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By Julia Moroney | The real AI conversation in AEC isn’t about tools or speed, it’s about preserving trust, judgment, and accountability.

The value of this data extends far beyond the award itself – it’s something firms can use to guide strategy, inform leadership, and drive performance over time. 

By Melanie Carrido | Three decades in AEC show that while technology reshapes our work, strong communication and partnership still determine success.

By Steve Jarmon | AEC firms cannot afford to ignore cybersecurity leadership as digital risk grows alongside cloud platforms, data sharing, and remote work.

By John McGill | AI may speed up rendering and iteration in AEC, but human judgment still determines accuracy, compliance, and meaningful design innovation.

By Chad Coldiron | Like a perfect double play, high-performing AEC firms rely on preparation, trust, and flawless handoffs long before pressure arrives.

Zweig Group consultants and leaders regularly speak, teach, and participate in major industry events across the AEC community.

By Lindsay Young | Practicing interview presentations may feel like homework, but it’s what turns expertise into confidence and clarity.

By Matt Cooper | Software should reduce friction, surface better information sooner, and free people up to do higher-value work.

By Lauren Martin | Effective risk management in A/E firms starts with strong relationships, open dialogue, and engaging the right partners early.

By Mailena Urso | This year’s winners prove marketing done right delivers higher margins and stronger growth.

By Matt Cooper | These firms often rely on few clients, multitasking staff, and undocumented processes, creating volatility, inefficiency, and growth challenges.

GMB, a professional services firm focused on the education market, has acquired Richard L. Johnson Associates. This acquisition represents an exciting new chapter for Richard L. Johnson Associates and GMB as the firms combine their experience,...

By Justin Gough | Group captives can offer design firms flexibility, savings and control over employee benefit programs.

Zweig Group, the leading provider of management consulting, research, and education for the architecture, engineering, and construction industry, is thrilled to announce the 2025 ElevateAEC Conference & Awards Gala, taking place September 9-11 at the...

By Chad Clinehens | Honoring the firms building the future of AEC through culture, creativity, innovation, and smart growth.

By Greg Sepeda | By taking lessons from the dugout, we can better handle change – turning challenges into opportunities, and transitions into a winning season.

By Megan Valencia | Every employee plays a crucial role in recognizing and attracting top talent, shaping company culture, and ensuring long-term business success.

Entries are now open for Zweig Group’s 2026 awards program. For more than 25 years, these awards have recognized the firms, teams, and individuals raising the bar in the AEC industry. Think your firm has...

By Chad Clinehens | Firms that prioritize employee experience data see higher retention rates, improved collaboration, and greater innovation.

By Mercedez Thompson | As our industry and client expectations evolve, so must our strategies for winning complex, high-stakes project pursuits.

By Kyle Ahern | Recent survey data reveals a surprising dip in satisfaction among mid-career professionals.

By Ying Liu | Employee experience plays a crucial role in maximizing strategic outcomes.

By Ashleigh Powell | Building sustainability into an AEC firm requires passion, patience, collaboration, and a focus on business value and long-term impact.

By Duane Gaugler | It’s true that mentor relationships aren’t easy to find time for, however, the potential they offer is enormous.

By Liisa Andreassen | CEO of AE2S (Grand Forks, ND), a civil/environmental engineering consulting firm specializing in drinking water, wastewater, and water resources.

By Mark Zweig | Success in AEC hinges on guiding clients toward actions that align with their best interests.

By Chris Connell | Purpose-built technical report management technology in AEC mergers drives cost savings, productivity, collaboration, standardization, and scalable growth.

By Stephen Dominguez | Implementing these best practices will help your team get paid for their work and keep your project within budget and on schedule.

By Kyle Ahern | Firms that adopt these competitive strategies will be better positioned to achieve sustained success.

October 14, 2024 – Fayetteville, AR – Zweig Group, the leading provider of consulting and research services for the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry, is excited to announce the release of its latest report:...

By Chad Coldiron | Takeaways from Zweig Group’s 2024 ElevateAEC Conference & Awards Gala.

