A point of reference

摘要

Welcome back to work. Those of you who took long Christmas breaks may still be readjusting to the realities of working life. And architects probably reacted wryly to a DTI survey at the start of the year that showed that flexible working hours would be the 'perk' valued by the highest proportion of the working population. Architecture is a notoriously unforgiving profession and the latest benchmarking survey conducted by architectural management consultancy Colander shows that this is not changing for the better. Too many people, especially in senior positions, are working too hard, and they are not working effectively. However, the purpose of the report is not simply to slag off the profession but to set a level of benchmarks that practices need to achieve for successful operation, and to help them identify their own strengths and shortcomings. This, the third AJ/ Colander benchmarking survey, follows the pattern of its predecessors. As well as providing participants with the benchmarking survey, it also gives each practice an inter-firm comparison, comparing its performance to the other (anonymous) participants that are nearest to it in terms of size and activity.