The Zweig Letter

Ditch the sleazy misconceptions. When you’re talking about how much enjoyment and pride you take in your work, and making connections, you’re selling. What sets you apart? That question is asked of all of us...

Autonomous vehicles are on the way, and when they arrive, parking decks will increasingly become obsolete, and will need to be repurposed. Cars that can drive themselves, using radar, LIDAR, and other imaging devices will...

CEO of The Thrasher Group (Hot Firm #77 for 2016), a 350-person architecture, engineering, and survey consulting firm based in Bridgeport, West Virginia. “By definition, a good project manager is someone who delivers. Period,” says...

Jamie Claire, Zweig Group's director of consulting looks at valuation from a merger & acquisition perspective: EBITDA is the most common valuation metric in M&A, but I agree with Warren Buffett - “When CEOs tout...

Will Swearingen Director of Research Zweig Group recently released the 2018 Salary Survey of Engineering Firms. This survey is published as three different regional collections: Northeast and South Atlantic, Central, and Mountain Pacific. Go West,...

Chad's very real, (although slightly less than serious) outlook on 2018... What will happen in 2018? The words “ solutions”, “creative”, “unique” and “innovative" will continue to be in the industry's most overused buzzwords in...

By understanding the various risks associated with P3s and taking appropriate steps to manage them, A/E firms can put themselves in advantageous positions. As our nation turns to the urgent need to repair, replace, and...

You’ll lose control of your office if you have no performance metrics, no accountability, and put employees in the wrong roles. The difference between leadership and management is quite substantial. Make no mistake, as a...

Now is a good time to make good on your 2018 work resolution to improve your team by turning the saboteurs into loyalists. The new year brings with it the opportunity for change, growth, and...

I have been traveling my entire professional career, and as much as I hate to admit it, that is 38 years now. I’m sure I could have flown to Mars or something with as much...

President and COO of DCI Engineers (Hot Firm #62 for 2017), a 320-person Seattle firm with offices in seven states. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Start early,” Heeringa says of ownership transition. “Make it a standard...

At all times, there can and must be all four seasons within a person and a company – tilling, planting, toil, and harvest – to create growth. The start of a new year always brings...

Clients have evolved, and if you want stay connected with them, you have to learn who they are, what they want, and where you fit. Change – a simple yet loaded word, particularly these days....

It can be harder than writing more, but oftentimes it’s necessary, so learn how to cut without gutting your message. When I started writing this column in 2004, the size limit was 800-850 words. Sometimes,...

“Quality” is an elusive thing. It’s like a moving target. One person’s definition of high quality could be completely different from another’s. For firms providing architecture, engineering, planning, or related services, it is really all...

CEO of Sullivan Engineering (Hot Firm #89 for 2017), a 20-person building envelope consulting firm based in New York, New York. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “We strongly reward autonomy and encourage each other to make...

Two New Awards for 2018 Both of Zweig Group's new awards will be given out to recipients at the 2018 Hot Firm and A/E Industry Awards Conference, held September 20-21, 2018 in Dallas, TX. Top...

President and CEO of Wade Trim (Hot Firm #76 for 2017), a 500-person multidisciplinary engineering and consulting firm based in Detroit. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Organic growth is going to become more difficult as recruiting...

At some point most of us in the A/E business come to realize that “close” only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. That certainly applies to winning projects that you go after! I’ve worked on...

If you don’t want scope creep and unforeseen expenses to ruin your profit margins, try improving your estimating process. You planned for your project to make 14 percent, but you end up with 8 percent....

Take a hard look at your firm. Is your operation lean and mean, or is it bloated with perks and unneeded extras? A friend of mine, an Austin-based land use attorney, grew up listening to...

Whether you realize it or not, they are your biggest competitive advantage, so train them, mold them, and set them up to succeed. Clients are great. They are your main source of revenue. Technology is...

The Principals Academy is coming to Sonoma, CA on April 26-27 1) Enjoy some red while learning how to keep your firm out of the red. 2) No reason to wine about getting your CEUs/PDHs....

We’ve all been there. Right in the middle of a crucial project, the project manager quits to go to work with a competitor, or somewhere else, and the proverbial bag of you-know-what lands in your...