We’re thrilled to bring back one of our most downloaded episodes on the Zweig Letter Podcast! In this popular episode, a seasoned structural engineer, Scott Harvey-Lewis shares his unique perspective on leadership, innovation, and the...

  We’re thrilled to bring back one of our most downloaded episodes on the Zweig Letter Podcast! In this popular episode, Justin Smith, a distinguished leader in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry, joins...

By Hannah Dapore | Intentional strategies to uphold a strong company culture regardless of geographical boundaries.

We're thrilled to bring back one of our most downloaded episodes on The Zweig Letter Podcast! In this popular episode, host Randy Wilburn sits down with Burke Pemberton, the Chief Financial Officer of Stok, a...

By Dawn Landry | By leaning into our self-awareness to understand diverse personalities, we can transform challenges into opportunities for growth and success.

By Mark Zweig | Are you going to do anything different with HR or just follow the same tired practices of all the other firms you have worked for or compete with?

By Mark Zweig | Entrepreneurship is all about seeing and doing things differently from everyone else, so maybe you should be more questioning of the status quo.

Zweig Group is proud to announce the winners of the 2024 Best Firms To Work For Award, which honors outstanding workplaces at AEC industry firms.

By Lalitha Benjaram | This report allows firms to highlight their responsible business practices, community and sustainability commitments, and social innovations.

Zweig Group, the leading provider of consulting services, research, and education for the architecture, engineering, and construction industry, is excited to announce it is partnering this year with School of PE on its annual Best Firms To...

By Shirley Che | Engaging with cultural holidays in the workplace requires genuine interest, education, and inclusive celebration.

By Lauren Martin | There has never been a downside to reporting circumstances to your professional liability insurance carrier, but there can be a huge downside for failing to report them.

By Kyle Ahern | Best Firms invest in an employee-centric culture, organizational efficiency, and leadership development.

In this special episode of the TZL podcast, we feature an enlightening keynote speech by Harry Clark, delivered at the Zweig Group's 2023 Elevate AEC Conference. Known for his exceptional track record as a serial...

By Lauren Martin | If you find yourself facing a lawsuit alleging malpractice, here’s what you need to look for when considering an expert witness.

By Keyan Zandy | Generation Z can teach older generations valuable lessons about how they think and view their work.

By Morgan Stinson | Reading books across a wide spectrum of topics can help you develop the skills needed to calmly and confidently tackle the challenges you face as a firm leader.

By Liisa Andreassen | Board chair and CEO of Lochner, a firm that specializes in planning, environmental, design, construction engineering and inspection, and right-of-way services.

By Kyle Lawson | Modern chief financial officers have evolved from controllers to multi-faceted strategic catalysts.

By Mark Zweig | These are some of the characteristics of people who bring out the best in us and steer us to the “right path” for business and personal success.

By Javier Suarez | Participating in more tradeshows is not necessarily the best course of action, and you probably aren’t getting the best bang for your buck if this is your strategy.

Zweig Group’s 2023 Best Firms To Work For Award winners share how they’re leading the charge in setting new standards for employee experience.

By Chad Clinehens | This year’s ElevateAEC Conference is an opportunity for you to drive personal and professional growth.

By Katelynn Santiago | Successful adoption requires effective communication, testing, and involvement of all potential users.

By Mark Zweig | When you work in a crowded field full of many companies that do essentially the same thing, you can either be one of many or you can choose to stand out.

Zweig Group is proud to announce the winners of the 2023 Best Firms To Work For Awards, which honor outstanding workplaces AEC firms.

By Dathan Gaskill | A chief financial officer provides critical financial leadership, insight, and guidance to your firm.

By Liisa Andreassen | CEO of Verdantas (Dublin, OH), an environmental, engineering, and technical consulting company with global perspective.

By Liisa Andreassen | Design principal and CEO at Hanbury, a firm that is a global resource for its clients that specializes in higher education, civic, and commercial environments.

By Mark Zweig | Helping other people develop and be successful could be one of the most rewarding aspects of your career.

