", write "Elwood College Lab Building, RFI 41".
• They need space in your building too, not just in the mechanical room.  Electrical and IT need closets and small rooms throughout really big buildings (say, more than a 20,000-sf floorplate).  Give them an additional 8'x10' room for IT and an additional 9'x12' room away from the main MEP spaces--they'll be your friend forever and maybe even take you to a bar one day.
• What happens inside the space is more important than the size of the space.  A 400-square-foot operating room has very different HVAC, electrical, and structural needs than a 400-square-foot MRI scanner room than a 400-square-foot storage room than a 400-square-foot conference room. Accurate naming, explanation, and descriptions of equipment help your engineers plan and size their systems properly, which helps the contractor price it more accurately.
• Revit was made for architects, not engineers. While that doesn't excuse them from using it or doing BIM coordination, just realize that changes and tweaks that are easy for us in Revit can be a nightmare for engineers.  Ask them what views and settings work best for them, and find out how often they need a new model that still allows them to be productive.
• Engineers need as much information as possible as soon as you can get it to them. The type and size of equipment, future expansion needs, program, and so on affect so much on the front end.  Knowing as much as possible up front can help the engineers do it right the first time, which saves everyone time and trouble ont he back end of a project.

Most of all, remember that your engineers are human, just like you.  They get busy, they get tired, they forget...but they care.  The engineers I spoke and met with care about how well buildings work, and some of them even really care if a building is attractive.  Make them your team members, not just your consultants, and you can do amazing things with the people that know their way around a steel beam or a boiler or automatic transfer switch.

A company blog worth reading

While surfing the web with a glass of Riesling this week, I happened upon the employee blog for architecture and engineering giant HDR.  BLiNK is a blog written by various HDR employees on a wide variety of topics: design, culture, planning, photography and art, recent projects, and even using Revit to design a quilt pattern.

As would be expected from a company blog, the posts aren't particularly incendiary.  They are, however, well-written and edited and even thought-provoking, such as the notion that using the auto setting on your camera is akin to cheating, or the acknowledgement that architecture as a profession is about careening from one deadline to the next.  It's interesting to read other people's thoughts about design and culture in a way that's clearly written for nonarchitects or those new to the profession.  I'm not sure how much (if any) veto power HDR has over its bloggers, but the posts are overall an excellent way to engage staff and possibly even engage the general public with architecture.

Lulu's Mailbag: Can I leave a firm when my options seem limited?

From S, who wrote a while back, but I just haven't had a chance to compose a coherent response until now:

As of today I was told they are cutting back on my hours because as a intern I don't have the same skill set as the other designer and architect; they have 5 or more years of experience. And because I don't have a car to run and get things. I am so frustrated. I was tops in my school when it came to technology and cad. I never got to use it and I know Revit. Is there something wrong with me?

From Lulu: 
Wow, sounds like your firm might be kinda schmucky.  How are you supposed to get more experience if they cut your hours? [facepalm]  What are your options for going to a new firm?


From S.:

Well, they are pretty limited.  Because everyone knows everyone in [large city redacted].  I have only been there a month.  the first two weeks I was basically cleaning and organizing areas.  Now I know that everyone has a different way of doing things.  They are as of right now a 3 person firm and more and more work is coming available.  they told me they shouldn't have to babysit me for certain things to be done.  I was shown how to do a red line once and wanted to make sure it got done correctly, and they kept making changes and making me add stuff to it.   I was shown their way of doing a purchase order and I did 4 perfectly and he told me to leave the other one alone he was going to do it.  Well he emailed it and it was wrong, but I got blamed for it.

There is a new architect that they both worked with when they had tons of interns and architects she has her license and everything.  She is very sweet, but she didn't know how to change from classic cad to 2010, I had to do it for her.  And on top of that they put me as contract, even though I don't have a business of my own.  Why do I keep getting firms like this?  they were so nice in the beginning.  

I am trying to get into a much larger firm... I am trying to make a go out of the $55,000 I spent on 2 degrees with everyone trying to make me feel not worthy enough to be in this field.  Even though I have proven myself time and time again.  Its really harder than I thought.  And if they didn't want me to learn from them, they should not have hired me for just cleaning and running errands.  I am trying to [do] some volunteer work at habitat for humanity and building my skills up.  Any advice?

Well, S., it still sounds like your firm is acting a little schmucky and it's time for you to make tracks out of there.  There are likely a few things at work here, based on your emails.  First, politics at work can be hell in even the best of situations, but they can be downright poisonous in a smaller firm. For whatever reason, your skills, personality, whatever aren't meshing at this firm, and it sounds like no one's being straight with you on this.  I presume you've attempted to defend yourself in performance reviews when you've been treated unfairly, and you're getting the "we don't have time to babysit you" line, which is a superficial way of saying "you're not doing things the way we want you to do them, but we don't have the time/don't want to spend the time to teach you how we want it".  (This is also a line that I feel is frankly bullshit coming from a smaller firm--if you're so busy that you need skilled help that doesn't need "babysitting", then don't hire a fresh intern.  If you don't want to spend time doing training, especially in a smaller firm where everyone has to be involved in training, then don't hire someone with less than two years' experience, end of story.)


To be clear, all firms are nice in the beginning, and it's a genuine niceness.  Everyone's hopeful that this arrangement will work out: you'll be a great employee, and they'll be a great employer.  Once expectations aren't met, things start to go sour.  Unfortunately, most companies (not just architectural ones) aren't very good at having tough conversations like "we really need you to step up your game, and here's what we need from you" or even tougher conversations like "we realize we weren't very clear with you when we told you what this job would entail" or even the toughest conversations like "we realize that we shoulda hired someone with more experience than you because we really don't have the time or patience to train you the way we need to and the way you deserve to be trained."  This leaves employees, especially the newest employees, in situations where they feel like they're not wanted at best and being mistreated at worst, but all they have are a vague feeling and a handful of anecdotes to go on.


