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Design By Committee Strategy Resources

Larchinect

I'm wondering if the community here could share any resources (books, guides, games, ideas, etc) for working with committees?

We have recently been hired to continue work on public improvements design with a council appointed committee assigned to guide and oversee the design and implementation process.

We have worked with similar committees in the recent past with relative success, but wnat to improve our skills and techniques for guiding the committee and design process. Inevitably, there will be group input and charette-ing. I am specifically looking for ideas on how to effectively engage the group and lend a sense of ownership over the process while mainataining relative control over outcomes.

Again, any books, anecdotes, ideas, games, or strategies that have worked for you in the past are very welcome.

 

Thanks!

 
May 25, 15 6:51 pm
shellarchitect

no great advice here as I'm rarely in the room, but we always try to limit the committee's options and try to identify who the real "leaders" are

May 26, 15 9:12 am  · 
 · 
mightyaa

Yes, limit their options.  You have to figure out what makes them tick and where their passions are.

The rest is really salesmanship, glitter paint, and your ability to generate emotional buy in of the committee.  Doesn't matter how good your designs are if you can't sell them to a diverse group.

May 26, 15 10:20 am  · 
 · 
curtkram

if you can have them pick a single point of contact for you, that might make it easier

problem with design by committee is that different people end up with different passions, so people try to move the project in different directions.  if you can say 'what joe says goes,' then when those divergent passions push different directions, you can just say 'which do you want joe?'  and do it in email, and keep copious meeting minutes that will be sent to everyone involved for their approval, because ultimately somebody is going to try to undermine what's best for the group by trying to push their own personal agendas.

May 26, 15 10:37 am  · 
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JLC-1

Is the committee also paying for the work? I had one experience on a hotel/condo remodel and the committee was basically the HOA board; bad combo, wanted the best for the cheapest price and some ladies went as far as to try to sell us/themselves furniture, tile, etc. 

But in retrospective, I think we managed to move forward where it was important and gave them menial tasks, like picking the color scheme, lamps (not lighting), art for the walls, carpet, etc. while we finished the space. We all say it's "design by committee" but it really isn't, you are designing and they are picking what they like from what you allow them to pick. It all depends on the scale, everybody will have a say in designing a street market, but few would venture challenging a fireplace design or a stair railing. 

May 26, 15 11:18 am  · 
 · 
Lscapeisaverb

Public engagement is a tricky thing to manage. 

Remember that even if the committee is the client, they become individuals with different agendas quickly. Get the desired outcome of the organization paying for the work clearly established and then iterate based on that. 

It's tricky because you need to listen, so your tools need to facilitate that. This means you need to determine your desired outcomes for each public meeting and then construct the instrument that is most appropriate (eg. a roll of trace at every table may not  be the best solution).

To answer directly, look at frog design and ideo. Both have produced a number of toolkits for facilitating.

May 26, 15 12:46 pm  · 
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Larchinect

Thanks, this is all helpful, especially the Ideo/Frog Design toolkits.

May 26, 15 1:52 pm  · 
 · 
Carrera

The answer is Problem Seeking by William M. Pena, FAIA, retired partner of Caudill Rowlett Scott (CRS), the father of programming….used it through most of my career from $750 Million public projects, Downtown Redevelopments, New Urbanism Developments, even church committees, works beautifully….loosely based on Disney’s Imagineering as a way to bring all the stakeholders together to reach consensus and to instill ownership in the solutions derived from seeking the design problem.

http://www.amazon.com/Problem-Seeking-Architectural-Programming-Primer/dp/0843621729/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1432678534&sr=1-3

May 26, 15 6:25 pm  · 
 · 
Larchinect

'problem seeking' is a phrase I've used many times, never knew it was a book. Thanks Carrera.

All of the suggestions above are probably WAY overkill for what we are doing, but still applicable.

 

Thanks

May 26, 15 8:58 pm  · 
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