By Tim Dunn | If you want to hire people with diverse backgrounds and experiences, it’s important to understand them and provide a comfortable, motivating space for all.

By Lindsay Young | Becoming a great leader is a rewarding experience, but it takes time, training, and a lot of trial and error.

These are 10 of the most read columns that appeared in The Zweig Letter last year, but they represent only a small fraction of the content we released. Thank you to all of our contributors and readers...

By Justin Smith | Successful PMs use their skills to leverage tools, motivate actions, and accomplish objectives, which is the essence of leadership.

By Jay Kennedy & Julie Thiel | Be thoughtful in how you approach and manage your emotions, and you will find success building and maintaining meaningful client relationships.

By Kart Vaith | Provide added value to your clients and approach every project with an emphasis on building trust and exceeding expectations.

By Brock Hoskins | Express gratitude to those people who are important to you, and find ways to make that a regular practice in your life and throughout your company.

By Liisa Andreassen | CEO of MKSK, a collective of planners, urban designers, and landscape architects who are passionate about the interaction between people and place.

By Malory Atkinson | Challenge your marketing team to think beyond proposals and begin to work to strategically impact the entire client experience.

Scott Harvey-Lewis – owner and president of Building Mavens – discusses entrepreneurship, why he decided to start his own company, and what it takes to build a successful business.

By Amber Milot | Creating a recruiting culture and focusing on retention are business savvy strategies to help your organization continue to thrive in today’s job market.

By Liisa Andreassen | President and CEO of Manhard Consulting (Lincolnshire, IL), a civil engineering and surveying firm serving public and private clients nationwide.

By Liisa Andreassen | Co-founder of Juniper Design+Build, where award-winning design and advanced construction ensures beautiful and environmentally responsible projects.

By Justin Smith | Explore uncharted territory for the opportunity to access a more resilient future.

By Phil Keil | Strategic planning is an incredibly deep and nuanced practice that every firm needs to consider.

By Mercedez Thompson | It’s worthwhile to continue conversations around what marketing is and is not and why it’s critical to your bottom line.

By Kyle Ahern | Best Firms To Work For and Hot Firms continue to distinguish themselves in a highly competitive industry.

By Mark Zweig | It’s time to turn your firm’s HR upside down and make some big changes to your policies and practices.

By Lindsay Young | Best practices for AEC firms will continue to evolve, but firms that take steps to innovate will be the ones that succeed.

By Derek Clyburn | AEC firms and the industry as a whole should be communicating the value we provide at every level of interaction and throughout the design process.

By John Bray | There is no perfect buyer or seller in the marketplace, but how do you attract the best possible partner?

By Nea May Poole | Universities do their students a disservice if they leave their programs without a fundamental understanding of what the career they have chosen entails.

Zweig Group is proud to announce the winners of the 2022 Best Firms To Work For Awards, which honors the outstanding workplaces at AEC firms in North America.  These firms have been recognized for their...

By Heidi Blau | The hybrid model seems to be here to stay, but firms will need to strengthen their design, social, and professional development activities to keep their practices engaging. 

By Justin Smith | Write your project goals in ink and your plan in pencil, because you’ll likely need to make some changes and adapt your plan as your project unfolds.

Leading advisory and publishing firm for the AEC industry, Zweig Group, has opened registrations for an exclusive, in-person, leadership roundtable. This event will be held at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas, Texas, on June 23-24,...

By Julia DeFrances | With the right tools and some best practices, anyone can create a persuasive and compelling proposal.

By Justin Smith | When done well, this approach allows you to create a lean, flexible process that empowers your project managers to focus on maximizing value.

By Kyle Ahern | One of Zweig Group’s landmark awards has evolved into a powerful tool that couples celebration with data-driven change.

By Liisa Andreassen | Vice president of Morrison-Shipley Halff (Richardson, TX), a consulting firm with a passion for providing smarter solutions with a distinctly human touch.

Zweig Group, has released their suite of educational offerings for the 2022 calendar year.  The 2022 course line up has both virtual and in-person offerings and is designed for individuals working in nearly every job...

