The answer to growing your team is not “I just need to do more”.  That’s actually the best way to not grow.  Keeping the “to do” list on your own plate is probably the best way to stagnate growth.  When the “to do” list remains too large for everyone, there is a diminishing return on the effectiveness of your personal efforts and the team’s collective results.  Not only is the team’s effectiveness diminished, but each person’s work/life balance is most likely out of balance too, which benefits nobody.  So how do you grow your team?  Simple.

• Get yourself out of the way: Take yourself out of the mix.  Don’t make yourself the obstacle.  How can I better cast a vision on the goal or task ahead so others can accomplish the effort with me being less involved?
• Empower others: Don’t micro manage your team. How can you empower your team so they know they have full authority to do what needs to be done?
• Growth and development: Equip your team for success. How can you equip others to have the necessary resources to get things done?
• Servant leadership: Growing your team has to do with others, not with you. Don’t lead from the top.  Lead from the middle of the pack.  Be part of the solution.  How can you help the team get done what needs to be done?

The best way to grow your team is not to have you do more work, it is to train up others to do what you are doing.  If more team members are doing what you are doing, the team will be destined to grow while developing a sustainable organization that is well balanced and positioned for the future.

Growing every day…

N.K. BHANDARI is pleased to announce that it was recently awarded a five year term contract to provide Architecture & Engineering design services to the Federal Government’s General Services Administration Special Programs Division (GSA SPD) throughout the northeastern United States.  Projects for the GSA SPD involve complex design challenges that need to be delivered with an expedited schedule.  Project assignments anticipated for this contract will be located at Federal installations  including: Federal Buildings, Federal Courthouses, Land Ports of Entry, Border Crossings, and other Federal assets throughout the states of New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

Over 90% of N.K. BHANDARI’s GSA SPD design team is located in Central New York, with the potential to support almost 100 full time design team personnel.  The contract has the capacity to generate $100,000,000 in construction projects per year throughout the northeastern United States.

The N.K. BHANDARI team for the GSA SPD contract includes seven subconsultant firms from Central New York  (C&S Engineers; Holmes-King-Kallquist; CNY Elevator Engineering; Dwyer Architectural; Environmental Design & Research; Thew Associates), and three firms located outside Central New York (Faithful+Gould (New York, NY); Shen-Milsom-Wilke (New York, NY); Karagozian & Case (Glendale, CA)).

N.K. BHANDARI is proud to continue its longstanding tradition of providing service to the Federal government through the GSA SPD contract.  In the firm’s 36 year history, N.K. BHANDARI has provided services to the Federal government on 16 Indefinite Quantity / Indefinite Delivery (IDIQ) Term Contracts for seven different agencies on 455 projects at 145 locations throughout the United States.  As a firm, we could not be more proud to provide Unrivaled Service and Unique Results for the United States of America.

Aerial Image taken with NKB’s UAV

Documenting existing conditions can often times be difficult for Architects & Engineers, because the conditions are concealed, too high, out of reach, or outright unsafe to get to.  The question is, how can you see things that you cannot ordinarily see?  Technology.  Using technology to your advantage is the way you get the job done.

When posed with performing a condition assessment and preparing the design for the restoration of the steeple on the historic St. Mary’s Anglican Church in Liverpool, NY, NKB offered the use of our unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with an onboard high definition digital camera to document the conditions that were otherwise unobservable from the ground.  The conditions were too high and unsafe to try to get to with a ladder or lift.  By using our UAV, NKB could provide high definition still or video imagery of conditions on the steeple that the owner, design professional, and contractor could not otherwise see.  Having this visual documentation of an otherwise obscured condition is allowing the design team and the contractor to proceed with the design and construction activities on the steeple in an orderly manner.

The next big thing in Architecture and Engineering is not necessarily some earth-shaking new approach to re-invent the built environment.  The next big thing is how we as design professionals can use technology in creative ways to provide unparalleled service for our clients.

Using technology in creative ways to work for you.

Aerial Image taken with NKB’s UAV

Up close on a hard to reach spot using NKB’s UAV

N.K. BHANDARI is pleased to announce that it is the recipient of the 2016 Small Business Administration Excellence Award as nominated by the Onondaga Small Business Development Center.  All of us at NKB are both humbled and honored by this recognition from the SBA.  Honored because of who we are as a firm and what we have accomplished.  At the same time we are humbled, because there are so many who should receive this honor with us.

