Five Critical Mistakes to Avoid When Building Remote Teams for Your Architecture Firm | 707

0:00Enoch Sears: This is not a product that was, you know, manufactured in a factory. These are people and that makes a difference.

0:07Camila Brugger: Hello, Architect Nation, and welcome back. This is the right place if you run an architectural practice. And today we're talking about how to avoid the five deadly mistakes that most firm owners make when hiring a remote worker. And on today's episode, you'll discover why the success of a remote hire often has far less to do with the person you hire and far more to do with how your firm is set up. You'll discover the costly mistake that firm owners make when they search for the perfect employee who can do everything. I know you've been looking for that person. and number three, the practical systems that turn remote team members into trusted long-term contributors who help your practice grow.

0:52Camila Brugger: Today, I'm joined by Camilla Brueger. She's founder and CEO of World Teams. Over the past several years, she and her team have helped more than 200 firms build high-performing global teams and create systems that make remote collaboration actually work. So if you've ever wondered about hiring a remote worker, perhaps you've wondered about how to easily flex and grow your team without taking on someone who may have a very large sour and you may have hesitancy about keeping them on. You're looking for ways to be able to structure your firm efficiently. You'll discover that and more in this episode.

1:31Camila Brugger: In this conversation, Camilla shares the lessons that she's learned working alongside firm owners every single day and the shifts that can make hiring delegation and scaling your practice, if you want to do that, a whole lot easier. And now a word from our sponsor, World Teams. A while ago, we began to hear reports of a company that was helping some of our clients build remote teams. We looked into it more closely and discovered the company World Teams that was helping small architectural practitioners build remote teams that were both capable and qualified. We were intrigued by another business that are addressing one of the critical pain points for small architectural practices, which is the ability to grow and shrink a team effectively, to be able to handle higher workflow without having to staff up significantly, and also being very sensitive about labor costs.

2:19Camila Brugger: World Teams is built to address these issues. World Teams is a small but mighty company that helps architectural practices build high-performing remote teams quickly, beneficently, saving you the headache of sorting resumes and interviewing underqualified candidates. World Teams operates in your time zone and prioritizes near native English speakers, ensuring clear and efficient communication with your remote team members. They have flexible contracts so you can adjust your team size as your needs evolve. Additionally, you're connected directly with your skilled professionals, which fosters trust and collaboration, and World Teams helps you reduce your operating cost without compromising the quality that's so important to a practice.

3:00Camila Brugger: To download a free guide for building a remote team for a small architectural practice, go to businessofarchitecture.com forward slash world teams. That's one word, businessofarchitecture.com forward slash world teams. If you're still tracking project costs and client invoices across three different spreadsheets, you already know how much time that steals from actual design work. Xero brings your invoicing, expenses, and project profitability into one place. Built for firms who bill by project, not by the hour. Right now, Business of Architecture listeners can access a special Xero offer. Get 90 % off for six months through the link in our show notes.

3:39Camila Brugger: Terms and conditions apply. Hey Camilla, welcome to the Business of Architecture podcast.

3:45Enoch Sears: Hi, hi, Ina. Thank you for having me. Super excited.

3:50Camila Brugger: It's a pleasure to have you on here. And we've been collaborating for several years now, ever since we discovered the services that you're offering to the design professionals in terms of outsourcing, remote teams, remote workers, which is just going to continue to grow as a way to get architectural work done. And there's so many advantages. There's also disadvantages. And so today, we're going to talk about, including some other things, five critical mistakes that people generally make when they are outsourcing work.

4:25Enoch Sears: yeah I love that it's such an interesting topic to touch on because of course obviously I've been doing this business for like six years I'm a firm believer that it just it's a way to unlock profitability and scaling and so many things for you know architects as you know both of my parents are architects and they struggle with this and this is why I founded this company so talking about why it doesn't work or why would it not work if you try it. I think it's an optimal idea.