By Liisa Andreassen | CEO and co-owner of Pape-Dawson Engineers (San Antonio, TX), the largest civil engineering firm headquartered and exclusively located in Texas.

By Justin Smith | Training is an investment with big payoffs, so do your research when determining the best fit for your firm.

By Rob Hughes | Many design firms that adjusted their workplace to address COVID-19 face heightened exposures to employment-related litigation and related negative consequences.

By Ann M. Rolland | Even a slight shift toward more responsible materials is impactful and can effect change to the manufacturing industries and the products that designers specify.

By Justin Smith | Training opportunities that use the best of both worlds – science and experience – will bring your firm to the next level.

Zweig Group, a full-service AEC management advisory firm, announced its client TowerPinkster merged with Kovert Hawkins Architects in October 2021 to create a stronger and more geographically diverse design firm. Together, the firms boast nearly...

ByStephanie Warino | Examining the top 10 differences between leading and average Best Firms To Work For.

By Mark Zweig | If you truly want “best practices” for your firm, you need to look for real innovation versus following the pack.

There are several management areas where award-winning, fast-growth, and very high profit AEC firms stand out. Fast Growth, Very High Profit, and Award Winning firms have unique metrics. Zweig Group has just released a special...

By Stephanie Warino | Our industry can’t afford to meet the complex challenges we face today with a one-perspective approach.

By Mark Zweig | Whether or not the AEC industry experiences a ‘great resignation,’ there are some things you should do to keep turnover low.

By Sara Parkman | They are the senior principal and president of Genesis (Blue Bell, PA), a full service firm that delivers facilities for life-saving therapies.

By Lindsay Young | Investing a small amount of time and money to train employees on presentation skills could lead to millions of dollars of work for your firm.

By Liisa Andreassen | Managing director of Holst Architecture (Portland, OR), a women-owned architecture firm that is devoted to turning the ordinary into the extraordinary.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (May 21, 2021) –Zweig Group is proud to announce the winners of the 2021 Best Firms To Work For Awards, the largest employee experience survey in the architecture, engineering, environmental, planning, and construction...

By Stephanie Warino | To be successful, firms must find their “blue ocean” of uncontested market space.

By Mark Zweig | As design professionals and business managers, this is your only real path to business sustainability and personal freedom.

By Alexandra Pollock | With the vaccine rolling out and workers trickling back into offices, we need to determine what innovations we will carry forward and how we will continue to evolve.

By Rob Hughes | Enterprise risk management provides a formal process for firms to examine their critical risks in context, and implement cost-effective risk management and risk-financing solutions.

By Phil Keil | This will inform your strategy development and ultimately allow you to build a legacy.

By Chad Coldiron | Practice becoming a better communicator, and you’ll build better rapport and credibility with clients, colleagues, and just about everyone else.

By Mark Zweig | Answer these questions and many more, or you will, at best, be a decent copy of a firm or firms that do as well or better than you already do.

By Mark Zweig | Best practices may be safe, but they won’t differentiate your firm. Make these changes and your firm will stand out.

Marcia Alvarado from TRC Worldwide Engineering discusses how she got into engineering, how her modeling career organically grew, and why diversity, equity, and inclusion are so important to her.

By Chad Clinehens | This is an opportunity to immerse your team in the best thought leadership and best practices in the AEC industry.

The ways our businesses and facilities function in relation to employees and customers are bound to adjust due to COVID-19.

Zweig Group and OnStrategy Announce Industry Partnership to Offer OnStrategy’s Strategy Management Software and Process Management Best-Practices to the AEC Industry Fayetteville, Arkansas and Reno, Nevada (September 9, 2020) – Zweig Group, a leading provider...

President and senior principal of ICON Architecture (Boston, MA), a women-owned, SOMBDA certified firm that’s staffed over 50 percent by women.

Leaders of employee-friendly firms talk about recruiting, culture, and the importance of employee feedback.

COVID-19 has pushed leaders in the design industry and beyond to develop new strategies to manage an increasingly untethered workforce.

By Jamie Claire Kiser | Takeaways from a truly exceptional virtual discussion experience.