This evaluation, compounded by the fact that there are so few folks in the office to help fill in the gaps for you, make it hard for you to bounce back from a less-than-awesome review and to improve your skills (or to at least understand what the hell they want).  A larger firm may be just the ticket for you, as there might be more people around upon which you can rely to fill in the blanks and show you how things need to be done at the firm.  Smaller firms, especially those that are getting busier and busier, truly may not be able to train and fill in the gaps for newer professionals--they need all hands on deck to be savvy ones (which again makes me question a  3-person operation for hiring you fresh or nearly-fresh out of college without thinking they might have to do some "babysitting", as they so ineloquently put it).


That being said, I'm betting your town isn't any smaller than Denver, where I've been living and working for the past 11+ years.  I wouldn't count out trying to work at a new firm at this point, especially a larger one.  People make the rounds in Denver, especially among larger firms as big jobs come and go and as firms lay off and staff up.  Ask the architect in your office whom you described as "sweet" if she would be comfortable being your reference if you decided to look elsewhere for employment.  (If she does ask why you'd leave your present firm, I would suggest saying that you feel like you need to be in a place where they have more capacity for training, and that your present firm really needs someone more experienced than you--you and the firm just aren't a good fit, given your present skill set.)  Go ahead and polish up your resume, get an okay from the gal you're working with now to use her as a reference, and start looking.  It's time for you to find a firm where you can get better guidance and training.


Got a question you'd like to ask or a topic you'd like to see covered here?  Feel free to ask me in the comments or via email in the sidebar.  Thanks!

The 2011 AIA Compensation Report: What are the job descriptions?

A commentor last week asked what are the different intern descriptions for the AIA Compensation Report.  Good question:


Intern 1: Full-time entry-level intern on the path to licensure with fewer than two years of experience; develops design or technical solutions under the supervision of an architect.


Intern 2: Full-time intern on the path to licensure with two to three years of experience; works from the design of others under supervision, and performs routine and limited architectural assignments.  Performs specific/limited portions of assignments using prescribed methods.  Under general supervision, works from the design of others and performs routine architectural assignments.  Limited judgment is required on work details.  Assignments may include higher-level work for training/development purposes.


Intern 3: Full-time intern on the path to licensure with three to six years of experience; works under direction of others, responsible for projects' technical design, provides planning/design/coordination consultation on large projects; reviews/approves conceptual designs.  Responsible for specific technical design aspects of an assigned project including investigation, evaluation, and recommendation of design solutions.  Performs assignments under direction with limited responsibility for design.  Provides professional architectural consultation in the planning, design, and coordination of large, complex projects.  Independently makes decisions on significant architectural design problems and methods.  Reviews and approves conceptual designs.  Carries out complex or novel assignments requiring the development of new or improved techniques and procedures.




From here, we get into architects and design staff.  For example, an Architect 1 is licensed and has 5+ years experience and "exercises independent judgment in evaluation, selection, and use of standard techniques, solves problems when encountered, and receives guidance on complex projects."  The description in the Compensation Report then says that an Unlicensed Architecture/Design Staff 1 is the same definition as Architect 1, just unlicensed.  Architect 2 has 8+ years of experience and has more knowledge, more responsibilities, etc., and is licensed; Design Staff 2 does the same stuff but isn't licensed.  Architect 3 has 10+ years of experience and even more responsibilities; Design Staff 3 is the same but unlicensed.


Just before I got licensed, I was more of a Design Staff 1: I was definitely exercising independent judgment on standard questions and techniques and asking for direction on more complex questions.  Getting licensed gave me a boost in pay along with a little less supervision--I didn't have to clear every single thing I did with my boss, just the larger stuff.  Nowadays, I'm an Architect 3.  


Knowing these job descriptions is helpful because these can be used to gauge how much responsibility you're taking on versus how many years of experience you have.  It allows you to standardize (or at least begin to define) your job description even if your boss or firm has not done so.  It also allows you to compare apples to apples better, either within your firm or between you and another firm.  

Conflict or concerns at work? Deal with it.

Longtime readers of Intern 101 may have noticed a trend in how I recommend dealing with problems at work.  I suggest going right to the person with whom a reader is having a problem and talking it out with them, briefly but clearly.  This might seem a little like playing hardball for some interns.  We all fully realize that interns are by and large the easiest people to replace at a firm, so they're usually the last ones to confront problems or even stick up for themselves sometimes, especially in a crappy economy.  The fact is though that dealing with problems directly--even with bosses--can do so much to help rather than hurt an intern.


First of all, interns might be easy to fire or lay off, but firing or laying off anyone is generally a pain in the ass.  Confronting bad behavior or sticking up for yourself now and again isn't enough to really make someone want to go through the paperwork hassle that is employee termination.  And frankly, if a firm wants to fire you because you dared stick up for yourself, you really don't want to work there for a long time anyway.


Second and more importantly, there are many ways to confront people without being confrontational and to deal with problems without being a jerk.  There are many books out there on assertive communication, so check some out and find one or two that speak to you.  This one is my favorite and I use the skills constantly.  (Yes, the book is aimed at women but the skills actually work just as well for men.)


Third and most importantly of all, good communication skills and good conflict resolution skills are the kind of skills you need to be a great architect, project manager, and/or firm owner.  You've heard the phrase "dress for the job you want, not the job you have," right?  Well, having and using good communication skills is like speaking for the job you want, not the job you have.  I know plenty of very talented architects and designers who are being held back in their careers because they don't stick up for themselves and get run over all the time or conversely blow up or push people around and scream and shout.  When you model that you know how to handle yourself and can deal with uncomfortable situations, it shows your managers that you're able to handle more than just Revit drafting and looking up flashing details.

What is architecture?, or, if I didn't laugh I'd cry

Someone recently sent me a page from archdaily.com, in which one of their writers defined architecture in a variety of ways, all of them a little cynical and to me quite funny.  A few of the comments on the post/article tried to take on author Jody Brown for his snark, but those comments appear to have been overwhelmed by those who truly find the article funny.  While I can see where the "You're being negative about this profession and you're not as funny as you think with your cynicism" comments are coming from, I think they're missing the point.


