Continued Education Within A Firm
Have you ever just sat and thought about “what would make my job easier?” or “I wish I could learn how to do this skill?” maybe its on your commute to work, while you’re sitting on the couch binge watching TV or even while at work staring at your computer. Design and technology are always changing and so we as designers and architects must make sure we are always growing and learning new skills or other ways to do our job.
One thing that will help a firm set itself apart from the rest is having a recognition on continuing education within the firm. SMS Architects as well as the AIA (American Institute of Architects) believes this is a crucial improvement for the profession. A lot of firms already participate in continued education through the infamous Lunch & Learn presentations (from well-known or up and coming sales representatives ranging from building materials to codes), the multitude of educational conferences, to simple happy hour gatherings with other designers and sales representatives. But in today’s world, all these ways of learning are getting more difficult to come by. So, what has SMS decided to do to help its employees continue this journey? We have instituted our employees an allotted amount of time every day to continue their education! This ranges from viewing online videos dedicated to current software we are using, to asking our team members to help us learn how to use a simple command, to doing video conferencing calls to show the entire office how to create a parametric family on Revit, testing out new platforms as tools to enhance Revit, or learning about the new codes being instituted due to COVID-19.
Design is an ever-changing career, which means that every employee must understand the new changes being made and freshen up their skills when it comes to design software and communication. Trust us when we say, a simple 15-minute presentation goes a long way to help your firm interact and understand why we do things a certain way and how it will continue to benefit their own skills and the design process in a whole.