Practice

Architects collaborating over drawings in a studio

Practice — AIA Leadership Institute

Architecture & Design Leadership Training • Build teams, lead projects, run the business of design

From Vision to Delivery

Practice is where leadership becomes visible—how you steward people, projects, and performance. This page outlines our hands-on training for studio leads, project architects, and emerging principals who want repeatable systems for excellence. Expect toolkits you can deploy on Monday: facilitation scripts, meeting agendas, QA/QC loops, and dashboards that make progress tangible.

We focus on clarity, accountability, and culture—so your teams do their best work, your clients feel guided, and your projects land on time, on budget, and on intent.

Hands reviewing plans with a red pen and scale

Team & Talent

  • Psychological safety & critique culture that unlock creativity.
  • Inclusive charrettes and decision rights that reduce rework.
  • Mentorship pipelines, growth frameworks, and skills matrices.
  • Conflict-to-collaboration playbook for clients & consultants.

Project Leadership

  • Scope framing, risk logs, and change management that sticks.
  • Design management across SD–CD with QA/QC checkpoints.
  • Integrated delivery: BIM leadership, design-assist, carbon-aware specs.
  • Client stewardship: agendas, decision records, value tracking.

Business Fundamentals

  • Fees, multipliers, utilization, backlog—finance in plain language.
  • Pipeline & capture: positioning, proposals, interview choreography.
  • Operations: resource loading, knowledge management, post-occupancy learning.
  • KPIs that tie design intent to measurable outcomes.

What You’ll Take Back to the Studio

Meeting Kits

Kickoff agendas, RACI charts, critique prompts, and weekly stand-up formats.

Redline Library

Discipline checklists & detail standards for SD/DD/CD quality control.

Risk & Change

Issue logs, VE trackers, and client decision records that prevent surprises.

Performance Dashboards

Real-time views of fees, hours, progress, and carbon/health targets.

Outcomes We Aim For

  • Fewer RFIs and change orders via clearer early decisions.
  • Predictable delivery with healthier margins and happier teams.
  • Client satisfaction scores that translate to repeat work.
  • Design quality sustained from concept through punch list.

Who This Is For

Studio leads, project managers, project architects, and emerging principals ready to scale their influence without burning out their teams.

  • Small to mid-size firms formalizing operations.
  • Large practices building leadership benches.
  • Public-sector & community-focused studios aligning process with impact.

Team stand-up meeting with plans on wall
BIM coordination on large screen
Client meeting with material samples
Architect marking up drawings

Project team celebrating milestone

“The playbooks changed our studio rhythm—clear roles, cleaner drawings, fewer surprises. Morale and margins are both up.”

— Studio Director, 50-person practice