5:05Camila Brugger: Amazing, because it's, like you say, there are so many benefits. Look, you've helped us out with some of our team members right now. We have two world team members who work for our team here at Business of Architecture. They're excellent. Such a blessing for the team. And to help them perform at their best, we couldn't just put them into the role. There was very specific things that needed to happen to make sure that they were successful. And the same thing goes for anyone who's going to be hiring an outsourced position. So with that, why don't you walk us through these five critical mistakes that you've discovered and that you see all the time when people are outsourcing?

5:42Enoch Sears: Of course, of course. So I'd say number one, and we see this a lot, is not knowing what you need. So you think you need someone for construction drawing that uses Revit and this, but then you throw like, oh, and they could also design and like if they know some rhino. So it's very large, like the specification of what you need, but what you need for what would you hire, you would hire even locally, would be like a specific task that it's what you need the most. And that needs to be the description that you give to your account manager. Or sometimes clients, because they're a little bit on the fence, whether to outsource or not, they just don't spend the time to explain.

6:34Enoch Sears: Just they give you a few very vague description and they are testing you. Let's see which profiles you bring and then I'll decide. But it's just like with real estate. If you don't give me the specifications of what's going to work, there's so many houses, right? So like I could have the house of your dream. You didn't tell me you really want, I don't know, like a pool or patio or the master has a big closet. You know, same thing goes with a resource. It's very important that you spend the time to say what you really need. What would be that perfect addition to your team that would take you to the next level?

7:13and then we go find it for you

7:16Enoch Sears: or see what we have that we've already interviewed and we know that could work for you.

7:21Camila Brugger: Yeah, we see that from our side too, Camila, with the firms that we're working to help them implement the smart practice method is many times as firm owners grow or they're making these hires, they don't even know themselves what it is they need because they're not quite sure in their growth path and their growth trajectory, who's the next person that we should hire. Do we need another job captain? Do we need someone who's at the drafting level? Is it time to bring on a project architect? And so like you say, the mistake that we see people make oftentimes is trying to find, you know, just lacking clarity around that so that ultimately there's a thousand applicants, 200 applicants, 50 applicants, 20 applicants, whatever the number is.

8:05Camila Brugger: But then it's very hard for them to decide who it is. They end up picking the wrong person. and that person doesn't work out, or they just don't hire at all because they can't ever figure out how to take that next jump in terms of hiring.

8:17Enoch Sears: Yeah. So, and interesting that you say that, because like we, one of the things that we save you is time, right? So you're not going to see a thousand applicants. We always bring you three. And if it doesn't work, then we'll bring you three. We are seeing thousands. We screen them, we tag them, we do all that work. But if you don't tell me what you need very clearly, then I'm going to bring you the wrong three. And then you're just going to think that there's no one out there for what you need. Or maybe you pick the wrong person. And then you are like two months into it when you realize you actually needed a different thing.

8:52Enoch Sears: And now you're frustrated with the entire process. So yeah, again, like just spending a little time, you don't even have to do it beforehand. Like talking to your account manager, the process can take more than one sitting down like to to figure it out you can figure out together our team is trained to like make you uh kind of organize your ideas um and and and then you'd

9:16Camila Brugger: get much better results yeah it's very similar to the design process so it remains reminds me of a project i was given in school where we were given a design project and it was in manhattan it was on the chelsea side of manhattan on the hudson river and the the site was was the chelsea was a pier and it was just a pier so it was a flat pier with nothing on it now of course on that side of the road there's there's a there's a large artery arterial street that runs down that side of manhattan in that area and so what we had as a design project it was very cut off from the city it was very it was just kind of by itself right and it didn't have any information to start to build an architectural project it was what we call an architecture tabula rasa which means it's like a blank slate and and so i know from a design project the same thing is true it was very very it was very hard that was the hardest product i ever did because there was no precedent there was there was nothing to pull design decisions off of as opposed to other design products that i got For instance, we had one time we did an artist studio for two people and we were basing it on, you know, we were studying the Reitveld House, which is a piece of beautiful modern architecture.

