AART

AART is a Scandinavian full-service architectural practice with 250 employees across offices in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. They advise broadly within architecture, landscape, transformation and effect-based design - with the ambition of creating tangible value for people and society.

Background and need

AART wanted to strengthen the project culture and project leadership across the whole organisation. The ambition was to create a shared language, sharpen project capabilities and establish clear frames for project work - so as to increase the impact of projects, reduce wasted time and ensure wise use of resources in a day-to-day reality characterised by a flat leadership hierarchy and many disciplines.

The solution

In close collaboration with AART we designed and facilitated a series of tailored development programmes anchored in AART's concrete needs and everyday reality - both in Denmark and Norway, and later with the merger with Mangor & Nagel as a further starting point. Across all programmes, DiSC was used actively as a preference tool to foster reflection, communication and cross-disciplinary collaboration.

• Two project-leader programmes in Denmark. A foundational project-leader programme focused on creating a shared language, strengthening project structure and developing a more consistent approach to, for example, hand-overs from competition to design. The programme was aimed at new and slightly experienced project leaders as well as experienced architects without a formal project-leader background. For seasoned project directors and project leaders we developed and ran a masterclass focused on strategic and personal project leadership - including how to create safe, effective collaboration teams and lead in complex cross-disciplinary contexts.
• Workshops with the partner group in Denmark. Three workshops were run with the partner group to ensure a shared anchoring of the ambitions across the decision-making hierarchies. Here we worked on roles, mandate, responsibility and expectations, and identified both obstacles and important strengths to preserve.
• Cross-cutting project-development programme in Oslo. In the Norwegian office an internal programme was developed with participants from across the project organisation - from partners and managers to newly qualified and inexperienced project leaders. The focus was on strengthening the shared approach to project work, building better understanding across roles, and fostering mutual respect and effective collaboration.
• Project-leader programme in connection with the Mangor & Nagel merger. In connection with the merger AART wanted to create a shared project culture across the two firms. We developed a project-leader programme that combined foundational project-leadership capabilities with room to work with the uncertainties and changes the merger brought with it. The programme created a safe space for reflection and conversation about the difficult questions, and laid the foundation for a new shared practice.
• Development programme for the management layer. As a follow-up, a targeted programme was run for the management layer focused on strengthening the leadership space and securing a good foundation for the overall transformation. Here we worked on collaboration, values, preferences and differences in leadership styles - with DiSC as the central tool. The aim was to create a psychologically safe and constructive space where leadership could stand strong together around both day-to-day operations and change.

Outcome

As a result of the work, a sharpened focus emerged on communication and collaboration in phase transitions - particularly from competition to design - where better involvement and clear hand-overs are now prioritised. At the same time, understanding of the different disciplines' needs and perspectives was strengthened across the organisation, and collaboration was lifted both within teams and across leadership layers.

A concrete and lasting outcome was the development of Effektkompasset™

• a tool that emerged as a combination of insights from the programmes and research on effect-based architecture. Today, Effektkompasset™ is an integrated part of AART's projects from start to finish and is used actively in dialogue with the client to keep focus on impact all the way through the project.