I had the opportunity to open the firm's only branch office a couple of years 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 where I received my education on branch offices ' mostly learning what doesn't work. That office was a separate profit center, had its own technical management, its own markets, its own 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. Even that was a cheaper version of what the home office had. I remember the branch getting a new phone system. It was the one the main office was abandoning because they needed a newer, better system. The main office knew of the branch office staff as 'those guys in the branch office' and didn't even know most of their 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 are the ones who 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 were 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 desk-top PC monitors so we could 'walk-over' and have a face-to-face conversation with anyone in the company. We utilize 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. I often will call someone from a branch office phone to hear them see my extension and say 'I didn't know you were in today.' I usually respond with, 'yep, I'm on the fourth-floor.'

One of the most successful keys to the one office concept has been instilling the firm's culture in the branch 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. Our branch office was 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 considered it to be a successful model. We now have thirty employees there with room for fifty and have opened a 20-person office in San Diego using the same model. This larger distance has had no impact on the effectiveness of the model.

Having had first-hand experience with the two office and the one office, two location models, I am a strong believer in the later 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 continue our geographic expansion.

Michael W. Matthews, P.E. is President and CEO of Hankins and Anderson, Inc., a 200 person Civil/Structural/M/E/P firm with offices in Richmond, Virginia Beach and San Diego. They specialize in Federal building engineering design. Mike is also the current president of ACEC/Virginia and serves on the ACEC Federal Liaison Committee at the national level. He has a BS in Mechanical Engineering and is currently working on his MBA at the University of Richmond.