To get the most return on your marketing investment dollars, leaders need to help build dynamic, collaborative relationships between principals and marketing teams.

From training your staff to making sure your firewall is up-to-date, it’s important that you take action to protect your firm’s data, your clients’ data, and your network from cyberattacks.

Zweig Group has announced the winners of the 2020 Best Firms To Work For Awards, honoring the best architecture, engineering, planning, environmental and construction firms (AEC) firms to work for in North America. “With recruitment...

By Will Swearingen | In recent months, long-time issues like communication have been trumped by new challenges: loneliness, problems with technology, work-life balance, and distractions.

Innovators should consider following these best practices to ensure that what they believe to be their trademarks and copyrights actually are their legal property.

If innovators find themselves on the wrong side of these rules, the law may deny them legal ownership of what should have been their intellectual property.

Through solid communication, planning, and leadership support from both organizations, a smooth transition is under way.

By Christina Zweig Niehues | A good incentive compensation program needs to be carefully matched with the specific goals of your firm.

Thankful organizations will grow with engaged employees, loyal clients, trusted partners, and supportive communities.

President and CEO of ARM Group (Hershey, PA), a science and engineering consulting firm where the entrepreneurial spirit thrives.

By Chad Clinehens | Use these tips to achieve long-term results in a short-term world.

By Christina Zweig Niehues | Progress is slow, but the AEC industry is becoming more diverse every year, particularly with the newer generation.

“Being a leader means you have to keep growing and learning. We can all change. This includes you!”

Growth and relationship management software turn marketing into the catalyst for growth: The four best practices for winning marketing teams.

President and CEO of Barton & Loguidice, a full-service consulting firm headquartered in Syracuse, New York.

“We invite you to celebrate the industry while learning from its best-performing firms and leaders.”

Effecting a real-life leadership transition takes years of planning, and the ability to dismiss entrenched perceptions and past assumptions.

Prepare and execute a plan for balance and growth in the three biggest areas of your engineering career: technical ability, social skills, and stewardship of the profession.

Zweig Group has announced the list of speakers and discussion topics for the upcoming M&A Next Symposium, held on October 2, 2019 at the Green Valley Ranch Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. This highly interactive...

If you’re like the rest of us, your firm is busy. But as the projects and revenue pour in, so do plenty of problems that you’ll have to deal with.

The most successful business developers spend time with their clients, so show up and give them your full attention.

Add value, share work, respond quickly, and be open about your process to get more business and increase revenue without spending more.

In our industry, diversity and inclusion are dawning, so seize the day by incorporating an open mindset throughout your firm.

In the early rush to make our names in the AEC business, we often overlook the basic building blocks for a great career. As a younger engineer, I occasionally spent time doing the wrong things....

“If we know recruiting and retention are the biggest challenges and our employees are telling us that training and development are the solution, isn’t the investment in a training program at your firm worth it?”...

Why be a Best Firm To Work For? The Best Firms to Work For (BFTWF) award recognizes top AEC firms in the US and Canada based on their workplace practices, employee benefits, employee retention rates,...

Diversity and inclusion are good for your bottom line. To get the right people, you have to cast your net in the right places, and jettison the bias. It’s alarming. According to 100 percent of...

If your firm makes a sincere effort to learn, teach, develop, innovate, and improve, old and new hires alike will notice. As president of a 400-person design firm, one of my favorite activities is one-on-one...

CEO of Ware Malcomb (Hot Firm # 21 for 2017), a 440-person international design firm based in Irvine, California. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Succession planning has been an important part of our culture for more...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (May 23, 2018) –Zweig Group is proud to announce the release of the 2018 Best Firms To Work For Awards, a prestigious list honoring the creation of outstanding workplaces at architecture, engineering, and...

Working for many, many years in A/E firms as an owner, manager, employee, and board member, as well as serving as a consultant to thousands of more firms, has taught me a lot. I try...

Banish profit centers in small to midsize firms. Focus on your people by letting each do what each is best qualified to do. An engineering, architecture or planning professional services firm can be very successful...

