After several years our website was in need of a refresh.
Shiro is still co-ordinating with Andrew on the final look while Tamara has taken some new photos to give us a fresh breeze.

For continuity here is a post from our favorite source at Civil Engineer celebrating creativity and people skills:

Our world has moved away from a mentality of flogging a donkey to get it to go faster. Education, Business and Technology have grown beyond trying to lead that beaten donkey with a carrot. Progressive methodologies and education tools have taken a leap forward in forward thinking. Business courses, business management courses, management courses, and technology and business type learning institutions are coming of age.

Apple’s new ‘the motherload has landed – campus’ in Cumberland, the USA, is a perfect example of that – in an era without Steve Jobs. Yes, and the building structure is completely round and creates more office space while allowing for more green and shrubbery in an city that is overloaded with old-school buildings and technology creators. If you are going to be successful as a manager in progressive careers and industries, any industry for that matter as we head towards the twenty first teens, soft-skills, people-skills and generating goodwill and good vibes are the only way to build your team. Here is a look at the essential management skills of our time.

· People are People. People are people, and why should it be we think they can be beaten orcajoled into performing better. Creativity and intellectual property are the future industries. It is these areas that generate new income and new fields. It is creativity driving them. People perform better when you look after them. If you can’t understand that you can keep beating your cart and donkey.

· All Communication has a Voice. Siri might have the voice of the new iPhone, but the sound of all communication; even the written word is everywhere, especially in our head. We are still typing and using text to communicate – Facebook is a perfect example of that. Whatever you write carries a voice. Are you really communicating properly? Or are you overwhelmed with your own concerns? Moods are reflected in terminology and nuance. Are you sounding pleasant and encouraging a team to do better? Or, are you in the 50s still trying to smack kids to remember their place? The key to managing is communicating, driving and encouraging a team – your voice says a lot.

· Adopting Technology that Works. Not all technology works. Not all new inventions actually help us to get a job done better or faster. Having the ability to evaluate and implement technology advances taking place will set you ahead of the rest. Windows 8 (released as an operating system for tablets entitled the Re-Creation of Windows), for example, is bringing about radically new ways of doing things while still looking roughly the same. Cloud, sharing and collaboration are not just new and fashionable words. They are a more holistic approach to developing a team.

· Feel Good and Spread Good. While communication has become everything, information technology and communications tools and devices are still only that, tools and devices. The people element to their use and feel, and the feelings we spread are still very real. In actual fact, those feelings are spread further, louder and more obvious than before, to more people. We need to understand we are doing more with more intensity, and we are getting better results. To reach the next level, we need to manage the feel we create. We cannot reach optimum with old-fashioned values of a dog-eat-dog world. Fear, loathing and spite are only generated when we don’t step-up and breed results. The best do what they do because they like to do it. Not because they have to do it.

Just like Microsoft asked us, “Where would you like to go today?” Old sayings are not old because they are new. We can’t grow grass longer and faster by pulling on it. Multiple credible research projects have shown, for example, flowers grow better when fed water and nutrients, have sun, and spoken to with care and consideration. Are you managing like a pro?