Posted by: Myrna Webber, Account Coordinator

With the recent news of a JetBlue flight attendant quitting his job in the most unique way and the media reporting a high average of employees unsatisfied in their jobs, one may wonder if there are any workplaces with a welcoming and friendly environment.  There is in Rantoul, Illinois.  It has been three months since I accepted a position with Taylor Studios and I continue to be amazed at the attitudes in the office and at the fabrication shop.

The atmosphere here is refreshing and it is a great place to work. There are no yelling matches or disgruntled looks and no one plays the blame game.  No one takes themselves too seriously and often laughter can be heard from the conference room.  E-mails are sent company-wide announcing that ice cream is in the freezer and if someone is making a trip to Dunkin’ Donuts you’re typically asked “Need anything”?  Late in the afternoon you can often find the designers throwing a Frisbee outside for a few minutes.  All of this is great but it’s not all fun and play.  Walk through our offices/fab shop and you will see dedicated employees working hard to make TSI the best design and fabrication firm in the industry.

In addition, how many workplaces can boast that they are animal friendly?  Betty’s dog, Inca, is here every day following her around.  You know when Betty is near by the sound of the dog tags clinking together.  If you need to concentrate, shut your door as our resident kitten, Plyboo, is running around.  She has been known to pounce on electrical strips causing  computers to shut down when she hits that on/off button.  Occasionally your computer mouse may disappear as she plays with the cord or she may grab your leg in order to hoist herself into your lap.  Hopefully, when that happens you know she is in the room, otherwise it’s quite a surprise. It’s really nice to have these animals in the office and it only takes a few minutes of petting them to realize that they are enjoying it here, too.

TSI is not fantasy-land and not every day is perfect. There are still deadlines to meet, project delays, and numerous other issues that can be stressful.   However, it is the teamwork, dedication, and attitude of the employees that makes TSI truly unique.

Curt Walker, Structural Models Artist

How long have you been with TSI?

9.653 years

What did you do before you started working at TSI?

Operations/Maintenance at Grain Elevator
Cut Trees
Made art

What do you do at TSI?

Build museum exhibits, silly.
No, really I’m involved with most aspects of the fabrication process.

What do you like best about TSI?

Variety of tasks, like-minded folks

What’s your favorite TSI project?

Probably Eli Lilly or the Pegasus or Audubon

Eli Lilly Sculpture

Why?

They’re most closely related to my personal type of work, just refined.  Felt like the type of work I was meant to make.

What’s something your coworkers don’t know about you?

Top Secret

What’s the favorite part of you day?

Depends on the day.

Taylor Studios has an awesome team.  Some of the reasons we function well as a team follow:

• We check our egos at the door.
• We have high integrity and trust each other.
• Everyone wants to produce a high quality product.
• We set goals and objectives.
• Each of us keeps an open mind and accepts criticism and input.
• We are respectful in our communication, yet encourage debate.
• We treat our teammates as trusted advisers.
• We hold each other accountable.

Today, I got an email from Matt Wiley, one of our Graphic Designers.  He was concerned that some of my tweets were not appropriate.  I had posted some silly ones that were probably more appropriate for personal tweeting versus company tweeting.  I often get in a hurry and tweet just to tweet instead of watching the quality of the tweet.  I appreciated his input and made changes.

We are pursuing a very large project.  This week, several of us presented to this potential client.  At the presentation, it was obvious we work well as a team.  After the client asked a question, one of us would start the answer then another would pop in and finish the thought.  It flowed smoothly and we conveyed that we have fun, are passionate about what we do and have an effective team.  I was telling Joe Taylor, the company co-founder, about the opportunity.  He said, “Well if you really want it, why don’t you make them an offer they can’t refuse?”  This morning I threw a brainstorm with Sam, Drew and Kara and we came up with a great idea to present to the client.

Our shop is very busy right now.  We are working overtime and people are on the road.  There are many upcoming installs.  The few weeks before an install can be stressful for project managers.  There always seems to be more details to figure out, more questions and more to dos.  When something goes slightly wrong it is easy to jump on the project manager and say, “Why didn’t you take care of this?”  For example, this week a subcontractor delivered a Great Blue Heron model that was not made to our specifications.  This meant Marc, our Model Shop Lead, had to spend a day fixing the model even though something else had already been scheduled for that day.  Jason noticed that everyone was asking why don’t we hold our subs, clients, vendors, etc. more accountable.  Jason knew this was not the time to add more stress to their plate.  As we often say, he reminded them to offer solutions instead of complaints and criticism.  With that perspective in mind, the team got down to business and came up with solutions.  We’ll look at what we could have done better at the lessons learned meeting we’ll have after the installs are done.