Architecture as a profession is a long-ass trail ride.  Projects go on for years, not weeks like they did in school, and when you experience all the steps it takes to get something built in the real world, it can be downright frustrating.  Funding, construction loans, value engineering, bond initiatives, zoning laws, code review/enforcement entities, more value engineering, neighborhood associations...these are just a few of the tings that can make taking a building from paper to bricks-and-mortar reality so painful that you'd rather pull your own arm off, freeze it, and then beat yourself to death with it rather than deal with all this nonsense.  However, the process isn't completely sucky.  I've had user group meetings where we're all laughing so hard that we can barely sit upright, I've been on teams that managed to salvage a great design through two rounds of VE, and I've watched people's faces as they walked through a building I designed and helped bring to life.  There's a lot of reward to go with that pain.


So when I'm in the middle of that pain, I think of things like Jody Brown's article.  And I laugh my ass off.  Then I go design and tweak and work some more to get to the good part of a project.

Dress code interpretations, or "wtf is dressy casual?"

Holiday party season is fast approaching, my peeps, and it seems to be a field of landmines sometimes, what with all the various dress codes for parties and open houses and so forth.  Often, the dress codes for these events has some version of casual in them: dressy casual, business casual, festive casual, etc.  Casual may be one of the most abused words in the English language these days.  I want to rescue the word casual and throw a cashmere blanket around its little shoulders and tell the work world to go put on a tie and leave casual alone.  Why must everything be casual?  What's wrong with occasionally putting on a shirt that needs ironing (or at least looks like it would be ironed, if it wasn't made of some wrinkle-free material) and some nice slacks?  What's wrong with looking sharp for our colleagues, thereby showing them a little respect?  I'm not talking about a three-piece suit for even the most mundane office meetings, I just mean not looking like you work as a lifeguard.  But I digress....


I found a great resource online for translations of what various types of "casual" attire means.  This might come in handy if you're asked to be "dressy casual" at an office party or professional organization mixer.  Remember, you work in a field that puts a great deal of thought into aesthetics and assemblies of materials and colors, so put some thought into your own facade when you hit the door at these events.

Further thoughts on overtime: avoiding the extremes

This week, one of my colleagues became very ill and left work in the middle of the day due to an unbearable headache.  She could barely see, kept throwing up in the women's room, and couldn't stop crying from the pain.  One of our managers followed her to the hospital, where she learned she was having a compound migraine.  The physician on duty in the ED said that it was likely cause by a prolonged lack of rest--not just lack of sleep, but lack of rest.  No one was surprised, in a way--all of us who sat near this colleague knew she had been working a lot on her project, but it turns out that even with being out sick for nearly three days, she still managed to log 51 hours for the week.  Yeowch.


What I also find interesting about this incident is that the colleague in question is not an intern with a couple of years' worth of experience trying to prove herself, but rather a licensed architect with 12 or so years in the business.  But I knew her before she was licensed, and she did the same thing--worked and worked and worked until she nearly couldn't see straight, then accidentally hurt herself in some way, either by cutting her hand while fixing a sandwich or getting into an accident on her bike or in her car or something else along those lines.  My coworkers and I respect our colleague deeply and admire her work ethic and the quality of projects she puts out, but at what cost are these results happening?  Is it worth it?  We've suggested to her that she temper her work schedule a bit, but it seems to fall on deaf ears.


When it comes to working overtime, neither extreme is a good one.  If you never work overtime, especially when it's clearly available and needs to be done, you make it clear that work is really not that important to you--not the client, not your colleagues, not the project, nothing.  It will make your colleagues resentful and reluctant to work with you in the future ("Really? S/He can't come in for one weekend day or just stay late or come in early for a couple days this week?  Nothing over 40, really?").  It will also make advancement difficult if not impossible; no one is going to give you more responsibilities or more interesting or complicated work if you have shown that you're barely willing to do the smaller stuff you were given at first.  If doing the minimum at work is what you want, then have at it...but bear in mind that you'll be easy to get rid of if management needs to thin the ranks at some point.


But always working overtime is no better than working none at all really.  It's Bad, but it's a different flavor of Bad from never working overtime.  Sure, you prove yourself worthy of being kept on versus someone who never works overtime, but you run the risk of becoming one of these people (who, by the way, are all personalities that I've personally witnessed in the workplace):

• The Muck-Up: you work lots of overtime because you mess things up during the 8-to-5 and have to fix them.  You think your dedication to your job and the projects makes you look good--I'll fix my mistakes even if it takes all weekend, because I care!--but what it means is that you're not getting the training or support you need from your project manager and your more experienced colleagues.  Solution: check in with your colleagues and/or managers more often, perhaps even three or four times a day.  Getting regular input can stop a small misunderstanding from being a huge eff-up that robs you of a weekend.
• The Surfer: you work overtime because you waste time during the 8-to-5: chatting away with colleagues, surfing the internet (hence the moniker "Surfer"), taking long lunches, or constantly running personal errands during work hours.  (Note: while there's room for all of these activities in a workday and workweek to a point, the Surfer does them extensively and very regularly.)   You think your overtime makes you look dedicated, and even gives you a bit of the Martyr flavor (see below)--I just can't get it all done during the day, so I'll work overtime and look good!--but your colleagues know how much time you waste...and maybe you do too.  Solution: Really do a gut check about how much time you spend working, and/or how that time is spent.  I personally used to think that I could get work done while IM'ing my sister, but I realized that the constant interruption was keeping me from focusing.  Know that there is a season for everything--a time for checking out LOLCats, and a time for getting those plan details knocked out with some real attention.
• The Martyr: you work constantly and complain about how much you work and all the things you have to do, but you don't take the opportunity to solve the problem: get more staff, get your manager to take something off your to-do list, move the deadline out a little (occasionally, this can be done), and so on.  You work the overtime thinking that you're the only one that can do it and that everyone will notice--they'll see what they're doing to me when they look at my timesheet and my haggard expression and wrinkled workclothes!--but it often gets overlooked and frankly taken for granted.  Your boss only know that you're doing the work and it's getting done, but s/he has no idea about the self-flagellating monologue in your head.  Solution: ask for help--there's no way around it.  Your boss will take whatever you'll give him/her, and s/he only knows that you're giving too much when you speak up.  If you're giving too much week in and week out, show him/her what needs to be done and what would be the ideal solution (i.e., another person to help out for a week or two, more time, someone to check the drawings).  Failing that, take a weekend off or only work 40 hours a week now and then.  It's not going to kill you, and you'll probably be more productive when you've had a break.
• The Go-to Guy: you work overtime constantly because you've been willing and available to do so in the past, so your boss (or other bosses) put you in the position of having to work yet more overtime.  You work the overtime thinking that it makes you look like a keeper--Well, they know they can depend on me and I'm capable...and I can always use the money!--but it's likely that you agree to overtime because of fear.  You're afraid to turn down the work because you think you might get fired for saying no, so you say yes to anything and everything, and you become exhausted and run down...and burned out.  (I've seen the Go-to Guy and the Martyr most during the recession, by the way.)  Solution: I know it's hard, but say no once in a while.  Just like with The Martyr, your boss will take as much as s/he can get out of you, so it's up to you to set and maintain your boundaries with work and your energy.  This can be one of the hardest things to do, but holding a boundary, saying no once in a while, and refusing to let your boss make you feel guilty or frightened because of the occasional no is very empowering.  Also, it ultimately helps you save your energy so that everything you do is of high-quality...which is why they asked you to help in the first place!

