Calling all Architects – Are your students stressed?

Students Stressed? What can you do to retain them?

In April 2016, it became mandatory that all public-sector projects are completed within a BIM framework.

Perhaps naturally, many practices leaned into the same resource to begin understanding and on-boarding these new, largely technological processes: the brilliant minds of the ever-savvy Part 1 and Part 2 students. Bursting boldly out of the classrooms and into your practice, these bright young things are eager for recognition; it seems obvious to leverage their symbiotic relationship with technology and save yourselves the legwork.

But is the industry asking too much of its students – and if so, what’s the impact?

A study undertaken by The Architects Journal, June 2016* reveals how the stress is impacting students. The main headlines were:

• 26% received medical help for mental health issues resulting from their course
• 91% have worked an “all-nighter” to meet a deadline and 29% do so on a ‘regular basis’
• 38% of students believe they ‘don’t expect to pay off their student loan’

So, what can you do to reduce stress, while keeping productivity up?

Looking into 2017, you’ll no doubt be expecting a lot from yourselves and from your students. When working through a large project, there sometimes aren’t enough hours to get it all done between 9:00 and 5:30 – meaning more time at your desk. But while long hours might be an unavoidable reality, perhaps there’s more we can be doing to make staff more comfortable:

• Ergonomic workstations – removing physical stresses increases productivity by 11%
• Remote/flexible working – proven to increase productivity and reduce sickness
• Device of choice – 81 minutes saved per-user per-week, when working following BYOD

We work with more than 30 London-based Architecture practices, and can help improve the working environment for you and your students – leading to a happier, more productive practice.

Get In Touch Now to find out how we can help you implement ergonomics, BYOD and remote working.

You may also like our helpful Whitepaper which tells you all you need to know about Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). Its completely free to download, just Click Here and follow the instructions on the next page.

*https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/mental-health-problems-exposed-by-aj-student-survey-2016/10009173.article