We’re designing Seattle’s first office building to housing conversion since the pandemic. Read more…
Board & Vellum: Logo

Firm Culture

Strategic Planning: Charting the Course

Strategic planning is a process in which you identify your goals and how you're going to get there. Here is a list of the values and the vision that keep Board & Vellum humming, as of 2011.

Jeff Pelletier is the Managing Principal and Founder of Board & Vellum, an architecture, interior design, and landscape architecture firm in Seattle, Washington.
Jeff Pelletier
August 29, 2011

Strategic planning is a process in which you identify your goals and how you're going to get there. It is a smart decision for any remodel or construction process as it helps prioritize what you actually need or want from the frivolous bits and pieces that get added on along the way.

I've been involved in a lot of strategic planning in my career (for better or for worse) so when I started Board and Vellum one of the first things I did was sit down and write a strategic plan. Every month a little reminder pops up on my computer to re-read it to make sure I'm doing the things I set out to do. It's good advice for any project. Plow ahead but swing by a rest stop every now and then to make sure you're headed in the right direction.

The strategic plan for Board and Vellum is pretty simple but it helps identify the kind of work that we want to do, the kinds of clients we want, and the values that we have.

A lot of the content in there is interesting pretty much only to me (what kind of software I'm going to use this year, what hardware I'll be buying, what business strategies I have, etc.) but some of it, I think, is interesting enough to share. One of the things in ANY process, whether it be running a business, remodeling a house, planning a new store or office, is that you have to make sure you dive into it and keep yourself intact. The process can be nasty, quite frankly. If you remind yourself of WHY you got into this in the first place you'll be better prepared to stay the course.

Here is a list of the core values / drivers and my overall vision that I established early on to help keep my head straight. I recommend you do the same for any big project you have. You'll thank me for it.

As I remind myself every month, if I can stick to these reasons to keep working then I'm a damn lucky guy.

Would you like to read more from the team?

If you enjoy reading our blog as much as we enjoy writing it, that just makes our day! You might also enjoy a few of the related posts below. And, if there is a topic that you wish we would cover, let us know!

How a Philosophy of High Performance is Changing the Way We Work

Designing a home or building is one thing. Designing the work experience of your employees is quite another. But the design mentality we bring to our projects also allows us to adapt and innovate how we operate as a team. Though our firm has evolved over the years, our values have not, guiding us to adopt the philosophy of a high-performance team.

Five Ways You Can Create Great Work Culture

At the end of June, we attended the 2018 Seattle Magazine's Best 100 Companies to Work for Event, in the top 10 for small business for the third year! We are excited, of course, but it takes a lot of work to create work culture like this. Here are 5 ways we help cultivate our work culture.

What Does It Mean To Be An Integrated Design Firm?

We are an integrated design firm, but what (you may wonder) does that mean? And, specifically, what does that mean for your project and how it benefits you? Here is a breakdown for what it means for you and your project when the integrated design firm you are working with is us, Board & Vellum.

Check out our blog.

Considering a project? Or, just curious about something?

Send us your questions about design, architecture, interiors, landscape, LEGO rooms… Anything, really. We’re always eager to meet new people, and we’d love to get to know you, your project, and your goals.

Get in touch.