For your consideration...a few interesting blogs and websites

The July 4th holiday found me in a lazy-as-all-hell mood, so I failed to post anything good or useful...well, at all, really.  So if nothing good is going on at Intern 101, perhaps you'll want to check out some other fun blogs and websites, such as:


The Hamilton Road Project: written by a civil engineer in training who's remodeling his own house, God love him.  (The occasional person in his remodeling photos tell you that he's not an architect--there are people in his pictures, for the love of Eisenmann!)  There's nothing like actually doing the work to really teach you how to draw the stuff you ask other people to build.


Ramblings of the small town architect: A good read, Small Town muses on the profession of architecture.  Though he hasn't posted much lately, his most recent post on the "value" of Architectural Record and similar publications actually made me spit iced tea on my laptop.  Good thing I have a plastic film over the keyboard.


Lovely Listing: Part of the I Can Haz Cheezburger group of websites, this site makes fun of odd, amusing, and sometimes downright terrible buildings, houses, furniture, and photos of real estate listings (hence its name).  Presently on its main page, they're paying homage to/heckling Frank Gehry.


Are there some other good sites I should post about here?  Drop me a line (via email in the sidebar) or tell me in the comments!

Lulu's Mailbag: How do you find a mentor?

I101 reader Trevor commented on a recent post about the changes to the IDP:


As an intern in architecture at the moment, i've found that the most difficult thing for me is finding an architect to be my mentor (as opposed to my supervisor). Finding an architect from outside my office who's willing to spend time with me ever week or two is an awful imposition. It was hard enough finding someone who would take me on in exchange for 8 hours a day of work, but asking for help from outside the office is even harder.
I don't live very close to my University anymore either, so having a professor mentor me would be impractical. Do you have any suggestions for finding a mentor under the new guidelines?
My course of action has been to start a new blog over at http://fstoparch.blogspot.com as a sort of cover letter for myself.


This is a great question, Trevor, and one that all interns (and dare I say even architects) should consider: how do you find a good mentor, especially when the whole mentorship process seems like such a burden?  First of all, let's consider the point of a mentor.  A mentor can provide guidance and advice on matters small and large regarding your job and your career.  Small things might be "I did this and my boss said that and I said this and I think I've messed up--what should I have done instead and what should I do now?"  A large matter might be "should I change firms/go back to grad school/quit the profession?"  A mentor, quite frankly, should also be something of a friend. Not a drinking buddy/loan you money to pay off a credit card/bail you out of jail friend (though you should totally have at least two of those, no joke), but someone who will speak with you honestly but kindly, someone who will listen to you patiently and ask questions without judging you, but also be willing to call you on your bullshit.  


This would seem a tall order indeed, and yet...we all have many people around us who are willing to do this.  Consider every friend you've ever had in your life or have now: did you walk up to them and say, "I'm looking for a good friend who will listen to my crap and laugh with me at Farrelly Brothers movies and make sure I get home after one too many Jager bombs.  Can I interest you in such an arrangement with me?"  Probably not--it just happened.  So, the first thing to remember about mentorship is that it doesn't have to be necessarily formal.  Some mentorship programs (often sponsored by colleges) have an essence of formality to them, and that's fine.  However, asking someone formally to be your mentor might suddenly trigger in them a response of oh God now I have to add yet one more appointment to my planner and come up with something to talk about with this person I barely know and so on.  Sometimes, first getting to know some architects, whether in your office or outside your firm, can smooth the way for a further, better, deeper mentorship relationship.  (Interestingly, my recent survey of interns showed that a majority have an informal relationship with their mentor, and the majority also felt comfortable asking their mentor for advice on things other than work/professional stuff.)


Second, consider how often contact needs to take place.  Maybe it's exchanging emails every couple of week and then actually meeting face to face once every month or every other month.  Truth be told, I've had mentors that I've literally never seen--I've met them through my blog and I've never spoken to them in person or even on the phone.  But they have provided me with immeasurable advice and insight, and frankly some kindness in there to boot.  Contact in general would ideally be regular so that neither of you forgets about the other, which would kind of undo the whole point of mentorship anyway.  


But the bigger question we have yet to discuss is why mentorship is such a burden, or at least seems that way.  I think it's because mentorship has been seen as such a one-way street.  It's often viewed through the lens of "here's a young kid just starting out, and now I've got to download my thrity years of exprience to him/her during what precious little free time I have."  No wonder so many people say "no thanks" to the arrangement.  Too bad--mentorship really is a two-way street.  I can't tell you the number of times I've emailed, called, and talked/met with my interns, past and present to ask for their advice or ideas on everything from the best way to set up a website (including this blog) and how to best use Revit and even what's the best new music coming out these days. (This last one is especially important for someone who grew up listening to Paula Abdul and Huey Lewis and still thinks that Def Leppard is the best band in history.  I'm sure there are some Killers/Muse/Conor Oberst fans out there begging to differ with me. Bring it.)  Part of making your mentorship relationship work by starting out informally is that it can allow you to show your mentor(s) what you can do for them.  I say that not in a business transaction-type of way, but in a friendship kind of way.  If your friendships were a one-way exchange, you'd quit being friends with that person, right?  Same thing applies here.


