The project is handed over. The team gets a thank-you. Someone organises drinks.<\/p>\n
Then, a few weeks later, one of your strongest people resigns.<\/p>\n
It can feel unexpected. They stayed through the difficult stages, solved problems and helped get the project over the line. Surely that meant they were committed?<\/p>\n
They may have been deeply committed to delivering the project. Whether they could see a future with the business is a different question.<\/p>\n
For architecture practices and construction companies, that distinction deserves more attention.<\/p>\n
A project has a programme, milestones and a clear definition of success. Can your employees see the same clarity in their careers?<\/strong><\/p>\n There is a natural point at the end of a project when someone can pause and ask: What do I want next?<\/em><\/p>\n An architect may have stayed to see their design built. A Contract Administrator may have wanted to finish the job alongside a team they respected. A Project Manager may have felt responsible for getting everyone through a demanding delivery period.<\/p>\n That sense of responsibility can keep someone in place while questions about their future remain unresolved.<\/p>\n Once the project finishes, those questions become harder to put off:<\/p>\n Employers should treat completion as a foreseeable career decision point. It is an opportunity to have a meaningful conversation before the employee makes that decision alone.<\/p>\n Resourcing decisions understandably start with business needs. A project requires someone capable, available and trusted to deliver.<\/p>\n But repeatedly allocating your strongest people to whatever needs fixing can create an unintended career path.<\/p>\n Consider a Project Architect who wants greater client exposure but keeps being assigned to documentation because they are technically strong. Or a Contract Administrator who wants experience on a larger project but is continually moved onto similar jobs because they can run them with minimal supervision.<\/p>\n From the employer\u2019s perspective, these are sensible allocations. From the employee\u2019s perspective, being dependable may have become a barrier to development.<\/p>\n Before assigning someone to their next project, ask:<\/p>\n \u201cWhat will this opportunity add to their experience that the last one didn\u2019t?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n The answer does not have to be a promotion. It could be a new project sector, responsibility for a package, mentoring a junior colleague, earlier involvement in design decisions or more exposure to commercial negotiations.<\/p>\n If the next assignment offers little development, be honest about that. Explain the business need, discuss how long the arrangement is likely to last and agree on a realistic development opportunity alongside it.<\/p>\n A farewell lunch is too late to discover that someone has been waiting a year for a progression conversation.<\/p>\n Build a career discussion into project planning before the final delivery push. For a longer project, that could be two or three months ahead of the expected transition, with further check-ins if dates change.<\/p>\n Keep it separate from the usual project update. Ask questions that invite a useful answer:<\/p>\n \u201cWhich part of this project would you like more exposure to next time?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n This helps identify where someone wants to build depth.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat responsibility did you take on that we haven\u2019t properly acknowledged?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n This can uncover a gap between their formal role and the work they are already doing.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat would you prefer not to repeat on your next project?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n The answer might reveal an avoidable frustration: unclear authority, inadequate support, a difficult commute or an unsustainable workload.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you need to know about your next six months?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Some people want progression. Others need certainty about location, flexibility, workload or who they will report to.<\/p>\n Finish with an agreed action, an owner and a date. A good conversation loses its value if nothing happens afterwards.<\/p>\n Project timing is not always within an employer\u2019s control. Approvals move, tenders are lost and anticipated start dates slip.<\/p>\n The ACA\u2019s 2026 Pulse Check identifies maintaining a predictable pipeline and balancing workloads among the challenges facing Australian architectural practices.<\/p>\n That makes communication especially valuable.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got plenty coming up\u201d may sound reassuring, but it gives an employee little information they can use.<\/p>\n A more helpful conversation explains what is confirmed, what remains uncertain and when the next update will happen:<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re considering you for the education project, but the appointment is not confirmed. In the meantime, you\u2019ll support the current delivery team and work with the project lead on consultant coordination. We\u2019ll review the position together in three weeks.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n That is an illustrative example, not a promise every business can make. Its value is in the specificity.<\/p>\n Employees do not need access to every commercial detail. They do need to understand how decisions affecting them will be made.<\/p>\n Before discussing the next challenge, understand how someone is finishing the current one.<\/p>\n A person who has spent months managing deadlines, difficult stakeholders and gaps in the team may need recovery before taking on greater responsibility.<\/p>\n Ask what working conditions need to change. Review whether leave can realistically be taken, whether handover duties are properly allocated and whether the same workload problems are about to follow them into their next assignment.<\/p>\n Recognition matters here, too. Be specific about the contribution:<\/p>\n \u201cYour coordination work helped the team resolve those issues before they reached site.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n That tells someone their judgement and effort were seen. Follow it with an appropriate discussion about responsibilities, development and remuneration where their role has materially changed.<\/p>\n A thank-you should open that conversation, rather than close it.<\/p>\n A project close-out process usually records outstanding work, commercial matters and lessons learned. Add a short plan for each person moving off the project.<\/p>\n This does not need to become another lengthy form. Its purpose is to prevent someone\u2019s future from getting lost between project teams.<\/p>\n For larger businesses, it also helps ensure that development commitments move with the employee when their manager changes.<\/p>\n If your project is approaching completion, you can initiate this conversation too.<\/p>\n Prepare three things: what you contributed, what you learned and what you want to develop next.<\/p>\n Rather than asking only, \u201cWhat project am I going onto?\u201d, try:<\/p>\n \u201cOn this project, I took responsibility for X and developed Y. I\u2019d like my next assignment to give me exposure to Z. What options could we work towards?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n You may not get your preferred assignment immediately. But you should gain a clearer understanding of the possibilities, the constraints and whether your employer is willing to plan with you.<\/p>\n Some departures are natural. A fixed-term assignment may reach its intended end, or someone\u2019s ambitions may take them in a direction the business cannot support.<\/p>\n The preventable loss is the capable person who would have stayed if there had been a credible conversation about what came next.<\/p>\n Before your next project finishes, ask yourself:<\/p>\nCompletion gives people permission to reconsider<\/h2>\n
\n
Your next available project may not be their next logical step<\/h2>\n
Start the conversation while there is still time to act<\/h2>\n
Give people clarity when the pipeline is uncertain<\/h2>\n
Check what the project cost the person who delivered it<\/h2>\n
Put a people handover beside the project handover<\/h2>\n
\n\n
\n Agree on<\/th>\n Make it specific<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n \n Their contribution<\/td>\n What they delivered and the capability they demonstrated<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Their next assignment<\/td>\n What is confirmed, provisional or still undecided<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Their development<\/td>\n One capability or responsibility to build next<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Their transition<\/td>\n Handover duties, support and any agreed leave<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Their follow-up<\/td>\n A named manager and a date to review progress<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n For candidates: make your next step part of the discussion<\/h2>\n
Give people a reason to picture their future with you<\/h2>\n