10:36Camila Brugger: And so it was very easy to kind of start to develop a design around that. And so the same thing is for your, you know, when you're looking at your practice, understanding that it is a design project in every role that is a design project as well. So just as a free resource, I want to let our listeners know we do have a guide called the Rockstar Hiring Guide. If you're not sure who your next hire is, go check out that resource. It's free. Go to businessofarchitecture.com forward slash rockstar. Just want to throw that in there as well. Camilla, anything else around that particular point or do you want to move on to critical mistake number two?

11:14Enoch Sears: No, I think we've covered it. So critical mistake number two. It's very tied to the first, but it is a little different. That's why we started to separate it. That is looking for the unicorn. Looking for a person that has, you say it, I think, jack of all trades or something like that in English, the expression, that they can do a million things. in architecture again you know someone that's really good at you know very complicated let's say i don't know like hotels and construction drawings and knows a lot of details but also can just design but also uh it's amazing at renderings but also like all these things and marketing we get requests we we provide also resources of marketing um to architects so that's not normally what they know of and that's when you ask the most like they want someone that's like a video editor community manager a graphic designer it's very hard that like i don't know anyone that can do all those things at the same time and then also of course like time becomes an issue because all of those things take time um so looking for too many things in one person, yeah, it's something that is a mistake.

12:35Enoch Sears: Focus on the things that you really need, and then let's get the best candidate for those skills.

12:42Camila Brugger: Yeah, it's like anything, there's going to be trade-offs, but the trade-offs you make are going to be more valuable in the long run because you're going to get a better fit. And just to give an example, you brought up the marketing example, great example. A lot of times, architects may think or listeners may think, maybe if they're not very familiar with marketing or they don't know how it works, they may think, oh, a marketing person, they can do graphic design, they can do the messaging, they can do the social media, they can do the video editing. But here's the thing, someone whose mind is good at writing words or writing the website copy or the messaging for your practice or your social media posts, that's very different than someone who may be visually able to create good, beautiful graphics.

13:26Camila Brugger: So right there, you're potentially look at two very, very different skill sets, two different kinds of minds. And to find one person that has both of those skill sets is extremely difficult. And so the same thing goes for AEC professionals, that someone who maybe is very good at the technical aspects, waterproofing, codes, all those details that are very, let's call them left brain, the more analytical, might be very different from it's going to be very difficult to find someone who's also So very creative, very out of the box, very good designer. And so if you try to mush those together, well, we need someone who can sketch well.

14:03Camila Brugger: We need someone who can, you know, they can put together design and we need them to be really good technical detailing. And we need them to be really good product manager. And, you know, if they could do some of the marketing as well, that would be amazing.

14:14Enoch Sears: Yes, exactly. And another that you just mentioned that also happens, which in some cases you do get those people. they are very rare uh and they don't even they work for specific cultures not in all cultures they they work which is getting someone that's super technical super technical like really good like obsess people with revit you know or or autocad or whatever and then being great leaders like you know that that usually doesn't mix so well like the very very technical people are not necessarily the best leaders because they just love to do the work. They don't want to be controlling the work.

14:57Enoch Sears: They even get very frustrated because X person that's on their team didn't do that or that, or they could have done that more efficient. So they're very like, not ruthless, but you know, like, and then the team is like, Oh, this person's mean. No, they're, they're just, they have a level of pressure on themselves of how they expect to do the work. And they expect the same of the team, but, you know, that's, you know, in a team, you have different personalities, different performances, and you need a group, you need volume. So like, you need to adapt. And those two things, yeah, it's hard. It happens to me as well.

15:34Enoch Sears: Many times I have, I call it a great soldier, you know, but that does not mean they're going to make a great general. all um and when hiring you also need to kind of think about that too so the third critical mistake is no onboarding process um and i think this is true to any hire you know when you hire a person and you don't really tell them like what their job is where there are the things we should they should talk about certain things with you know if you if you like that they ask a lot of questions at the beginning, or if you prefer that they kind of figure it out and make the mistakes and you correct them, those things are super important.

16:17But even more so in outsourcing, because you're dealing with, even if the person is bilingual,

16:24Enoch Sears: you're dealing with someone of a different culture, which, you know, like English is not their language, it's their second language, and they're not in the office. and so onboarding and telling them you know this is how we do things, this is how I like things here are all of our last projects that you should review for you know like to see these mistakes, how we redline certain things, all those nuances are super important and so many times I've seen that they kind of get thrown into like the chaos, which is normal because usually, you know, most businesses are always in a rush and in a chaos.