And yes, I did say "mentor(s)" just then.  It might be that the best way to get good advice is to have more than one informal mentor.  I have more than one mentor, and it serves two purposes: one, it lightens the load of any one person (see above about the "burden" of mentorship); and two, it gives me more viewpoints and allows me a little more data collecting before I make decisions.  Remeber: everyone you deal with, work with, live with, interact with brings all of their mental illnesses to the table every day.  If I have only one mentor and s/he has a real bug in his/her hair about, say, the AIA, and I ask him/her a question about doing some event for the AIA, I might get a really strong negative reaction to something that is actually a good idea.


Finding a good mentor (or multiple mentors) can be a challenge, but by relaxing the formality of the situation and thinking of it as a two-way interaction can help the process along.  If nothing else, maybe you can convince a 35-year-old hair metal enthusiast to put Meaghan Smith and Li'l Wayne on her iPod.


Got a question you'd like to ask or a topic you'd like to see covered here?  Got a band or musician I should be listening to instead of Warrant?  Drop me a line in the comments or via email in the sidebar.  Holla!

Lulu's Mailbag: How does a girl get some respect around here?

Reader C sent the following question in:

I'm curious if you ever had any problems as an intern being female and young. I'm 28 but in the right clothes I can still pass for a 13 year old. haha Of course I'm in appropriate clothing when meeting with consultants and contractors but I still feel like they treat me like I'm a little girl or the assistant. I met with a surveyor and an attorney for a project that was applying for a variance and I was treated as if I was just the copy girl... the girl that answers phones. I know being an assistant comes with the territory of being an intern but I'm 5 years into my career and I feel like I have a great amount of responsibilities... enough to at least earn a little respect. I start testing this summer, by the way. 

Partly I feel like I'm in this situation because my firm is quite small. Apart from the principal architect there are two senior architects and two interns.I suppose if I want to be treated like I'm in the upper rankings I should just move on to a different firm. I'll forever be at the bottom even when I'm licensed. Anyway, I'm going on a tangent and I hate to sound whiny but I just feel so strongly about this. Did you ever feel like you were treated differently for being a female intern? Even now as an architect, do you still feel you have more to prove yourself because you're a female in a dominantly male field? Do you feel like you have to be somewhat of a bitch to be taken seriously? I have many people telling me it's all about balance but honestly, I have yet to meet a female architect in the upper echelons of an architecture firm that has not been labeled a bitch.

This is a great question (or series of questions), and they're not whiny at all--rather they're quite important. They're a little hard to answer only because there are some variables involved in these questions. So let's start with C's basic initial question: Have you ever been treated differently as a female intern? The answer for me personally is: yes and no. I have had some people treat me like "oh, how sweet, a little girl is on our job!" and I've had some treat me like "oh, the architect is here--now we can get some questions answered." I generally have fewer problems with contractors, clients, etc. that are closer to my age (or at least under the age of 40 when I started out in architecture at the age of 25 back in 2000), but some of my best allies were men old enough to be my dad. There are some people who see the world as the Marines do: they address the rank (or job), not the gender. It is those folks who make it easier (usually) to get a job done because it's about getting the job done, not making exceptions along the way or treating you (or me or any woman) like they're less capable.

The next question was "do you feel like you have to prove yourself even now because you're in a male-dominated field?" My answer is this: I worked damn hard at being a solid, competent architect regardless of gender, which gives me the confidence to do my job now, regardless of with whom (or for whom) I'm working. If a situation arises in which it feels like a consultant, client, or contractor doubts my efficacy or skill, I call him/her on it immediately but in a way that is non-confrontational: "Marcus, I want you to know that if you have any questions about the CDs, I'm the one who can best answer them--I drew pretty much every line on this set, and I know it a lot better than Alex does. Do you have any concerns with calling me or directing the RFIs to me?" This is a little bit of hardball, but there's nothing mean about it. It's getting a situation out in the open and attempting to resolve it.

Now, that being said, let me address the "I worked damn hard" part. I think sometimes in architecture, there's a slight bias towards directing women towards space planning and tenant infill-type work, and directing men towards core and shell/exterior and construction detailing-type work. I recognized that early on, and I found myself struggling to keep up with the exterior detailing part of architecture so that I wouldn't get pigeonholed into just doing interior work. While I've still ended up being more interior space planning-oriented in my work, I also developed a knack for code research, which has made me pretty useful regardless of my gender. In terms of proving oneself, I've found that the best path to take is to work hard, keep learning and absorbing skills and information, and be really good at what you do, regardless of your gender. Your track record will speak for itself (though you may have to step up and remind others of your track record on occasion--more on that in a minute).

Finally, C asks if I feel like I have to be a bitch to be taken seriously. My answer: no, but it also depends on what your definition of "bitch" is. Some men (and a few women) will see any woman who stands up for herself or insists that work be done correctly is a "bitch". However, I've found that most people just want someone to tell them exactly what that someone wants or needs, and to be told that in a way that isn't mushy and isn't brusque and rude. Research by Dr. Linda Carli at the Stone Center for Women at Wellesley College found that people are most likely to perceive women as competent when a woman speaks clearly along with some basic "typically feminine" attributes, such as showing concern for others. I know some women with a lot of power in architecture (though certainly, there aren't as many women as there are men), and the ones I've found that rise to the top aren't particularly "bitchy". This might come as a surprise, but if you consider Dr. Carli's findings, it's not surprising at all. Being a jerk only goes so far, especially in a field like architecture, where relationships and good communication are so key. I've seen jerky communication and behavior stymie the careers of both genders. So if a high-ranking woman architect gets called a "bitch" by someone or other, I'm betting it's because she did stand up for herself/her firm/her client/good work/whatever. I've seen men get called "asshole" for similar behavior (though not as often as I hear women earn some caustic label).

