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By Mark Zweig | It is a basic human need to see one’s work go from start to finish, and leaders need to do more to empower their people with this perspective.

By Som Kundral | Leadership isn’t about standing out – it’s about lifting others up and making sure no one’s contribution goes unseen.

By Chris Catton | Recruiting is tough, but AEC firms that master the basics gain a serious competitive advantage.

By Mark Zweig | AEC firms today still struggle with the same old organizational issues that undermine clarity, accountability, and leadership.

By Mark Zweig | There are things you can do to stay positive and prevent pessimism from ruining your ability to lead.

By Mark Zweig | Non-responsiveness in professional settings can stem from various reasons but addressing it directly can improve communication.

By John Butt | The transition from being an individual contributor to a people leader is a significant milestone in a professional’s career – but it can also come with many challenges.

By Mark Zweig | Don’t turn yours into a joke by getting the wrong help and taking the wrong direction with revising your strategic plan.

By Mark Zweig | Sparkplugs are the people in your business who make things happen – and they are essential if you want to grow beyond what you alone can ignite.

By Mark Zweig | Anyone who is a design professional and who wants to get ahead is probably going to have to learn to be a manager.

By Mark Zweig | Limited office interaction, unclear business plans, and overly structured communication can prevent employees from understanding the firm’s big picture.

By Mark Zweig | To grow your AEC firm, identify and reinforce those who understand the company’s vision, and work to convert or replace those who don’t.

By Mark Zweig | Employees who decide to disengage and shift out completely do so at their own peril.

By Mark Zweig | Are your expectations for your people high enough, or are you letting everyone off the hook?

By Stephanie Putzke | As the AEC industry continues to push boundaries, the importance of building relationships has emerged as a cornerstone for success.

By Mark Zweig | If you take an honest look at people who are really good project managers, you’ll find they have some specific personality traits and abilities that lead to their success.

By Laura Nick | Four steps for building a strategic plan that supports a people-centric, talent-attracting culture.

By Mark Zweig | You don’t have to be a genius to figure out what you are doing to demotivate people; you just have to stop doing whatever it is now!

By Ezequiel Tovar | Firm owners must have a clear vision, build a solid culture, and celebrate achievements big and small to be good stewards.

By Mark Zweig | There are things firm owners can do to awaken the latent entrepreneurial spirit lying dormant in some (if not all) of their people.

By Mark Zweig | Being able to see things through the eyes of the people you work with and who work for you is one of the most critical leadership skills you can develop.

By Mark Zweig | Those who read your emails, letters, reports, social media posts, and resumes are all deciding how intelligent you are in large part from your writing.

By Mark Zweig | A lack of willingness to confront these things honestly has caused way too much frustration and unhappiness in the individuals who work in our organizations.

Zweig Group, is excited to announce a strategic partnership with illuceo inc., an expert in performance-based diversity, equity and inclusion

By Mark Zweig | Single-person management may be one of the single most limiting factors to any AEC firm’s growth.

By Mark Zweig | AEC firms must do better with delivering feedback and rewarding exceptional people, or risk losing their highest performers.

By Mark Zweig | Owning a firm that will be profitable and grow over time requires a longer term view and a willingness to invest in the people who generate the revenue.

By Liisa Andreassen | President of Davis & Floyd, a firm with more than six decades of experience solving complex engineering, planning, and landscape architecture challenges.

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 Mark Zweig | These are the practical implications of defining the culture you want and then making that a reality.

By Mark Zweig | There are many factors that can create highly motivated people – some within your control as an employer and some not.

By Mark Zweig | These are the most important qualities that decide who gets to move up as firm leaders, managers, and future owners.

By Mark Zweig | Know the pros and cons of both, and don’t kid yourself about the ramifications of either insisting everyone be there or allowing people to work remotely.

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

By Robert Speed | If you can make your culture about the employees, you and your firm will reap the rewards over the course of your career.

By Mark Zweig | As a business owner, people problems will probably be at the top of your “problems/opportunities” list.

By Mark Zweig | People who exhibit these qualities are likely to be well-thought of by their people and, more importantly, are able to achieve goals that others deemed impossible.