In a recent article from The Zweig Letter, Mark Zweig shared his best travel tips amassed over 38 years of business travel. Either you know what you're doing, or you don't. There is no in-between....

By Scott Johnston | Time is a luxury AEC teams do not have. And time spent on a losing effort drains resources, morale, and bandwidth on existing projects.

A Note from Melissa Swann Events Manager My first year at Zweig Group reaffirmed my faith in the power of face-to-face communications. I developed an appreciation for the profound contributions that architects, engineers and environmental...

Talent and skill are essential, but keep a close eye on cultural fit if you want to avoid the mistake of bringing the wrong person on board. I was recently talking with a client who...

"Client satisfaction surveys" or "client perception studies" in the architecture, engineering, planning, and environmental consulting industry are about a lot more than putting a quick happiness rating on a client. When conducted correctly, these surveys...

President and CEO of VHB (Best Firm Civil #23 and Hot Firm #46 for 2017), a 1,400-person firm based in Boston, Massachusetts. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Bottom line, when it’s the right move, and when...

Participate in the Policies, Procedures, and Benefits Survey and save $320! The 2018 Policies, Procedures & Benefits Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning & Environmental Consulting Firms provides you with industry norms on policies and procedures,...

Leaders of employee-friendly firms talk about how being a Best Firm affects marketing, recruiting, and team building. The Zweig Letter: How has being a Best Firm To Work For helped you recruit and retain top...

Some people think of it as a four-letter word, but when accountability is backstopped by reasonable policies, it can make your business better. If there is one issue that I have heard repeatedly in working...

A/E firms with sound risk management may benefit most from a competitive professional liability market, and should take the opportunity to increase coverage. Design firms that practice sound risk management, have good loss experience, and...

In this episode of the podcast, Randy Wilburn sat down with Kyle Ahern, Zweig Group’s awards manager, to talk about the upcoming Hot Firm and A/E Industry Awards Conference and all of the awards that...

Sound like someone you know? "I wish I had received more business and financial training/education prior to becoming a principal." "My number one problem will be getting a proactive commitment from other principals at the...

The leading management newsletter for A/E leaders, The Zweig Letter, announced today that its site license, in which entire firms have access to the weekly publication, is available to subscribers for as little as two...

The leading management newsletter for A/E leaders, The Zweig Letter, announced today that its site license, in which entire firms have access to the weekly publication, is available to subscribers for as little as two...

You and your team need to have a global understanding of your firm so the right people are in the right places to best serve the client. This marks the first column I’ve contributed to...

If you want to boost your project profits, analyze past failures, and use that knowledge to craft winning estimates. We have all had projects that for some reason did not meet our financial expectations. Over-budget...

The acronym is PDB, not to be confused with PBR, the beer, or PBR, professional bull riding. Bone up on the latest method of project delivery. By some statistics, design-build accounts for some 40 percent...

CEO of HGA (a multiple Hot Firm award winner), a national, 750-person integrated architecture, engineering, and planning firm based in Minneapolis. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Our most successful proposals help the client visualize the journey...

🍀 Happy St. Patrick's Day 🍀 It's Your Lucky Day to Save some Green! To celebrate all things GREEN, from the environment to cash, Zweig Group is having an Irish 🇮🇪 Flash | Save some...

In this episode of the The Zweig Letter podcast, Randy Wilburn talks to Mark Zweig, founder and chairman of Zweig Group, about what you can do to make your firm a great place to work....

Should a hardworking mom be able to ring the bell at work but also pick the kids up from daycare? You bet! Our company culture at Affinis Corp. (Best Firm #15 Civil for 2016) is...

If firms employ these operational and financial strategies, their chances of weathering a downturn, regardless of how bad it is, will increase. Last week, June Jewell outlined five ways to insulate your firm from the...

If you want to drive traffic to your website and your brand, it helps – a lot – to be an expert in your given field. It’s true. The origin of your web traffic is...

This year’s event, as in previous years, featured a full slate of breakout sessions with dynamic speakers. Here’s what they had to say about the 2016 conference. “As our industry heats up, good people are...

