Kanban for small architecture studios: tracking client decisions, consultants and approvals
An architecture project is a long chain of dependencies. The client needs to approve the concept. The structural engineer needs drawings to run calculations. The planning application needs surveys, reports and fees. Then the authority takes weeks to decide. Throughout, the studio is drawing, revising and coordinating, often across ten or more projects at different stages.
Small studios usually have project management in someone's head, a spreadsheet and a lot of email. The question that matters every Monday is simple: on each project, who has the ball?
One row per project
Each live project is a row: "Garcia extension", "Mill Lane housing", "Café fit-out". Stages vary, but the dependency pattern is similar on all of them.
Columns that show who has the ball
- Mine: studio work: revise floor plans, prepare planning drawings, issue tender package
- Other: waiting on others, with names: client decision on layout, structural engineer's calcs, ecologist's survey, planning decision, contractor's price
- Next Steps: upcoming stages: detailed design, building regulations, tender
- Done: issued and approved
On most projects, Other is longer than Mine. That is normal in architecture. The point is to see it.
Client decisions drive the programme
Late client decisions push every downstream stage. Put each pending decision in Other with the date you asked. Axtio shows how long each has been waiting and flags anything over a week, which gives you a factual basis for a conversation about the programme.
Consultants and coordination
Engineers and specialists have their own workloads. Track what they owe you and, just as importantly, what you owe them, such as updated drawings. Coordination failures are usually a missed handoff in one direction or the other.
Statutory processes
Planning and building control timescales are outside your control. Put the submission and expected decision in the board so the dependency is visible to the whole team. In England, the government's planning guidance on GOV.UK explains determination periods and processes.
Studio-wide view
The value of one board for the whole studio is seeing patterns: three projects waiting on the same engineer, or two clients late on decisions in the same week. That helps with resourcing and honest client conversations.
See kanban for construction and renovation project managers and designers workflow.