However, C's email still gives me pause. Here's what I don't know about your situation, C: when you went to that meeting with the attorney and the surveyor, how did your boss introduce you? Did he even introduce you at all? How did and does your boss treat you in general and in front of clients, consultants, and contractors? People learn how to deal with you based on how they see others deal with you. If your boss said, "This is C, she's helping out on the project" or even just "This is C," then that's a lot less respect-inducing than "This is C--she's the job captain on this project and will be involved in the day-to-day running of construction. If you have a question about the CDs, she's the gal." (I also don't know how you sound when you speak, what your body language is like, and so on, which can affect these dynamics.) I think part of what has reduced the need for me to have to prove myself with those outside the firm is that my managers have usually (though not always) imparted my skill to the rest of the team. The others understood from my managers that Lulu was the person to talk to and she knows what she's doing, end of story. I'm sure we're not all so lucky.

Ultimately, C's struggle at her firm may be the same as one I've experienced lately, which is that of reminding everyone that you're not an intern anymore, but rather a really skilled, talented, and useful architect-in-training and even an architect (once you pass the ARE, C!). I've had to remind managers lately of that fact when asked to do some arcane task on a project. I frame it in economic terms: our office charges a lot more for my time now that I'm licensed, and I remind the managers of that fact when I'm asked to print out some documents or do some other thing. It's not that I'm above it by any means--it's just that I'm an awfully expensive copy girl.

I'm not sure if I've answered C's questions to any satisfaction, and I'm certainly not done with this topic, but I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts. I know my audience here skews young, and I'm intrigued to know what your generation is experiencing in terms of gender bias or differences in treatment in gender. What are you seeing and experiencing?

And now, for a break...

I managed to get two weeks off here at the end of the year. It occurred to me that I really needed a break, and as all my projects got nice and quiet at the end of the year, I figured it was as good a time as any to not be in the office. I also realized that I hadn't taken a lot of time off in the previous eleven months, which I why I had so much time left to burn. And I needed to take it now mostly because I was so burned out.

Recent studies have shown that taking vacations are good for you, even if the positive effects are short-lived afterwards. Part of what helps you, some researchers surmise, is that people get positive benefits from anticipating the vacation as well as going on the vacation itself. Therefore, it's better to take smaller, more frequent vacations than one or two big vacations. I did take a couple of vacations this year, but each of them involved work in some way, like a presentation or teaching gig. I needed was to completely get away, which I'm about to do.

The next two weeks will be spent doing anything but architecture, which will be refreshing and I think will actually amp me up to come back and do architecture again in January. So posting will be pretty light for the next two weeks, but I hope you all find some time to take a break and rest this holiday season. Cheers and see you in 2011!

'Tis the season to (still) act professionally

December heralds the season of Christmas trees, singing carols, fake snow, Secret Santas...and holiday office parties. These parties elicit a number of reactions from employees, ranging from joy at free food and adult beverages being offered to dread and annoyance at the notion of spending an evening with your effing boss and your effing coworkers. In my opinion, office parties are generally worth going to as long as you keep a few things in mind:

1. You're still at work. No matter what everyone's wearing, no matter how much alcohol is being served, no matter if your boss is dancing around with a lampshade on his/her head, remember: it's still a work function. Resist the urge to overimbibe at the open bar or freakdance with the cute new hire--you're still going to have to be on your best behavior (or at least on your work behavior). If anyone in charge sees you acting a fool at the office party on Saturday night, it will be remembered on Monday morning.
2. Take the opportunity to talk to people in a non-structured environment. While you are still kinda at work, you're not on the clock. So an office party is a good time to chat with your colleagues about non-work stuff: what do they like to do on the weekends? What are their kids into? Where did they go on vacation this year? What are they doing for the holidays? You likely already know that office parties are a good time to chat up the boss, but it's a good time to chat up other managers in the office, as you never know when you may end up working with them. Further, chatting with coworkers--whether you work with them or not--is a great chance just to get to know them better and develop a better working relationship with them.
3. Have fun or go home. Having zero fun at a party is just about as bad as having way too much fun--they're both inappropriate reactions to the festivities. If your office party has a ridiculous theme--hey everybody, we're doing Hee Haw!--don't feel like you have to play it to the hilt. Just wear a nice outfit that's not formal but doesn't involve khakis. If you don't really want to go but feel like you need to make an appearance, get there right at the beginning, not fashionably late. Stay for a couple of hours and chat up a few people that you really like, then use whatever excuse you feel comfortable with in order to leave--I'm double-booked for parties, I have a migraine, the cat's having kittens, whatever. Say some pleasant goodbyes, go home, and relax, knowing that you're not going to have a hangover tomorrow.

Burnout: the unspoken bane of emerging professionals

I haven’t been very good about posting regularly lately—I’ve struggled with keeping up with Intern 101, trying to come up with good topics to discuss and eagerly pouncing on a topic when someone emails me a question. Really, I’ve struggled with posting anything at all at least once a week. I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m fighting some kind of burnout.

I don’t usually post about what’s personally happening to me, but I feel like mentioning it might be worthwhile, as I imagine I can’t be the only one. If you’ve managed to stay employed through the recession, you might be feeling this way yourself. You come into work and sit down at your desk, and suddenly all the energy drains from your body. You can’t even pick up a pen, and you can’t bring yourself to answer the urgent emails filling your inbox or to complete the rather simple redlines sitting on your desk. All you want to do is surf the internet or go home and do laundry. It’s a different feeling from spring fever or holiday restlessness; it’s a feeling that is a sudden draining of energy and focus at best, and at worst it’s what one of my colleagues once described as “the day is ruined the moment you turn the key in the ignition to drive to work.”