There are so many we are fortunate enough to work with day-in-and-day-out that should be recognized more than us.  These team members include every one of our clients, our design team sub-consultants, our business partners, the Small Business Development Center, the Small Business Administration, the former leadership of the firm (Narindar Bhandari and Jim Resig), and every employee of N.K. BHANDARI.

To all of the organizations and individuals who we are fortunate enough to call part of the NKB team, we extend our heart-felt thanks and expression of gratitude for honoring us with your gift, talents, and abilities in support of the firm.  Thank you.

Photo from the Small Business Excellence Awards luncheon on May 6, 2016. From left to right: James Conroy, NYBDC | Karen Livingston, NY SBDC Onondaga | Chris Resig, N.K. BHANDARI, Architecture & Engineering, P.C. | Bernard J. Paprocki, SBA

One of the current buzz words in the business world is “business ethics” or “corporate ethics”.  My assertion is that there is no such thing as business ethics or corporate ethics.  The term business ethics implies that there are ethics in the business world and ethics outside the business world, assuming that people act one way at work and a different way at home.  This is nonsense.  When it comes to ethics, a person or organization either has them or they don’t.  It is not compartmentalized into different portions of their corporate or personal lives.    There are no business ethics, only ethics.  These ethics are personified by the Integrity of the individuals who form the business in which they work day-in-and-day-out.

The character trait of Integrity is where the essence of ethics can be found.  While I do not disagree with the Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition of Integrity, which can be summarized as a quality that is incorruptible, sound, or complete; I do not believe this definition goes far enough.  Integrity is inseparable from the very character of the individuals who comprise every business with no regard for type.  Integrity is not a quality that someone has; it is a quality that someone is.  Integrity is the very nature of who we are and what we do day-in-and-day-out, whether it is at work or home.  Integrity is not a marketing campaign or a catchy slogan meant to garner comfort from our clients, stakeholders, or strategic partners; it is the essence of who we are.  I believe Integrity is exemplified in the following ways:

Integrity is being Trustworthy. 

Integrity demands a trustworthiness in all that we do.  Our efforts are to result in dependable, reliable processes and outcomes.  When Integrity is exemplified, consistent results are created produced and delivered.  Integrity creates strength and structure in the individual and in the firm.

Integrity is having Open and Honest dialog.

Integrity necessitates the need for open and honest discussions in every facet of our day.  Our intentions must be clear; confusing situations are removed through transparent exploration together.  Integrity gives rise to the highest level of collaboration which unites all stakeholders in the same process.  Integrity creates kinship and empathy in the individual and in the firm.

Integrity is being Candid, Authentic and Straightforward.

Integrity fosters the highest level of listening to and understanding of others; prompting honest communication without presumption.  It is following through with promised intention, which builds confidence in everyone you come in contact with.  Integrity creates mutual trust and loyalty in the individual and in the firm.

The very fabric of who we are as individuals becomes the essence of the organization in which we work every day.  I am sorry, “business ethics” is a misnomer; it is simply ethics; it is our Integrity.  A supremely simple concept, yet the very corner stone of who each of us is in our personal and corporate lives.

I am an architect. I have risen through the ranks, worked for various firms, own my firm and through my career have developed my own parameter for quality in the field of architecture and that is: Quality is defined by the client not self-proclaimed by the design professional. When most people consider Quality, they think of a product that is without defect or a product that serves its intended purpose. In my career, Quality is far more than that, it is also the service perceived by the client.

Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that Quality as defined by service cannot be attained unless each of these factors are achieved in the client’s eyes.

• Collaboration through meaningful participation from all project team members and stakeholders (both client & design professional).
• Stability by satisfying the demands of scope, schedule, and budget and keeping them in balance without one becoming excessive to the detriment of the others.
• Creativity: The design process brings into existence what was not yet known.  It takes real creativity to insert a not-yet-formulated design concept into the design process without disrupting a stable and collaborative project environment.  For me, the creative process of inserting what is not yet designed into the design process is the true worth of a design professional; requiring careful attention to detail and the utmost of service for the client.

When Collaboration, Stability, and Creativity are achieved to the client’s satisfaction, then and only then, is Quality achieved.