A visionary rather than a command-and-control type of leader, Mike Sanderson has a musical side to him that some might find surprising. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent He doesn’t like the word “client.” He prefers “customer.”...

With a focus on renewable energy and environmental conservation, and a need to improve a vast and aging infrastructure, opportunity abounds. Things are going pretty well for nearly all these days. Those downturn doldrums are...

Ireland-raised David Spillane likes both the past and the future, kayaking in the sea, and doing whatever it takes to keep his firm nimble. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent Like many of his colleagues, David Spillane,...

Collaboration between centralized and decentralized resources is the ultimate secret weapon effecting success in any organization. To centralize or not to centralize. Is that the question? For years, leadership groups and marketing professionals across the...

The Zweig Group 2016 Hot Firm and A/E Industry Awards Conference on Sept. 22-23 at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix will celebrate growth and success. The Best Firms To Work for Awards honor the creation...

The Zweig Group 2016 Hot Firm and A/E Industry Awards Conference on Sept. 22-23 at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix will celebrate growth and success. The Best Firms To Work for Awards honor the creation...

When J. Peter Devereaux joined the Detroit-based firm in 1985, there were nine employees. Today, Harley Ellis Devereaux (Hot Firm #23 for 2016) has 324 employees and has undergone a series of evolutions. After working...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (July 5, 2016) –Zweig Group is proud to announce the release of the 2016 Best Firms To Work For List, a prestigious list honoring the creation of outstanding workplaces at architecture, engineering, surveying,...

My extensive observations on the AEC business tell me that the only training most of us do is catch-as-catch-can, luck-based training. There's no structure or thought or meaningful budget applied to it in most companies...

There’s a lot to evaluate, and measures can be severe, but if fiefdoms form, or if turnover is high, it’s time to take action. Are you frustrated because some of your teams, groups or offices...

Fayetteville, AR – April 20, 2016 — Zweig Group provided consulting over the recent HFA Architectural and Engineering firm acquisition of ALLEVATO Architects. The Northwest Arkansas based HFA is consistently ranked nationally in the top...

The 2015 Fee & Billing Survey was created with information gathered from an online questionnaire that required participants to answer questions about their billing rates, fee structures, staff chargeability, and billing practices. The questionnaire was...

The successful management of architectural and engineering projects in today's challenging environment is something of a science that has been evolving over the centuries. Project management has existed in some form for thousands of years,...

Klohn Crippen Berger (Vancouver, BC) – a 500-person international engineering, geoscience, and environmental consulting firm – is taking home first place in Zweig Group’s 2015 Marketing Excellence Awards in the External Newsletter category for its...

Conference confirms that when people like their jobs, the firm is usually more profitable; here are some things to consider. On September 3 and 4, I had the pleasure of being at our annual Hot...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (July 13, 2015) –Zweig Group is proud to announce the release of the 2015 Best Firms To Work For List, a prestigious list honoring the creation of outstanding workplaces at architecture, engineering, and...

Strategic cooperation among competitors can result in big gains for each firm and better projects for clients. I hadn’t heard of “coopetition” – a contraction of cooperation and competition – for a while, but it...

Here's another snip-it from the 2nd Edition of Successful Project Management by Ernest Burden. Many project managers are more comfortable with the technical side of the business. The marketing hat that firms are now asking...

Some firms want to stay small; here’s some advice for them, and they’re welcome to ask for more. Small firms … small businesses … entrepreneurial businesses: Are they all the same thing? No! Some firms...

Zweig Group's #1 priority is to make sure we have the best, most up-to-date, and most useful information and products. With this in mind, we decided to update our surveys and offer our clients a...

If vertical or horizontal expansion (or both) is in the cards for you, approach with caution. Business has been good lately in the A/E professions. Opportunities abound, yet many firms struggle with the question of...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (July 7, 2014) – Zweig Group is proud to announce the winners of the Best Firms to Work For Ranking. Since the Best Firms To Work For list began in 2001, hundreds of...

Having it is one thing; using it is another. Over the years we’ve received several inquiries for off the shelf QA/QC (quality assurance and quality control) plans and manuals – typically prompted by requirements in...

