One of the most important responsibilities for your Interior Design Project team leader is monitoring and crosschecking every step of your installation process.
At the beginning of each project, I personally assure my Clients that the end result of their Interior design project will be as they envisioned it! To make that a reality, the team has to be right on top of all the details.
Things can go wrong! You might think that’s a risky comment to make — but because your installation will involve, symbolically, a cast of thousands, the reality is that mistakes may happen. (Have to admit that sometimes the client may never know, because your team will usually fix a glitch before the client is aware there was even an issue.)
Do we sometimes have nightmares when the pressure is on, the paint is being painted or the flooring is being laid? Well, sometimes, and here’s why. Your Interior design team is very comfortable with their tried and true craftspeople, technicians, sub-contractors, suppliers, skilled tradespersons, installers and specialists. Key words: tried and true. It takes a leap of faith when new resources are brought into play.
We are always seeking and exploring new talent, professionalism and resources — no doubt! “New” simply adds a new layer to vigilance. Often a client has people in mind that they want to participate in their project development and production; and, that’s a good thing. New, or tried and true, your expert Interior design team should exercise stewardship every step of the way — and more so with new connections.
Need examples of sudden installation horror and panic? How about picturing your Interior designer arriving at your new space to oversee the installation of a unique and carefully strategized carpet tiles design that’s well underway. Somehow, the detailed layout model got lost in the shuffle, and the carpet tiles already in place were looking well beyond schizoid and on the way to bizarre! You and your Interior designer spent time and money developing a custom design for the flooring that would be both beautiful and unique. But, you are looking at a fiasco…
It’s not the right moment to go berserk, not the time to chastise installers! It’s time to identify where it went wrong, pull it all up, help the workers learn from mistakes, redo the install and accomplish all that while keeping the project on schedule. There are many, many other examples like the wrong paint on the wrong wall, the wrong chairs shipped to the wrong project, etc.
Not all errors are preventable. That’s why your professional Interior design team builds into the project flow chart the accommodation for possible delays. Projecting the exact time when all will be completed depends on several phenomena, all dovetailing according to prioritizations and coordination.
A perfect science it’s not! But teams and facilitators are only human (with the help a few new robotics, where possible these days!). So remember that the time and money you invest for installation oversight, punch list rundowns, crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s is more than well spent.
Robert Boccabella, B.F.A. is principal and founder of Business Design Services and a certified interior designer (CID) in private practice for over 30 years. Boccabella provides Designing to Fit the Vision© in collaboration with writingservice@earthlink.net. To contact him call 707-263-7073; email him at rb@BusinessDesignServices.com or visit www.BusinessDesignServices.com or on Face Book at Business Design Services.
