The Zweig Letter

In spite of the post 9/11 travel slowdown, it seems like there are more trade shows and conferences for A/Es and construction companies than ever before. As dutiful ZweigWhiters, we seem to get to all...

Buying and absorbing another enterprise into your own is never easy. A/E/P and environmental consulting firms may be especially difficult as they have very few assets. Aside from a good (or bad) name, some computers...

Let’s face it. The economy of the last couple of years has led to diminished expectations and in some cases, declining values, not just in our 401(k) plans and stock portfolios, but also in terms...

Right now may be the best time ever to go out and buy another firm. People are depressed, their sense of optimism is considerably dimmer, and many A/E/P and environmental firms are performing accordingly. That...

Fifty-eight-year-old Frank Gristleling was a strong leader of his firm. Other than a three-and-a-half year tour with the Navy from 1968 to 1971, Gristleling worked at Johnson, Smatters, and Tattersham (JST) since he started as...

As management consultants to the A/E/P and environmental industry for many years, we get up close and personal with literally hundreds of firms each and every year. Many of these are very successful companies that...

Everyone in our country seems to be worried about terrorists. Undoubtedly, there are some good reasons to be concerned. But maybe the trouble is even closer to home— like in your own firm. We find...

You know what? Turnover is not always so bad. Sometimes people just don’t keep up with the firm. There are all kinds of reasons for it. Maybe they got tired. Maybe they got turned off....

It is a sad day as I write this. I am at Boston’s Logan International Airport waiting for a flight to Dallas-Fort Worth so I can attend the funeral of my long-time friend and mentor,...

Some principals in A/E/P and environmental firms have roles that don’t require much travel. Some practically NEVER have to stay overnight on business. Others are gone all of the time— in some cases 20 or...

As you get your A/E/P or environmental firm ready for 2003, you may be patting yourselves on the back. The fact is that while overall, 2002 was not as good as 2001, a lot of...

The utilization data of A/E/P and environmental firms over the last several years pretty much proves that if you keep everyone overloaded you can’t help but be profitable. That’s easily accomplished in a heated market...

What a difference one year makes, huh? Things have gone from an employee-driven job market to an employer-driven one. Nevertheless, if you get out there and talk with the folks in the trenches, you may...

As the year winds down, it’s apparent that the majority of design and environmental firms are finishing up a year that wasn’t as good for them as 2001. Flattening out of growth coupled with a...

The older I get the more convinced I am that being a successful leader in a design firm is every bit as much an art as it is a science. You just can’t teach someone...

We just ended our most successful Zweig Letter Hot Firm conference ever. It was successful from three points of view— attendance numbers, attendance quality, and speaker quality. I won’t bore you with the numbers but...

A couple weeks ago I was down at my alma mater for a College of Business Advisory Board meeting. While I was there, I was asked to sit on a panel on business ethics. I...

It seems to me that the mega management consultants have gotten their comeuppance recently. Read your local business pages or The Wall Street Journal. Many of these firms are hurting as evidenced by revenue reductions,...

From time to time, we’ll hear from a reader who wants us to give more management advice specifically aimed at small firms. These people seem to think their small firm is different from a larger...

If there’s one issue that I see a lot of good A/E/P and environmental firms grappling with right now, it’s how to balance the need for high-performing individuals vs. having a cohesive team that works...

I am sitting here this morning, in our Natick office, staring at my computer. I need to write a talk for our upcoming Zweig Letter Hot Firm 2002 Conference and Celebration in Boston. I am...

If you ask me, one of the biggest factors contributing to poor financial performance, bad morale, and confusion about direction and purpose in A/E/P and environmental firms today is inaction from the company’s management. I’m...

Cultural alignment, i.e., getting everyone in the firm— especially those at the top—on the same page, is something everyone in our business can tell you is critical. Without it, decisions don’t get made, opportunities come...

Antoine Nicholas Smith had just started feeling a little better. He’d survived some tough times recently and come out smelling like a rose. After 9/11, his firm, Jones and Stern, tanked. They were losing money,...