Even if you’re not in education, read on. There’s so much to learn from what’s happening in each of the different sectors ThinkLab explored in our latest hackathon: corporate, higher education, healthcare, and hospitality.
Interior Design Giants of Design data, analyzed by ThinkLab, suggests that work in the corporate sector is still down 13% since the onset of the pandemic, and with hybrid work taking hold is not expected to recover until 2027 (or later). This means we all should be looking to other verticals and newsflash — education is a bright spot.
This is the second article in a four-part series. Today we will focus on the education sector, specifically college and university planning and decisions. (If you’d like to hear more about the “analysis paralysis” in the corporate sector, please check out our article from last week, or stay tuned for our article on the healthcare sector next week.)
ThinkLab has recently conducted six months of research with decision makers for education environments, including Princeton, Texas Christian University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Rutgers, University of Illinois- Urbana Champaign, and many, many more.
This new research stems from a Design Hackathon, ThinkLab’s biggest research project of the year. This year, the topic was the future of customer decision making. While fascinating research from Gartner, Forrester, McKinsey and others cover the broader B2B world, ThinkLab data shares unique nuances of decisions specific to OUR industry.
But we don’t stop there. The goal of our research is to provide tools to drive conversations with your project teams as well as insights about how product and service partners can respond in new and innovative ways.
So, what are the biggest bottlenecks in getting to consensus in the education sector?
Rising Costs and — More Importantly — Volatility: The biggest challenge facing educational institutions is not just rising costs, but the volatility of these costs. ThinkLab poll as part of a multitude of their live events in three different cities; Chicago, New York, and Atlanta, a game of “would you rather” revealed consistently that 60% of decision makers said they would rather KNOW pricing was going to double than have hope it could fall (or also rise.)
Last year’s inflation surge to near historic highs created rising operational costs for many colleges and universities. Although inflation has leveled off, the higher education sector still feels the impact of elevated costs and ongoing supply chain issues. Consequently, many institutions are experiencing budget overruns and delays in campus construction projects. Developments planned years ago now cost significantly more, leading to budget shocks; especially for leadership not historically involved in the complexity of building projects.
Institutions are struggling to manage pre-COVID project volumes without the luxury of increased budgets. Add to this that many contract prices have doubled, prompting universities to rethink procurement processes and leverage their buying power in new ways. Many are considering (or already have) added cost estimator roles to their staff.
More Decision Makers: Higher education institutions often involve a large number of stakeholders in decision-making processes. This is not new, but has significantly intensified in the past few years. Universities, aiming to retain faculty and incorporate student input, face a consensus-driven but time-consuming process. The need to balance diverse perspectives adds to the delay.
Like many other sectors: as costs rise and project teams become more risk averse, this means more (and higher “level” within the organization) decision makers are getting involved. New ThinkLab data proves the average decision committee in the built environment has doubled in size over the past three years, mirroring the trend in corporate sectors.
Where there is pain, there’s opportunity. So, where’s the opportunity?
The education sector is experiencing the most pain in the early phases; including the internal planning phases and the design process. When asked for one word to describe why, many used words like “Budget” or shock. Any partners that can help them reduce this risk and avoid rework (especially later in the design process) will become indispensable partners.
While the largest opportunities for this sector really point to transparency in pricing and helping equip your internal champion in response, there was another opportunity that stuck out in our research on the education sector, the desire for more information. One in four end users in the education sector -higher than any other sector – conduct more research independently today before project initiation.
So, how do we seize this opportunity with our education clients?
To address these challenges, ThinkLab’s hackathon brought together thought leaders across commercial real estate, the A&D community, manufacturers, dealers, developers and more to “hack this challenge” with new ideas in three different cities; Chicago, New York, and Atlanta, which we share in detail through our podcast.
If you’re interested in learning more -or hearing quotes directly from the source- we invite you to listen in to the full episode, The Not-So-Hidden Culprits Behind Approval Bottlenecks, to explore some of the ideas that the teams brainstormed together. You’ll hear more on our episodes on healthcare, and hospitality in coming weeks, or you can always go back and check out our episode on the Understanding the Analysis Paralysis in Workplace Decisions. Happy listening!
About the Author: Amanda Schneider, LEED AP, MBA founded ThinkLab, the only research entity wholly focused on the built environment. She’s a respected thought leader featured in prestigious publications including The Huffington Post, Forbes, MIT Sloane Management Review, Interior Design Magazine, and more. She is a sought-after keynote speaker, and the host of the popular podcast, Design Nerds Anonymous. Join in to explore what’s next at thinklab.design/join-in.