Five Minutes with Tim Schmalenberger

Chief Operating Officer, Tim Schmalenberger, FASLA, Principal, shares insights into reshaping studio work models, supporting remote working, and ensuring project continuity during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

How has MKSK adjusted to provide client support and meet project needs?

Tim: We adjusted very easily to remote working, since our network infrastructure to support this operations move had been in place for several years. By the end of the first week, of the lockdown, we were fully running and helping to assist and educate our clients with these new communications protocols. A portion of our staff has been remote for years, including working from home offices in several other states, so our ability to transition was pretty seamless. In fact, you could say that we have been able to service our clients more effectively, as we have eliminated travel time to and from work, meetings, and public events.

In some ways we are more efficient because of how we are all connected. We are also getting more skilled/astute, as are our clients, to remote forms of communication and collaboration. Our Planners, for example, are getting very experienced with virtual working meetings, interactive virtual workshops, public meeting websites, and helping our clients navigate these different platforms. In addition, on the public meeting front, our clients are experiencing higher participation rates because of the ease of connectivity and there is no travel time involved. Communities that were already publicly posting meetings are getting a better turnout because of hosting them virtually. Clearly these methodologies will find their way into everyday business practices as we return to pre-pandemic operations.

The pandemic has become synonymous with working from home for many people. What benefits to the MKSK culture have you observed during this time?

Tim: The staff feel a much stronger connection between our different office geographies in five states. That has been, I think, the greatest benefit to MKSK’s culture. Zoom and Teams meetings have also allowed the personal lives of our colleagues to become more visible. These glimpses into home life have created a stronger community. Interactive web meetings often inadvertently bring loved ones into the workspace, so teammates and colleagues can meet the people behind the scenes of their working lives, the people they're inspired by, and who they're working for.

What have you learned as a Chief Operations Officer during this process?

Tim: Communication is absolutely key. You have to communicate more, and that’s with everyone: client, interoffice, subconsultants, colleagues, and most importantly your family. I think we’re utilizing all the communication avenues effectively (Zoom, Teams, text, email, phone calls). It is important now more than ever before to keep the communication consistent to make sure the project or a design detail is progressing properly and effectively. Everything else is really what we were used to doing already, practicing our craft.

Has this new work environment led to changes in how the firm will operate in the future?

Tim: This process has proven that we can work just as effectively in a flexible work-life environment than being in the studio for a set time, from 8-5 or 9-6, each day. There are also challenges that come along with that, but they are very few and can be worked around. As a firm, we plan to transition the flexibility of work-place and remote working into the normal work week. Long term, we plan to have that flexibility in place to benefit the staff so they can find a successful balance between their professional time meeting client needs and personal time meeting their family needs.

At MKSK we have always really cared about our employees a lot, but we just say it more, we’re so much more demonstrative about it now.