17:12But if you don't spend a little time, you know, telling them how things work around,

17:17Enoch Sears: it's like with AI, you know, like now it's so funny. People are so willing to onboard AI hours and hours to correct no, like giving them context, you know, to understand this, If you spend all that time in a person, giving them context, telling them where they can find the file, all of that, you'd get a lot of success.

17:40Camila Brugger: Yeah, onboarding. I remember at many of the firms I worked at, onboarding was basically here, sit here, and here's your coworker, Sally. She'll help you understand what you need to do. That was it. That was the onboarding. And so there's so much more, like you said, that gets to be part of an onboarding process where the files are kept, the drawing standards. and a firm should have, a well-run firm should have a 30, 60, 90 day onboarding process. I mean, there's a checklist for everything that would need to be taught and understood in 30 days, everything that would need to be taught and understood in 60 days and everything to be taught and understood in 90 days.

18:14Camila Brugger: And hopefully if you're listening, the point you're getting here is that yes, in a magical world, you could bring someone like World Teams in and have them solve all of your staffing issues. But what I hope that you're getting from this episode is that what makes that really successful is a collaborative process. And it really, you and your firm and how you run your firm is really what's going to marry up with your outsourced experts and hires to help you become a free architect.

18:43Enoch Sears: Absolutely. I love that. Being free, you know, invest a little time and then you're free. Well, I'm going to the fourth critical mistake. And this is for like, the companies that have a certain size, not super big, but already if you have like 10 people in your team, probably the ones that are dealing or like the direct reports to which the outsource reports to is an employee, right? And so the fourth critical mistake is not including your team in the hiring process. So a lot of times we talk to the principal and they're always trying to be more profitable and make it so that it's easier to scale.

19:33Enoch Sears: Sometimes we get clients that are in kind of remote areas or areas where it's not so easy to find talent and they know they have this problem. So they know that the way to solve it is like, you know, being able to hire from wherever in the world. but the employee if they weren't included in this thought process in in the decision making in picking who they're going to work with it doesn't feel that they feel like they are robbed of the opportunity of working with someone that feels easier that is sitting right next to them And so they will resist the entire time and it doesn't end up working. So super important to include your team.

20:25Enoch Sears: Whoever's going to work with an outsourcing resource and an outsourcing architect person, they need to pick and be involved in who they like and what are they looking for. not their boss that maybe is not in the day-to-day.

20:43Camila Brugger: Yeah, that's such a great point. And it reminds me of my third job that I had as an architect was with a small firm south of Houston, Texas, a guy named Blair Korndorfer, who is your typical architect. He was a great, he could draw like you wouldn't believe. He had his malt block pens that he used. He had his collection of really fine pipes that he had in his office. In other words, he was a connoisseur of fine things. and because of that as well he loved fine design he was a great architect and when i interviewed for him i was a little caught off guard it's actually a very good strategy but when i showed up at the office he there was a team of about six or seven people at the time and he uh the receptionist brought me to the back and he was in his office that i could see working away and they set me there for what seemed like a really long time it was probably it's felt like around 20 minutes is probably 10 minutes, but I was just sitting there awkwardly back in the bullpen of where all the other team members were at.

21:42Camila Brugger: And a couple of them began to engage me in conversation, asking me questions, et cetera. And then he brought me into the office and he asked me a few questions and I went away. And then later on, he called me up and told me I'd gotten the job. And later what he told me, he said, yeah, the interview was actually when you were sitting back there with the team members. He's like, I wanted the team members to know, did they like you? Did they like your personality? Could they work with you? Yeah. And that there, I'm sure he could have vetoed that decision, but a large part of if I was going to be hired or not was, did the team members like me?