These examples from this week illustrate what good teamwork looks like.   My team rocks!

Tell us about a time when you saw good teamwork.

Tony Taylor, Metal Shop Lead:

How long have you been with TSI?

10 years

What did you do before you started working at TSI?

Industrial welding

What do you do at TSI?

Metals Lead, Safety Coordinator, & Jack of Most Trades

What do you like best about TSI?

The variety of our projects.

What’s your favorite TSI project?

Kenosha Public Museum, Kenosha, WI

Why?

We got lost and drove around rural roads with a giant Dunkleosteus “Dunk” on a trailer asking for directions.

What’s something your coworkers don’t know about you?

I don’t like my hands to smell like food when I’m done eating.

What’s the favorite part of you day?

In the morning, when I wake up our twins and 10:00 at night when I can work on projects.  (Like the ones here)

We recently bid a project along with 20 other firms.  Within a couple days, we received the bid tabulation sheet.  The bids ranged in price from $150,000 to $675,000.  Our bid was in the middle.  This was a fabrication-only project so each firm was provided the same drawings.  How could the bid amounts vary so greatly?  Some of the things I thought of were:

• Lower quality product
• Less service
• No warranty
• Lower labor costs
• More efficient
• Plan to change order for everything along the way
• Do not plan to follow the specifications they bid
• Materials are less expensive
• Different fabrication method

I decided to do some follow-up on jobs we had lost because of a substantial price difference (over $100,000).  I sent some of my staff on the road to look at our competitor’s work (see Jason’s recent post).  Some of the clients they visited were our past clients, so these clients were able to compare their experience working with us and their experience working with the firm that underbid us.  When the clients began talking about their most recent experience, they made statements that included:

• They did not meet their dates
• They did not involve us in the process (e.g. weekly phone calls, approvals, website posts of progress, etc.)
• They gave us samples of what they were going to produce and did not produce it
• They asked for their money without providing the deliverable
• They were on the phone during our meetings
• We asked them to redo it several times
• It isn’t what we wanted

At one of the sites we visited we noticed the other exhibit firm used a different fabrication method than we do.  In the coming weeks, we will analyze whether that is a more efficient method.  At this point, we do know it does not offer the opportunity for the client to critique the work along the way and the natural elements were not the quality we produce - from the species of trees to the undulations in the groundform to the transitions into the mural.

We talked to another client about the design process and whether they got the same level of detail in the design deliverables.  We were told our deliverables differed significantly.  We have seen the lack of detail in other designs.  Many lack even the simplest of measurements or the quantity of graphic panels.

As a company that has a foundation of being frugal and efficient, it can be frustrating to lose work to a substantially lower-priced firm.  We have a core value of high integrity and back up our commitments.  This means we will not buy the job and change order it later to make up the difference.  We will make it according to the samples provided, etc.

We will continue to conduct research and will attempt to show the marketplace the differences in deliverables.  When bids come back ranging drastically in price, there is no way the bids can be apples to apples.  If the project is awarded to a company simply because they offer the lowest price, one must ask how that firm can provide the same product and service as the other firms.

If you have chosen to work with a firm based on the low price of their bid, how was your experience?  Are you happy with the finished product?

What does good quality look like?  Don’t all companies say they produce quality products?  How does saying your work is high-quality set you apart from your competitors?

I believe that several factors go into making a product a “Quality Product.”  Some might say that quality means the product has to be built to last.  I would have to agree with this statement and is one reason we offer a five-year warranty.  I think attention to detail plays a role in quality.

I recently visited a museum that just opened a new exhibit.  As I was walking around critiquing everything and comparing it to our work, I noticed some things that I would never accept or approve from our fabricators.  For instance, there were brad nail holes in painted framing that were left unfilled.  These holes stood out and were very noticeable.

I also noticed unfinished cabinets doors.  The inside edge was left unpainted/laminated.  The plywood ply’s were easily seen given the uneven cut of the door.  (No, this wasn’t a design element or accent.)

I could also tell one particular wall was made of MDF given the lack of finish along the edges around an opening.  It looked like they didn’t sand the edge and just paint it.

Needless to say I was disappointed in the lack of attention to detail, but I left feeling good that we pay attention to those things.  I feel it is something that helps set us apart from our competitors and allows us to say we do quality work.  We fuss about the small stuff and pay attention to the details.

What does museum quality look like to you?