By Mark Zweig | This could greatly impact your firm’s ability to grow and adapt to a changing environment.

By Mark Zweig | While you undoubtedly have other responsibilities, one of your primary roles as a leader is assembling, maintaining, and motivating your team.

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 Mark Zweig | These three things are important to your firm’s success, but they may require a reallocation of your time and money.

By Liisa Andreassen | Vice president of strategy at Westwood (Minneapolis, MN), an awarding-winning firm that provides multi-disciplined surveying and engineering services.

By David Harvey | When well-trained staff are equipped with the skills needed to do their jobs well, everyone will reap the benefits.

By Liisa Andreassen | President of Grace Hebert Curtis Architects, an architecture and interior design firm that is still experiencing substantial growth in size and reputation after more than 50 years.

By Mark Zweig | This is a reality in our industry and knowing the typical issues faced by these people can be helpful to working with them.

By Mark Zweig | Four things you can do to build the kind of workplace over time that good people want to stay in.

By Mark Zweig | Improving this will not only help you attract and keep good people, but it will also bring in new clients.

By Liisa Andreassen | President and CEO of Cushing Terrell, a multidisciplinary firm that empowers creative designers to discover imaginative, responsible first-of-their-kind environments.

By Mark Zweig | If you want your business to be a multi-generational enterprise, you need to recognize when it’s time to step aside and pass the reins to your successor.

By Liisa Andreassen | They are the CEO and president of RDG, a firm made up of architects, artists, engineers, landscape architects, and planners with a passion for design.

By Mark Zweig | We’ve all heard about the attributes of highly effective people, but what about the habits of highly ineffective people?

By Pete Hinojosa | Professional employer organizations provide a comprehensive range of HR solutions and technology to help businesses gain a competitive advantage.

By Frank McIllwain | Companies that place a high value on listening to and investing in their employees have been more effective at attracting and retaining top talent.

By Mark Zweig | Marketing for AEC firms has come a long way in the last few decades, but we still have a number of problems that could be easily solved.

By Mark Zweig | There are so many positive aspects of this industry, and it’s important that we keep reminding ourselves and our people why this is such a great business.

By Mark Zweig | Business ownership can be one of the most rewarding things for any person to participate in.

By Liisa Andreassen | Chief people officer at HEAPY (Dayton, OH), a nationally recognized leader in sustainable and resilient engineering design.

By Mark Zweig | These are some of the most important qualities to look for in a potential business partner.

By Liisa Andreassen | CEO of Psomas (Los Angeles, CA), an employee-owned firm providing engineering, environmental, construction management, and survey/geospatial services.

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.

By Mark Zweig | What really makes people take responsibility for something and give it their all – to truly be accountable?

By Mark Zweig | Here’s what you really need to do to get more job candidates for any opening you have, increase your job offer acceptance rate, and speed up the hiring process.

By Mark Zweig | In the new year, remember that we're responsible for creating our own luck. You can start by focusing on these five things.  

By PeteR Atherton | Most of us have been taught to believe in projects and profits, but do we also believe in people and purpose?

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 Mark Zweig | Stop lamenting the labor shortage and start doing what you should to find and keep the very best people in spite of it.

By Jon Parrish | Getting everyone to think and act like an owner will result in more of your people making day-to-day decisions with the best interest of the company in mind.

By Mark Zweig | Here are 12 things you can actually change in your business that will help you win the talent war.

By Liisa Andreassen | President and CEO of CallisonRTKL, a global firm that has created some of the world’s most successful environments for developers, retailers, investors, institutions, and public entities.

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

By Laura Rescorla | We must work intentionally to remove barriers and provide opportunities in our industry for people of all backgrounds.

By Mark Zweig | Firms that can quickly fill any opening with excellent people have a major advantage over their competition in any market.

By Mark Zweig | How can we each achieve the lofty and satisfying position of knowing we have made a difference through our work in this business?

By Liisa Andreassen | President of Lawrence Group (St. Louis, MO), an integrated design, development, and construction firm using the power of people with great ideas to bring clients’ dreams to life.

