Every so often, it becomes necessary for principals and managers of A/E/P and environmental consulting firms to remind certain staff members that theirs is much more than a technical service business. It is a consulting...
We work for the owners and top managers of a lot of different A/E/P and environmental firms. While all those companies and their managers are different, they share one thing— they’re not happy with project...
If you’re anything like me, you hate to fire people. It’s at the top of my “least desirable activities” list, above even performance appraisals, collection calls, cold calls, and dental extractions. Most halfway-decent folks feel...
I get to see a lot of proposals and qualification documents from A/E/P and environmental consulting firms of all types and sizes. In most cases, there’s plenty of room for improvement. Consider the following: Length:...
Client-driven organization structures for A/E/P and environmental consulting firms are built around serving particular client types. Sure— it’s a popular management trend right now to be “client directed,” or “client centered.” But don’t think these...
Ask any president, CEO, managing principal, or managing partner if they really care about their A/E/P or environmental consulting firm, and they’d probably guffaw and come back with some sarcastic comment that might make you...
We’ve all either experienced it in our own firm or heard about one of our competitors going through it— what I’m referring to is a complete turnaround. Consider the case of one of our clients....
Everything you read on psychology tells you that we, as individuals, should each have a healthy self-image. It’s only common sense. Without a healthy self-image, we won’t live up to our career potential; we won’t...
A lot of firms in our business are going through some serious introspection. And if they aren’t, they probably should be. Change is occurring at an accelerating pace. Yesterday’s hot firm may be a dog...
Everyone in the A/E/P and environmental consulting business wants to be more “successful,” but I don’t recall ever seeing “success” clearly defined. It’s one of those good-sounding words that architects, engineers, and environmental consultants use...
One of the great things about the A/E/P and environmental consulting business is that it always provides you with a challenge. Right now, many firms are feeling particularly stressed— with a higher than normal workload,...
I thought about a headline for this week’s treatise along the lines of “Second guessers, naysayers, and negative thinkers,” or “No more excuses,” or “Let’s cut the crap.” But I decided that none of these...
A/E/P and environmental consulting firms have a huge problem when it comes to retaining their best and brightest people. It’s not unusual for us to get a consulting project with a new client, and to...
The long anticipated, talked about, and dreaded shortage of qualified people is here. Ask principals in most firms, and they will tell you that it’s very difficult right now to find staff— particularly engineers, geologists,...
Most A/E/P and environmental firms spend a lot of money just for the opportunity to make a presentation to a client. You send your technical/professional staff chasing all over the countryside, hither and yon, looking...
This is the time of the year that the majority of firms in the A/E/P and environmental consulting industry decide who gets how much in the way of pay increases and/or bonuses— in other words,...
Sometimes I think the owners and managers of A/E and environmental firms need a strong dose of realism. We seem to want to bury our heads in the sand to avoid the obvious, or wish...
“Leadership development” for our industry too often translates into another boring all-day seminar on liability reduction, or a weekend retreat with a soft-spoken consultant who walks us through “team building” exercises. We say we want...
This is the time of year that many A/E/P and environmental consulting firms hold an annual management retreat. The larger a firm is, the more likely it is to have a retreat. Typically at these...
We finally received notice a few weeks ago that Zweig White & Associates was selected for the Inc. 500, a list of the fastest-growing privately held firms in the U.S. It’s something we are certainly...
We’ve all experienced the joy of doing business with a company that acts as if their people like serving you. It really is a great feeling. Most of the time, it happens with businesses like...
Every A/E/P and environmental firm I’ve encountered that has survived over the long haul has periodically made a push to improve its profitability. All the growth in the world won’t do you any good if...
It has been said that the only thing an A/E/P or environmental firm can do in a presentation is “not lose the job”— meaning that the selection decisions are made before presentation time, and can...
Quickie Conference Review— This year’s PSMA National Convention held at the Red Lion LaPosada Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona, was the association’s best ever. It also marked the 20th anniversary of PSMA, which stands for Professional...