After months—if not years—of trying to do more with less and watching your coworkers get laid off in waves and struggling to keep your job and do the jobs of those who were let go and accomplishing all of this with a brave face, it’s no surprise that you’d be feeling burnout by now. Or perhaps the work has come back with a vengeance, and you’re working like hell with a paycheck that reflects your 2008 skills while doing a 2011 job (yours and someone else’s because no one’s hired extra help just yet, just in case there’s a double dip recession). Myself, I’ve just spent the past few months working at a breakneck pace, leaping from deadline to deadline after nearly wearing myself out with projects plus preparing and giving a presentation at the national AIA convention. I spend my days frenetically jumping from phone call to department layout to email to QC of a set of drawings to—oh, wait, have I eaten lunch yet? And of course, because the economy has been so bad for so long, it seems like sacrilege to complain. But the weariness, the anger, the anxiety are all there, and the passion for what we do—for what I do—is gone. I come home from work, bone tired and drained, and I can barely even flip through a catalog or magazine, let alone put together coherent thoughts for a well-meaning blog providing so-called professional advice.

Burnout is a weird feeling for me, because I’m one of the most motivated people I know. Burnout is what other people deal with, what people who don’t really like architecture feel, I think to myself. But I’m finding that even the most committed amongst us, the most devoted to this art and craft and profession and obsession that we call architecture, even we the truly dedicated feel some annoyance with this field and wish for a break to do anything, anything other than this. I don’t yet have any answers for working through my burnout, but I do know that the only way out is through. I also know that I have to find a way to get some breaks in before Christmas, and I have to make sure that those breaks don’t get used up by holiday shopping or filling out greeting cards or the like. My goal is to post on Intern 101 at least once a week. Any questions, observations, comments, gripes, etc. are welcome, as they help me get ideas for post topics. In the meantime, I do hope that all of you got to enjoy your holiday and are finding better days coming at your firms (or in acquiring a job), and I beg your patience in the coming month or so while I work through this exhaustion.

Architecture would be easy if it weren't for the people

I was making small talk with one of the partners at the firm at which I work recently when he apologized for yawning so much. “A client called me late last night,” he said. “I was awake because I was working on a proposal for a project that we’re so close to landing, and then there’s that client on my cell phone. I hardly got any sleep.” This client also called him at midnight the previous Saturday…a Saturday? At midnight?! What kind of crazy client does that sort of thing?

“A lot of them,” was the partner’s reply. “You’ll find that a lot of really high-ranking people in each of your clients’ organizations has some kind of personality disorder or mental illness.” He wasn’t kidding; I myself have worked with some really strange people as the decision-makers or points-of-contact for my clients. Sometimes, my point-of-contact is perfectly normal and easy to work with, but those who make decisions above his/her head have a thought process usually only attributed to ferrets on meth. Sometimes the client is great, but they hire someone to manage the project and work with you who is stark raving mad. (And every now and then, I’m the crazy one. That’s the scariest part.)

Communication and conflict resolution aren’t really taught in schools, but psychology is. If I ran the world, I would make at least two psychology classes mandatory for architecture students—Basic Psychology and Abnormal Psychology—and I’d follow them up with a required class on good written and verbal communication, conflict resolution, and understanding nonverbal communication. Since most of you reading this are likely already out of school, though, I recommend paying a great deal of attention to how your team members—architects, consultants, clients, and contractors—communicate over the phone and in person. Observe your first impressions about them, and then make a note that this is your first impression only; what are they like the next time you meet them? And the next time? And the next? Are they better over the phone or in person? How do they sit (arms crossed, leaning towards or away from you)? Do they speak kindly or harshly to you, only certain people on the team, or to everyone? How do they react when they’re asked for their opinion or are asked to accept something that’s less than ideal (an extended or rushed deadline, the second-best product, etc.)?

Communication is one thing, but mental illness is definitely another. Remember that everyone you come in contact with on a project is human, terribly and gloriously human. And some of those humans have been scarred by life—heckled in junior high and high school, told they weren’t good enough by their parents, left wounded by one or more sad or traumatic events. Some of them were torque in the head the moment they showed up on earth; there is no set/agreed-upon cause for a narcissistic personality disorder, and there is most definitely not a cure for it either. I remind everyone about how important psychology is in your day-to-day dealings because everyone’s bringing their mental illness to work every day, and they’re bringing it to your OACs and site walks and user group meetings. It’s important—for your own sanity—that you don’t take other people’s behavior personally. You can take it seriously, just don’t take it personally. If you’re working with someone who seems like they’re a flaming maniac, it’s good to check your observations with others’ to see if perhaps you’re inadvertently rubbing someone the wrong way, or if indeed they’re just out of their minds.

Architecture is a team sport, and each team has to function exceptionally well together to pull off a decent project. Knowing how to deal with everyone firmly but assertively—and acknowledging their humanity—can make that process a little (or a lot) smoother.

Vent-a-thon 2010!

Finally, I want to address Anonymous' fourth comment, from a previous post:

Fourth comment. Lulu, please help other interns not to experience what I experienced. Are there ways to detect a short-sighted firm in the interview process? What questions should us interns ask the company at the interview regarding their attitude towards the IDP process? I hope none of the interns that follow your advice and ask the company for experience in additional IDP training areas get the answer 'NO' yelled back at them like I did. I even volunteered my time to get the experience. The answer was still 'NO'

I recommend that interns get help from a mentor outside of their firm for completing the difficult IDP requiremnts. Thats what I do now. I won't even mention IDP at another firm that I work at. I will complete the IDP silently.

Some firms don't want you to become more marketable by completing the IDP, it seems like.

Not every firm is intern friendly like yours, Lulu. I just had to vent.

And vent you should, Anon! You've been dealt a horrible hand in your internship, and it's not right. But I should mention that even in the firm at which I work, not every manager is so intern-friendly. Some refuse to work with interns with less than three years' experience. Some view interns as drafting machines with a pulse. And some view interns as solid, capable human beings with a lot to contribute. In these cases, it's all about staffing; when figuring out who will work with/for whom, those in charge of staffing have to figure out who is the best for for what projects and which people. People are not interchangeable parts in an engine--we all all unique, and some work better with others.

