The effects of scope definition and planning on creativity management

Abstract

Globally, architectural practices are moving from traditional services concentrated on architectural design to a multiservice, becoming in that way more relevant for their customers in a competitive industry. It is worth emphasizing that these diversions induce changes in the management of the architectural firms. Therefore, architectural design and the creative process involved in it have to be managed very carefully and professionally throughout this reorganization, since they are essential ingredients for business success. Otherwise, creativity is at risk of playing just a secondary role.At the same time, the competitive industry asks for efficiency in the process, that mainly relies on the project managers. In architectural firms, project managers face an interesting challenge of scheduling and controlling the creativity process. The design team faces the same challenge by being asked to deliver ideas and concepts within restricted time limits.The scope definition and time planning have been defined as potentially crucial factors of influence on the creativity process, therefore they represent a starting point of this investigation. The purpose of this paper is to gain insight in the complexity of their interrelation, and to lead both architects and project managers to understand each other’s challenges, in order to achieve a common goal, working collaboratively and harmoniously. Furthermore, taking into consideration that professionals can benefit from others’ experiences, this investigation has an aim of gathering best practices than can bring new solutions to their professional environment. Companies from different countries participated in this research sharing valuable information that is summarized in this paper.