Hankins and Anderson, Inc. Headquarters: Richmond, Va. Number of offices: 2 Total number of employees: 150 Year firm was established: 1947 Total billings for last fiscal year:                           $28 million

I had the opportunity to open Hankins and Anderson, Inc.’s only branch office a little over a year ago. The firm had branch offices in the past. In fact, I served as a branch manager for the last one for about a year. That’s when I received my education on branch offices—mostly learning what doesn’t work. That office was a separate profit center that had its own technical management, markets, clients, and a very different culture. The only thing the office shared in common with the main office was the company logo on the wall—and even that was a cheaper version of the one at the home office. I remember the branch office getting a new phone system; it was the one the main office was abandoning because it needed a newer, better system. The main office referred to the branch office staff as "those guys in the branch office" and didn’t even know most people’s names or what they looked like.

So, when it came time for me as CEO to open a branch as a means for geographic expansion for the company, I took what I learned and tried a new concept for our firm: one office, two locations. I explained my vision by answering every question of how we would do something by telling people, "We’re going to do it just as if the office were on another floor in this building." The employees eventually started calling the new branch "the fourth-floor" (we reside in a three-story building).

Technology allowed us to carry out most of the vision of this fourth-floor concept. Our main office conference rooms are A, B, and C; the new office’s are D and E. We installed IP-based video conferencing between conference rooms A and D so we could all "sit around the same table" (both conference rooms have identical furnishings). We installed cameras on our desktop PC monitors so we could "walk-over" and have a face-to-face conversation with anyone in the company. We use a single computer network and extension telephone dialing between the various floors of the virtual one office. Extension mobility on our Voice-over-IP (VoIP) phone system allows our employees to be at their "desk," regardless of which "floor" they’re on.

One of the most successful keys to the one-office concept has been instilling the firm’s culture in that office. To do that, we require that all new hires spend their first month in the main office. This allows them to get to know management, their co-workers and supervisor, the firm processes, and the firm’s culture. We also assign a "buddy" to all new employees as a mentor who can show them the ropes. The new employees say this is one of the best things we do for them.

As a firm, we serve four federal government sub-markets almost exclusively. Our branch office is located minutes away from several of our military clients, allowing us to bring the entire organization to our client. Likewise, employees in the branch are just as likely to work on a project being managed from the main office. The branch office employees typically report to a supervisor in the main office. I believe it could work just as effectively the other way around.

Since this office is an extension of the main office, we do not consider it a profit or a cost center. We track staff utilization and other metrics the same as we do in the main office. Cost and revenue are allocated, when required for taxes and the like, on utilization and company-wide multipliers on direct labor.

After one year of full operation of this office, I consider it to be a successful model. We currently have 12 employees at the branch office with room for 20 (if we could only find them). The employees seem to like the arrangement, as is supported by our zero turnover rate in that office. We are expanding our market share in the area of the branch office since we’re now a 150-person local firm.

Having had first-hand experience with the "two offices" and the "one-office, two locations" models, I am a strong believer in the latter option. There were a couple of technical challenges along the way, but I think we have them worked out now, and we’re ready to launch in other areas as we continue our geographic expansion.

Michael W. Matthews, P.E., is president and CEO of Hankins and Anderson, Inc., a civil/structural/M/E/P firm that specializes in federal building engineering design. He can be contacted at m.matthews@haengineers.com.