It's Anon's fourth comment here that strikes at the heart of why I started this blog in the first place. I hoped that by sharing my experience and observations, perhaps I could help some interns out there with a little direction or a second or third opinion on some job- or career-related matter, or at the very least just spare you some of the pain that I and my colleagues have suffered. Though I have been at the same firm for ten years, it hasn't all been beer and Skittles. I worked for a manager at one point who would throw tantrums and code books when he was angry, and he once threatened to hit me if I didn't fax something to a contractor (like why wouldn't I fax it to the contractor? it was part of my job!). I worked for another manager who seemed to be obsessed with looking at the front of my shirt when he wasn't looking down it. I worked with a colleague who attempted to stalk me via cell phone and email. And I've worked for a manager who was such a micromanager that night after night I would go home and weep into my sofa, wondering if I was cut out for this job and this profession in the first place...and those crying fits were happening after I'd been licensed for three years and had started this blog, mind you.

If I come across as Pollyanna-ish on Intern 101, it's because I've been through some pretty heavy crap and have come out the other side. As the Zen saying goes, this too shall pass. And, seeing as nearly all of those horrible managers and colleagues have been let go from my firm, I think of a saying from Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.: the arc of justice is long, but it's wide.

One of the best ways to learn is from each other. Some of you out there have to have been in horrible situations with bad bosses and wretched firms at one point or another. Looking back on those times, what were the red flags that you missed at the time? What was the signal that told you that it wasn't you, it was them? How did you get out of it? Try to keep it as clean and as civil as you can, but tell me about it! You can email it to me in the sidebar or describe it in the comments below. I'll also poll some of my colleagues and share their experiences here in the coming days.

Remember, this site works best when you contribute and share questions and ideas. I'd like to give a special thanks to Anonymous, for providing the original comments that have spurred the last few posts--good food for thought, indeed!

The meaning of the stamp

A recent project in my office required the services of a structural engineer to design a small metal frame indoors on an interior remodel. The structural engineer faxed the architectural project team his details to be drafted into the project's drawings. When it came time to stamp the construction documents for the city and for our and the owner's records, the project architect assumed that the architect's stamp would cover the whole set--after all, the engineer didn't issue a sheet in the drawings, and it was just a couple of sketches. Right?

Wrong. The structural engineer came in to stamp the one sheet on which an intern drafted his sketches...as it should be.

An architect's or engineer's professional stamp says that the architect or engineer vouches for the accuracy and appropriateness of the documents. The architect/engineer's stamp goes on the Contract Documents, which includes the drawings (the construction documents), the specifications, and any addenda that are issued after the CDs are issued. It goes on all these documents because these are the documents a contractor needs in order to build the project, and the stamp means that everything in the drawings and specs are correct, coordinated, and appropriate for the project. For the architect to allow their stamp to cover the structural engineer's sketches is to say that the architect 100% understands and approves of what the structural engineer sketched up. Furthermore, the structural engineer needs to review how his hand-drawn and faxed sketches were drafted into the architectural set. Is the engineer willing to rely on an intern over which he has no control or supervision to transcribe his notes and markups?

Ideally, the structural engineer would issue his own sheet, as empty as it might end up being, and he would stamp that sheet as well. If the engineer insists on having the architect draft up his sketches, then he must review them as well as stamp the sheet along with the architect.

The ins and outs of socializing at work

As we discussed in a previous post, architecture is one of those college majors and professions that seems to beget a lot of fraternizing in your class or firm. That fraternization isn't just limited to dating, though--you often end up having a lot of work friends who are also your outside-of-work friends. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. It does, however, require some consideration about being friends outside of work, regardless of what you do for a living. Some of this is easier to do when you first start at a firm, but it's always good practice to think about who you surround yourself with in your personal life. When I say that, I don't mean that you need to only hang out with upwardly mobile people in your firm, but rather it's a good idea to consider if this person is good for you. Are they pretty positive? Are they super-confrontational or super-passive? Do they blame everyone else for all their failures? Are they irresponsible with their work duties? In short, are they someone you would voluntarily hang out with even if you didn't work together?

It's hard to know until you do hang out with someone. Until you do get to know your coworkers better, just treat them all the same: with respect. The first rule of socializing at work (and the first rule of work in general) is to treat everyone with respect, from the receptionist and cleaning crew to your colleagues and the firm owners. No matter what you end up doing or with you end up being friends, treating everyone with decency is the best way to go. Even if you don't particularly like someone, you can still get work done with no hard feelings.

That being said, most folks generally know how to make friends--be nice, say hi, talk about stuff, hang out, etc. The thing about work friends is that you have to ensure that your friendship does not affect the quality or quantity of work that gets done. While this first rule of socializing at work is to treat everyone decently, the first rule of work is to get your assigned work done, and do it well. Some people will always do a good job, no matter what. But some people will shirk their duties and want you to lie or fudge or cover for them. Some people will complain about situations at work or gossip a lot and want you to engage in those behaviors with them. If you're not comfortable with doing these things, then it's imperative that you speak up and set your boundaries, which can be hard to do with your buddies. Some people will believe that you have to put up with cruddy or unethical behavior out of them because you're "friends", which is why it's doubly important to learn as much as you can about your coworkers before you hang out together outside of work too many times. If you can avoid the whiners and slackers and cheaters before you ever become good buddies with them, then you draw your boundaries with them even more clearly. There's no "if you were my friend, you'd say I was in at 8 when I really came in at 10"--they know they can't even ask you for that favor in the first place.

Even if you have good friends that you work with, and you end up hanging out a lot outside of work, I believe it's still being a good friend to be the voice of reason/neutrality sometimes with your work friends. Occasionally, my work friends (and my husband, with whom I worked for over six years) would hear me complaining about something or someone, and they would either agree with the other person or at least play devil's advocate with me. They didn't automatically side with me just because s/he was my friend or because s/he couldn't stand So-and-So either--they would be tactful but honest. I'd like to think all of my friends would do such a thing for me, whether or not I worked with them.

If you have a question you'd like to have answered or a topic you'd like to see covered in a future post, please post it in the comments or send me an email from the sidebar. Thanks!