Facing the Reality of Gender Equality

The lunch was framed by recent findings from IPSOS and the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, which revealed some concerning perspectives in Australia:

• 30% of Australian men don’t believe that gender inequality really exists.
• 43% of Australians feel that when it comes to giving women equal rights with men, progress has gone far enough.
• 39% of Australians think that men are being expected to do too much to support equality.

These statistics highlight the ongoing challenges we face in achieving true gender equality. For us at Total Synergy, they underscore the importance of our commitment to fostering a more inclusive and equitable workplace.

Insights from the Industry’s Leaders

At the event, Susanne Legena, CEO of Plan International, introduced the ‘Gender Compass,’ a tool designed to help leaders identify where different groups stand on gender equality—from ‘Trailblazers’ and ‘Hopeful’ to the more resistant ‘Moderate, Conflicted, Indifferent, and Rejectors’. Understanding these perspectives is crucial for driving meaningful change.

Author David Leser also spoke at the event, emphasising the importance of engaging men in the conversation about gender equality. He reminded us that everyone has a role to play in ‘leading where we have a chance to lead,’ a sentiment that resonates deeply with the values we hold at Total Synergy.

To finish the event, Julian Connolly presented an award and spoke about how Total Synergy can assist engineering businesses with project management, highlighting our commitment to driving efficiency and innovation in the industry.

Our team at the event included Head of Sales, ANZ, Lisa Robertson, Global Head of Marketing, Lizzie Babarczy, Account Executive, Julian Connolly and Business Development Manager, Leonard Lynch, As the main sponsors, we were not just participants, but active supporters of the crucial discussions that took place.

 

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Originally published in Architects Journal, 16 January 2024

This year’s competition, again with a prize purse of £25,000, seeks innovative design proposals to transform any non-residential site in the UK or Ireland into new sustainable housing. 

Concepts should explore how the current structure could be ‘upcycled, retrofitted and/or mined’ to provide a minimum of five homes. Submissions are encouraged to respond to the ‘housing ideals of people in their early 20s to early 40s’. 

The annual prize recognises the best of ‘transformative architecture of the home’. It is open to multidisciplinary teams featuring at least one ARB or RIAI-registered architect. Each year, three shortlisted teams receive £5,000 while the overall winner takes home a further £10,000. 

The award is named after architect, visualiser and Hayes Davidson founder Alan Davidson, who died of motor neurone disease in 2018. 

Alan Davidson Foundation director Marie Chamillard said: ‘Alan was always looking to the future, and he was true believer in the power of design to make the world a better place. He would have loved the idea of trailblazing with new design ideas to redefine the next generation of sustainable homes.’

Read the full article

 

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Originally published by Architecture Today 13 December, 2024

Leading members in the architectural profession gathered to discuss key challenges and opportunities presented by today’s construction market and what insights could be drawn that might point to future industry trends, challenges and opportunities.

Total Synergy’s commercial lead Miles Mitchell presented alongside economist and author of Brickonomics, Brian Green; and Director of Savills’ London residential development team, Tom Mann. Brian presented key insights on the relationship between construction and GDP and how that affects the overall performance of the construction sector, and how would architects face short term economic pain, but due to significant shifts occurring they could potentially reshape and restructure the built environment. Tom heavily focused his attention on the current state of the London property market which he expressed to be bleak with an uncertain future due to a ‘broken’ planning system and a shortage of housing.

Miles gave an inciteful presentation around the importance of adopting adaptable software platforms in order to have long term success. Miles sighted the evolution of digital platforms, from early CAD software to advanced cloud-based systems currently being adopted by practices and identified a shift towards practice management software like Synergy. Miles highlighted Synergy’s has key advantages including its capacity to navigate dynamic project scopes, timelines, and requirements, ensuring design integrity, while also offering flexibility in project resourcing, scalability through effective communication and tracking, and responsiveness for quick and accurate decision-making by project teams.

Read more – AT Business Breakfast: Prepping for 2024 and establishing a clear strategic direction

To keep up with the latest Total Synergy news, events and partnerships make sure you check out our LinkedIn.

 

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Our Total Synergy Head of Partnerships, Damiaan Van Zanen spoke recently in RIBAJ’s webinar ‘Practice Management: Setting the right fees’. 

The webinar  helps architecture practices to understand how they can use technology to harness their data and deliver more profitable projects.  

Damiaan, along with other key speakers from Jane Duncan Artchitects, NimTim Architects, Clare Nash Architects and Peter Farrell provide great insight on how architects can adopt the latest to drive business performance in order to create #moretimefordesign. Focusing on how software like Synergy can help businesses set and manage fees with confidence and accuracy by linking costs, overheads and salaries into plans of work.  

To keep up with the latest Total Synergy news, events and partnerships make sure you check out our LinkedIn. 

To watch the webinar, follow the link –  https://www.ribaj.com/intelligence/practice-management-webinar-setting-the-right-fees

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9 May, 2023, Sydney, Australia – Total Synergy, a global leading provider in business management software and solutions for architects, engineers and construction businesses has announced a new integration partnership with UpSheets, a cloud based platform that streamlines the management of Xero payroll, to make payroll easier, more efficient and accurate. The partnership allows Total Synergy clients the ability to easily send employee timesheet data from the Total Synergy platform to Xero Payroll). 

The integration will allow Total Synergy clients teams to seamlessly manage payroll through Xero, reducing the risk of errors and increasing the efficiency of the process. With UpSheets’ intuitive interface, users can easily upload data and manage payroll quickly and accurately. The platform’s automation features also eliminate the need for manual data entry, freeing up valuable time for project teams. 

As the AEC industry continues to evolve, digital transformation and the use of technology to drive business efficiencies and performance is critical. Total Synergy and UpSheets look forward to developing the partnership and bringing innovation and intelligence to architecture, engineering and construction design businesses and teams. 

“We are excited to partner with UpSheets to bring our clients even more value and help them streamline their workflow,” said Scott Osborne, CEO of Total Synergy. “With this integration, our clients will be able to manage their payroll more efficiently and accurately, which will save them time and reduce the risk of errors.” 

“UpSheets is thrilled to partner with Total Synergy to bring our unique platform to their clients,” said Ben MacDonald, CEO of UpSheets. “Our cloud-based solution empowers project teams to manage payroll with ease, and we are excited to offer our capabilities to Total Synergy’s clients.”   

Osborne adds, “We are committed to bringing innovative technology solutions to the global AEC industry and have been doing so for more than 20 years. We passionately believe that practices should adopt new technologies across their business to help drive efficiencies in managing businesses”.

 

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About Total Synergy
Founded in Australia in 1999, Total Synergy is a global leader in business management software and solutions for Architecture, Engineering and Construction design (AEC) businesses. More than 14,000 users and 800 businesses in 13 countries rely on Total Synergy for intelligent business and project management software and superior services. Built by AEC industry experts, for the industry, Total Synergy helps businesses to effectively manage operations to increase profitability and create more time for design. www.totalysynergy.com  

About UpSheets
UpSheets is a cloud-based platform that enables applications to rapidly integrate with Xero payroll and projects. With UpSheets, project teams can eliminate the need for manual data entry and reduce the risk of errors, freeing up valuable time for more important tasks. 
https://upsheets.com/  

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