22:14Camila Brugger: So I love that you brought up that point, that critical mistake, which is not including your team. Absolutely, because the reverse can be true as well. If you just, new team member shows up, no one's seen them before, they haven't been part of the process, then there's extra challenge to enroll your team members in, hey, this is the perfect person for the job. As opposed to if they're part of the decision, what's going to happen? They're going to feel more ownership over it. They're going to feel already like they were part of this process. So, such a great point, Camilla.

22:47Enoch Sears: And in general, you know, like now also with my team, with my management team, before I used to do my like my forecasting sessions and my quarterly sessions just with my top two or three. And then I didn't include all the different area managers. And so pushing down the ideas that we had planned and thought was a lot of work. Now I've included them and we go through this brainstorming sessions. Then we agree on like the five key things that we're going to work on this trimester. And now it's so smooth and we're achieving every target. Like, you know, like we have this targets where we set up, we have the expected, the successful and the amazing.

23:32Enoch Sears: Right. And the amazing is really, you know, it's a hard goal. And we're achieving amazing and amazing. And it's just having the entire team aligned and being part of the decision. Like, we agree on what are the most important things that we should focus on. And the same thing happens with like, okay, what are you going to need to get this done? Let's say, you know, this project or, you know, creating more business or whatever. I'm going to need a person like this. Perfect. Okay, we can, you know, hire them locally. You can do this. We can do that. But, you know, there's there sometimes there are budget limits, sometimes there are time limits, sometimes, you know, a lot of things.

24:13Enoch Sears: So and once the person is aware of these things and then understands the complexity of, OK, I need to pick. Like you say, there are tradeoffs and I really want to achieve this goal. Oh, so now having a team that you call them and like in less than a week, they have three people lined up for you and you can just add them on by the hour. So sometimes it's a lot of hours, sometimes it's less hours for specific things. Oh, then that makes a lot of sense because this is the easiest way to achieve my goal. So the fifth, too many cooks in the kitchen. Fifth critical mistake. And what this means is sometimes there are, let's say, partners in a studio and, you know, they kind of have the same hierarchy or maybe it's just like employees, whatever.

25:15Enoch Sears: But they have two different projects and they're hiring, they're like sharing a resource. So they would say opposite things, they fight for time, but they're not communicating between each other. the outsourcing resource having to pick between delivering what they promise to one or to the other and it's sometimes physically impossible to do everything and they don't want to be the ones telling them oh I can't do it but ultimately the principals the project managers should be talking to each other and not having the person have to decide what they're going to actually do

25:57Camila Brugger: yeah and that's a great way to have your outsourcer completely fail right because if a lot of times the outsourcer now the outsourcer or even it's just an employee but let's say the outsourcer is is stuck between a rock and a hard place like you say how are they going to tell no i'm already working on this they might not want to say no i can't do that because i'm doing this for this other person i'm doing this for that person and so again they're they're getting stretched in different directions there it's just very very difficult and it's a great

26:26Enoch Sears: way to set someone up for for failure so the bonus is not having your office remote ready um and this is something that can like you say it's it's it's a sure way to make your outsourcing fail um because you know after the pandemic so many so many um businesses went remote or like part-time remote and like they just put everything in their server or started working with bim 360 or whatever methodology to share files to kind of be in a digital ecosystem but there are some that that are not and still have everything in servers local servers there's still most of the office that that most of the employees or team that goes to an office so most of the communication it's happening personally and not in digital channels not being documented emails not being documented in a chat or a meet or whatever and so of course you have someone that it's outside of the working bubble they're missing out they're missing out on like what's happening or like what happened with a project, what was the new thing that they said.

27:49Enoch Sears: They don't have the files. It becomes a tedious process to upload, download the files. That's always a big problem. And we've had some really great clients that wanted this, but they were very protective of having all their information in-house in the server, and it didn't work out. We have others that still want certain information just locally because of security reasons. And what we do now is they fly off a computer with a VPN, but it's a harder logistical solution. solution like one of our biggest clients like they do that but sometimes the the computers get stuck on on um customs uh and you know like so it's not the best if you're if you're thinking about

28:49Camila Brugger: let's go back and describe that to me again because i didn't catch that and if i didn't catch it probably our listeners didn't catch it either so talk about some companies they actually They'll purchase a computer, try to send it through customs. Walk me through that.