Posted by: Jason, Art Director

Mac Singer:

How long have you been with TSI?

A year and a half

What did you do before you started working at TSI?

I was in school at U of I for metals/jewelry and industrial design, during which time I worked in coffee shops and a bicycle shop.

What do you do at TSI?

Metalwork, models…I do a little bit of everything.

What do you like best about TSI?

I like the people and the diversity of work.  Also the joking around is a lot of fun.

What’s your favorite TSI project?

The butterfly at the Metamorphosis toddler garden at Albany Pine Bush

Why?

Because it was very sculptural.

What’s something your coworkers don’t know about you?

I ride an awesome motorcycle! (Well some of them know this…)

What’s the favorite part of you day?

The beginning and the end

Meet Amy:

How long have you been with TSI?

9 1/2 years

What did you do before you started working at TSI?

Freelance art.  I sold paintings (mostly abstract) to galleries, dealers, and interior designers.  I even had a couple posters made.

What do you do at TSI?

Paint - Models, Lifecast Figures, Rocks, Trees, whatever.

What do you like best about TSI?

I like that even on a bad day or when something goes wrong, you’re still talking about how to fix a giant caterpillar or whether the velociraptor looks “too scary.”

What’s your favorite TSI project?

Audubon Insectarium in New Orleans

Why?

Giant colorful cartoon bugs…’nuff said.

What’s something your coworkers don’t know about you?

The very first painting I did was graffiti.  I feel kind of bad about that now.

What’s the favorite part of you day?

6p.m.  By then, I’m usually home with Bob working in my studio on a quilt or some other project and watching The Young & The Restless.

I have talked with many business owners who offer incentives in some fashion.  I have also heard stories of how many of these have backfired or the owner is frustrated with the entitlement mentality that develops.  I will share my story.

Many years ago, one of my managers proposed an incentive he thought would highly motivate our sculptors on a particular project.  I thought it was a good idea and we presented it, in writing, to a few of our lead artists.  We told these artists that if they beat their time goals by 5% we would offer so much, if they beat them by 10% we would offer them a little more and if they beat them by 15% we would offer even more.  Beyond that we thought quality would suffer.  Their work had to be approved by our Art Director.

The project went very well.  The work was some of our best and the team beat their time goals by more than 20%.  As we had agreed in writing, I gave out checks to this small group of artists for the 15% bonus amount.  I had also recently given an end of year bonus that was quite large.  Right after giving out the checks the artists came into my office together.  They had checks in hand and demanded more.  I was shocked.  I thought I had been extremely generous.  I paid them more than our agreed upon salaries to do what their job descriptions required in the first place.  I had just given out other bonuses, too.  They took home several thousand dollars more than usual.  I, of course, said “no” to their demands and was hurt that they were not more appreciative of the extras I had given already.

On the next several projects, productivity and attitude spiraled down hill with some of these artists because  I was not offering the same incentive.  I assume they thought they should share in all profits going forward.  Of course, they didn’t think of paying for the losses and taking the risks, too.  Behavior really began to become unprofessional as time went by.  One of the artists wrote FU on the back of a groundform we fabricated.  Another took a knife to insulation in one of our newly constructed buildings.  Their attitude and behavior was shocking.  In the end, after several months, two of them were let go from the company.

I have never offered this type of incentive again.  Since then, I have read articles like the this one by Alfie Kohn that discusses why incentives don’t work.  Daniel Pink’s latest book Drive also discusses how some rewards do not motivate us.  Personally, I have been motivated by potential rewards.  For instance, I chose to study business instead of equine science, so I could buy my own horse.  Even so, I am still leery of offering incentives.

What motivates you?  Would you offer incentives?

Shawn Hensley, model maker:

How long have you been with TSI?

I have worked at Taylor for almost 11 years.

What did you do before you started working at TSI?

Before working here, I worked at Larson, another fabrication studio.  Their scope was geared more toward entertainment.  I was a foam carver there.  Before that, I worked construction while getting my BFA at the University of Arizona.

What do you do at TSI?

Here at Taylor, I’m a model maker.

What do you like best about TSI?

I enjoy making the larger models, such as the Audubon seahorses, GTMNERR manta ray and whale, and also the larger than life Audubon insects.

What’s your favorite TSI project?

The giant squid that I made for Bermuda was one of my favorite pieces.

Why?

Because it is such a mysterious animal.

What’s something your coworkers don’t know about you?

Most people know that I grew up in Tucson, but not everyone knows that I grew up in a junk (salvage) yard.  My dad would buy wreaked cars and either fix or part them out.