Good communication includes good writing. Everyone sort of scoffs at the English Lit majors in college – questioning the validity of such a general degree and wondering what sort of jobs those graduates land upon...

By Mark C. Zweig Founder & CEO, ZweigWhite We are talking more and more about the importance of good project management in boardrooms these days. There isn’t much more you can do to increase your...

Press Release: October 7, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (October 7, 2011) – It’s impossible for a firm to be successful without great employees, and to have great employees, a firm has to be an excellent place...

By Mark C. Zweig CEO, ZweigWhite The tough times haven’t gotten any better. If you look at the American Institute of Architects’ billing index, it goes up a little and then falls back again. Money...

Press Release: August 5, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (August 5, 2011) – The 2011 Project Management Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning, & Environmental Consulting Firms exposes a serious reality in the A/E/P and environmental industry. Firm...

Press Release: August 1, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (August 1, 2011) – Gibson Applied Technology & Engineering, LLC (GATE), a 30-person oil and gas engineering company based in Houston, Texas, is in the running for the...

Press Release: July 6, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (July 6, 2011) – The entire Chesapeake Bay — an estuary with a 64,000-square-mile watershed covering part of six states and the District of Columbia –is in trouble....

Press Release: June 29, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (June 29, 2011) – With the economic challenges that architecture, engineering, planning & environmental consulting firms have faced in recent years, effective project management skills remain a crucial...

Press Release: June 17, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (June 17, 2011) – ZweigWhite is proud to announce the addition of Stephen C. Evans, AIA, NCARB, as the firm’s new director, Operations Consulting. Evans is the current...

Press Release: June 3, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (June 3, 2011) – When comparing 2011 with 2010, salaries for full-time practicing structural engineers have remained relatively stable. Last year, the median annual salary increased slightly from...

Press Release: March 16, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (March 16, 2011) — The design-bid-build delivery method may still rule the construction industry, but it is quickly loosing favor. In the March 14 issue of The Zweig...

By Christine Brack, PMP A few weeks ago, I was talking to a client about his firm’s project management practices, its managers, and systems, and… eventually we began discussing the challenges and frustrations he was...

By Mark C. Zweig It’s funny how firms in our business— many of which have been around for 20, 30, 40 or more years— can get to a certain level and then start to let...

I have worked on a lot of presentations over the last 30 years— and helped sell everything from seismic retrofitting for the Golden Gate Bridge to a three-day design charette. Along the way, I have...

I have written many times in the pages of The Zweig Letter about the importance of open book management (sharing the financials with everyone in the firm). It’s much more than a buzzword. It’s the...

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,...

Start talking about marketing these days, and eventually the conversation will get around to positioning. We use that term— positioning— constantly ourselves here at ZweigWhite. In simple terms, it means making your firm the expert...

Designers, by all rights, should be fantastic managers. They understand how important motivation is to creativity. They are tuned in to context and are good at seeking input from others. They know how sensitive people...

As hard as it may seem to believe, 1999 is already wrapping up. We’re into the last quarter of the year now. Over the next couple of months, many A/E/P and environmental firms will be...

With the tight market labor, Gen-X employee turnover, inefficiency from internal competition, and record backlogs of project work to be completed, it may be time to take a hard look at your compensation policies and...

Here’s a collection of practical advice I think anyone in the A/E/P or environmental consulting business can use in response to questions that seem come up over and over again: Where can I find someone...

The experts will say “You have to learn to delegate if you are going to be an effective manager.” On this point, conventional wisdom is actually right. Delegation is critical to your ability to get...

Practically any firm that makes money in the A/E/P or environmental business does so by getting a superhuman effort out of its staff. You just can’t do it with everyone working only 40 hours a...

It is widely accepted that any well-managed A/E/P or environmental consulting firm should monitor and report on the profitability of the projects it undertakes. Pick up practically any management newsletter, or look in the practice...

Twenty contacts per month! To know why we have a problem selling services in the A/E/P and environmental consulting business, look no further than the goals we lay out for our marketing and business development...