29:01Enoch Sears: What do you mean? So we have one of our biggest clients that they still want a lot of the information of their projects in the server. And like even their employees, when they're working remote, it's through VPNs. And so the solution that we've come up to together is that they get the computers, They install it with everything, with the VPN, with everything, their own IT department. And then they fly it off to wherever the person is. And sometimes like certain countries are not as friendly with electronics. And sometimes those computers get stuck on customs. And it's a complication. It's not the best.

29:47Enoch Sears: Sometimes because we have people traveling all the time, we take them ourselves. But if you're thinking about really scaling, it's not the most scalable solution. So getting your protections, of course, a good firewall and everything to be secure, but being digital, being in the cloud, like sharing files, that's always the easiest way to make an international team work.

30:15Camila Brugger: okay thanks camilla so thank you for running us through five critical mistakes you gave us a bonus mistake there which is not being remote ready what are you what are a few of the other things that an office would need to do to be remote ready what does remote ready look like

30:32Enoch Sears: well remote ready like i said first is that most of your internal communication happens digitally like you you have a meet your employees are chatting um and now i'd say um with ai like it's a huge bonus if you're recording every meeting that your team is having and getting a transcript also with clients you don't miss out information you can customize your things much better. Everything is more smooth in the process. I understand that it feels scary sometimes. We've decided to record every meeting and have everything organized because now we're building like this QAQC agents that have to do with all this information that is flowing in the teams and onboarding agents as well for the very repetitive questions.

31:37Enoch Sears: All these things that once you set up yourself to be remote, to be digital, to be also AI ready, not only remote ready, then of course your productivity scales a lot. And I think you can be ready for the next 10 years, you know? Like these are some, not even 10 years. 10 years is like talking a long time right now with everything that's happening with AI. The next three years, I've asked all my clients, how much do you think that like the industry will change in the next five years? Most people said between one and a five, five being 100 % change, one being not that much. And most people said a four.

32:23Enoch Sears: So people are thinking that there's going to be some industry change. in an industry that is pretty resistant to change. So I think it's kind of, you know, it's scary, but it's something that one has to do, you know, like be remote ready, be digital, have your own insights kind of more processed and not only in the mind of people or employees that might leave you at any moment. on those ideas, those thoughts, those processes. And you can do that now.

32:59Camila Brugger: Yeah. Camilla, thank you so much for coming on here. We just want to let all our listeners know World Teams can help you out with this process. They're experts. They've been doing this for over six years, specifically helping build AEC teams, distributed teams. And the way that they work is that you'll contact them. They will, if it's a fit, they'll assign you an account manager. that account manager will then work with you to help define the role, what you need to make the process as smooth as possible. Because when you win, they win, right? Camilla, you're best, you want these employees to stay long-term.

33:33Enoch Sears: Of course, of course. We're not like a recruiting firm, you know? We don't ask for anything upfront. So we only do well when the person is a fit and does well and integrates with the team. And so like we are, our goals are totally aligned with our clients' goals. And I think that makes a more organic partnership. Yeah.

33:59Camila Brugger: Now, you did mention when we were starting the interview before we started recording that you have gone to some headhunters as well, some to fill some positions and it was enlightening for you. You learned some things. Yeah. What insights did you get being on that side of working for or working with a headhunter to fill a position?

34:21Enoch Sears: It was so, like you say, enlightening because it happened, you know, after five years that I've been in the recruiting business, but, you know, hiring for other things. After a while, we were growing so much. I told you we are now like 900 that I decided that the roles of top management that was not architecture, you know, maybe it's a sales manager or an accountant or whatever. I would hire them with a headhunter just to take off the burden of the team. And it was an experience because I found out that like my success rate was like out of three that I hired, I got one right. And I was paying, you know, up front like 15, 20 percent of their annual compensation.

