The Power of Sharing Stories

John Held , 21 April 2020

ACA National President John Held invites members to share their stories, views and impressions on how to create better places to live, work and be.

Over the past few weeks I’ve heard the stories of many architects – the stress of losing work, having to consider the future of long-standing employees, concern about how government support may or may not help them, and concern for the future. Stories of the challenge of many now working from home, balancing family and work life in a very different way, while battling with technology and maintaining team cohesiveness. The ACA Pulse Check surveys gave a little window into the lives of practices around Australia.

The ACA will continue to provide succinct and relevant information about the nuts and bolts of COVID-19: changes to Awards, the details of Jobkeeper allowances and other practical advice. But what we’d like now is for you to share your stories. We have already compiled short stories from practices large and small, and would love to hear about the highs and lows of your practice. More importantly, to share stories with other architects – whether through virtual Roundtables, small group video links or even phone calls to check colleagues are OK. If you are not aware of opportunities to do that in your local branch, volunteer to help set up something!

To emerge from this time as a stronger, healthier profession, we need to create good stories around the value of what we do. We need to convince others of what we can do during lockdown, and how we can create the best value for society as we emerge on the other side. We should loudly debate the best way to construct stimulus packages, the best way to get our economy working for the benefit of all and how we learn from this pandemic and create better places to live, work and be.