It's a word you hear a lot. At Paul Downs, it has a very specific meaning. We use it to describe situations where we have a choice of how to accomplish a task, and that choice determines the quality of the outcome. In order to help our team make the right decisions, we've defined three aspects of Craftsmanship: in the Product, in the Process, and in the Person. Keep scrolling for a detailed discussion of each.
We work with a very wide variety of clients. How do we make sure that what we make matches their expectations?
• We will always meet a baseline level of attention to detail and exceed that whenever required.
• We will understand our client’s expectations and take them into account when we evaluate our own workmanship.
• We will manage our outsource partners and processes to ensure that their work meets our standards.
• We will ensure that our clients receive good value for their money.
Everything we do is an opportunity to demonstrate craftsmanship. We make sure that all of our systems, processes, and interactions are as carefully considered and executed as the furniture we make.
• We will understand who we are dealing with and what level of involvement they want in our process.
• We will identify the best solution for the customer. If we cannot provide that solution, we will tell them.
• We will make sure that all of our communications, internal and external, are clear, accurate, succinct, and complete. We will double check our communications from the client’s point of view. Do they have what they need to succeed?
• We will identify which design and engineering decisions require client input and which can be made internally.
• We will design our internal interactions to deliver the product we promised with minimal friction and drama.
• We will always identify which parts of the job are routine and which are new and require special attention.
• We will accept that a quality product is the result of a process with multiple internal checks, and that anyone in the company can ask whether the work is being performed to the correct standard.
Craftsmanship lives within each of our team members. We hire and train for the rare combination of talent and attitude that delivers the highest quality work.
• Craftsmanship lives in the part of the work that is under our control. When our efforts can be done well or poorly, when there’s an element of risk in our work, that is where our attitude and skills will determine the results.
• The quality of a project is the sum of the quality of the work of everyone who contributed.
• Your efforts should never subtract from the accumulated progress of a project
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