How Clarc is saving X Studio Architects time

X Studio Architects, a small firm located at the B:Hive building in Auckland, New Zealand have had great success with their architectural practice and needed a tool that catered to their needs as a team. Here’s their story as told be associate director, Han Chen.

“Before Clarc we were using T-Sheets for time recording and whiteboards on the office walls to manage our projects but we were finding it quite difficult to keep track of all the deadlines and project stage budgets for all the different projects we’re working on. We were really busy which was great, but it was getting harder and harder to stay on top of everything. With the whiteboards I always had that nagging feeling that we’d forgotten something even when we hadn’t. I only want that feeling when I have actually forgotten something.

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On top of that, I was a little worried about what would happen if we had to go back into lockdown. Managing our projects working from home and without the whiteboards had been a nightmare.

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“We were really busy which was great, but it wasgetting harder and harder to stay on top of everything"

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”Clarc was the first time we’ve used a proper project management tool that lets you set project stage budgets and deadlines and manage all the different tasks as a whole. This made a huge difference. Clarc filled in all the gaps. The things we were struggling with before are a lot easier now.

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I remember the first Monday morning after we transferred everything over to Clarc (we moved everything over on the previous Wednesday). I came in to work and looked at a project that was at the top of my list that day and with only a glance I could tell where we were. The project overview screen gave me everything. Who was working on what, how far along were they, when the deadline was.

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I didn’t have to run around asking people where they were up to and trying to pull together a plan, I could see where we were, and I instantly knew which parts needed my attention and which didn’t. That has been a huge relief for me.

I haven’t actually sat down and worked out how much time or money we’re saving using Clarc but we’re definitely spending half as much time on invoicing as we were and I spend a lot less time running around the team finding out where people are with things. If I had to guess I’d say I’m saving about two days per month in total or just under an hour a day on average. We’re also a little better at staying on budget for project stages. The team have better visibility of how much budget they’ve used and have left and that’s been good too.

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I would 100% recommend Clarc. Knowing what I know now, it’s an absolute no-brainer.

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“If I had to guess I’d say I’m saving about two days per month in total or just under an hour a day on average.

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”The key to success for Han and the team and X Studio was to first identify the problem and the need for an adaptive solution. The solution of an all-in-one, collaborative project management platform was exactly what they needed. Since starting with Clarc, the team are able to take on additional jobs and work at an accelerated pace as they are no longer held back by admin tasks.

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“I would 100% recommend Clarc.Knowing what I know now, it’s an absolute no-brainer.”