35:08Enoch Sears: So that's a lot of money that like I needed to be ready to lose. Plus the time invested. But it was not cheap also because I was looking for senior positions. And then like it just made me think, OK, what we're offering is great. And if something like that existed for what I'm looking for, I would hire, like, not even blink to hire them. Because having someone that really understands your company, they integrate with your processes, they become like your external HR department. So you don't have to kind of explain everything to them every time about, like, your culture and everything. and then on top of that pay up front I think the biggest insight that I got is look, you're dealing with people and these processes that I went with Headhunters included a lot of interviews to me to my team, to everyone and then still, something that we wouldn't like maybe gotten out of the interview process was what made these people don't work.

36:32Enoch Sears: And so when you have someone helping you build your team, that they know you, that they are with you for a longer time, and that they integrate with your own processes, and they're also part of like your dream team, And it's a huge difference because there will be some that fail. It's part of the process. Some people will not be a fit. You can't expect that you're going to hire 20 people and you're going to get them right from the beginning with no problems. It's very hard. This is not a product that was manufactured in a factory. These are people. and that makes a difference, you know.

37:23Camila Brugger: Thank you, Camilla. Thank you so much. How can people find out more about your team, what you do, and whether it might be a fit to work with you?

37:32Enoch Sears: They can go to our website, worldteens.com and we also have an Instagram, worldteens. I think it's worldteens.us and yeah, those two places, I think there are also some things in YouTube and everything, but you can go to your website, see all of our services and get in contact with us. And then you'll immediately have a person explain you and walk you through the entire process and any questions that you might have.

38:00Camila Brugger: And here's today's smart practice tool tip. A strong culture isn't something that just happens. It's built intentionally and it starts with who you hire. The Rockstar Hiring Guide gives you the blueprint for bringing in team members who fit your vision, fuel your firm's growth, and free you up to lead at a higher level so you can buy back your freedom. Start building your all-star team today by picking up this free guide, courtesy of Business of Architecture, by going to businessofarchitecture.com forward slash rockstar. Today's episode is sponsored by World Teams. A while ago, we began to hear reports of a company that was helping some of our clients build remote teams.

38:44Camila Brugger: We looked into it more closely and discovered the company World Teams that was helping small architectural practitioners build remote teams that were both capable and qualified. We were intrigued by another business that are addressing one of the critical pain points for small architectural practices, which is the ability to grow and shrink a team effectively. to be able to handle higher workflow without having to staff up significantly and also being very sensitive about labor costs. World Teams is built to address these issues. World Teams is a small but mighty company that helps architectural practices build high-performing remote teams quickly, beneficently, saving you the headache of sorting resumes and interviewing underqualified candidates.

39:24Camila Brugger: World Teams operates in your time zone and prioritizes near-native English speakers, ensuring clear and efficient communication with your remote team members. They have flexible contracts so you can adjust your team size as your needs evolve. Additionally, you're connected directly with your skilled professionals, which fosters trust and collaboration, and World Teams helps you reduce your operating costs without compromising the quality that's so important to a practice. To download a free guide for building a remote team for a small architectural practice, go to businessofarchitecture.com forward slash world teams.

39:59Camila Brugger: That's one word. Businessofarchitecture.com forward slash world teams.

40:29Camila Brugger: notes. Terms and conditions apply. Today's episode of the Business of Architecture show is also sponsored by Smart Practice, which is the world's leading step-by-step solution for small practice owners that want to structure their practice so the complexity of business doesn't get in the way of the architecture. Because here's the thing, free advice is like Google Maps. It may show you the general direction, but if you want personalized advice, well, that's your turn-by-turn navigation. That's how you actually arrive. And that's what my team and I do here at Business of Architecture. So if you're ready to quit being a glorified administrator and you want to get back to architecture again, there's one simple step.

41:09Camila Brugger: Go to smartpracticemethod.com and download, get access to the free video training where you'll discover the proven, simple, and easy to implement smart practice method that's revolutionizing firm management for owners and teams. And again, I'm Enix Sears, founder of Business of Architecture, and I want to thank you for joining us today and remind you that the views expressed on the show by our guests do not represent those of the host, and we make no representation, promise, guarantee, pledge, warranty, contract, bond, or commitment except to help you do your best work and be handsomely paid for it.

41:45Camila Brugger: Carpe diem.