By Adam Zach | Whether it’s by reading a book or going to a seminar, taking an active interest in your personal development could be the best thing for your career.

By Lindsay Young | This is our opportunity to get creative and bring in new ideas for our firms to get work.

By Mark Zweig | It’s great to be needed, but it’s not really where you want to be. The position you should really seek to attain is to be wanted.

By Frank Johnson | Be deliberate in identifying those who have the potential to grow into leadership roles, and help them develop the skill sets they need to be successful as future managers.

By Sara Parkman | Improved representation improves our ability to problem-solve, to be strategic with our strengths, and to think critically and comprehensively about topics.

By Mark Zweig | Look in the mirror and ask yourself if you are still doing what you want to do every day. Maybe now is the time to get really serious about your transition.

By Wendy Culver | ERGs to get your people involved to make changes from the heart of your organization, rather than being imposed from the top down.

By Phil Keil | Decentralization of structure within our firms allows for a more agile, adaptable, and unified organization.

By Leo MacLeod | Delegation is a sign of a mature leader. It allows you to focus on how you can contribute at the highest level given your experience and wisdom.

CEO and president of SEH (St. Paul, MN), a firm that’s simplifying the world’s complex challenges by designing better places, engineering clean water, and renewing infrastructure.

Through recessions and tough times, innovations explode as people are forced to slow down and think. Many are already working on the next big thing for their business. Are you?

By Mark Zweig | Marketing starts with identifying who your target clients are. Your entire business needs to be focused on them.

Through collaboration, mentoring, and continued professional development, we can continue to grow and support each other, no matter what the pandemic throws at us.

The texture of varying beliefs, values, and backgrounds inform how we see the world, and are at the very core of our ability to serve our clients and community.

President and CEO of Primera (Chicago, IL), a mid-size, full-service, woman-owned engineering design and consulting firm.

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

In an increasingly global marketplace, equity, diversity, inclusion, and engagement strategies will be integral to the success of your organization for the foreseeable future.

Managing principal at Inventure Design (Houston, TX), a firm that transforms the client experience in design and architecture by creating smart, human-centered spaces.

By Mark Zweig | There are 10 things practically every firm in this business should do but won’t. If you try these things, your firm will be more successful.

By Mark Zweig | “Being allowed to teach what I’ve learned about entrepreneurship and business to my students over my long career has been one of my greatest honors and privileges.”

By Mark Zweig | “Sometimes I think it is good to reflect back on all the lessons I have learned over the years. Here are a few that stand out to me.”

By Mark Zweig | Many owners fail to understand how much value they can create in their companies if they make the right decisions.

By Christina Zweig Niehues | Celebrate the present, and focus on extreme flexibility and radical empathy going forward.

By Mark Zweig | When people are demotivated they become negative and cynical, and can pollute the attitudes of their co-workers. And if they’re really demotivated, they may quit.

By Mark Zweig | If we care about the success of our people and our businesses, we cannot keep ignoring the importance of people skills.

By Mark Zweig | If we truly want to elevate our people and help them achieve all they can achieve, we must help them be better communicators.

By Mark Zweig | Now is a good time to take stock of the many positive aspects of our industry to help keep yourself and your employees motivated and directed in the midst of uncertainty.

Make your business more sustainable and build a loyal team by training your people to manage themselves and their projects the way you would.

CEO of A&E Architects (Billings, MT), a firm that believes all disciplines can live together within any given project.

Before you pass the torch, you need to make sure that your next generation of leaders is up to the task.

“For those of you running A/E firms – if I were you, I’d focus on recruiting in 2020.”

A lot can go wrong while establishing an office in a new market, but if you find a niche and hire strategically, you can succeed.

By Phil Keil | If you’re struggling to build a productive team, it might be time to take a long look in the mirror.

“If you approach feedback from the standpoint that you are trying to help your people – even if it is negative – most will appreciate you.”

“People who show any signs of a lack of character must be confronted and dealt with immediately.”

A successful sustainability plan should formalize your approach for continuous improvement and help you build on what you are already doing in three key areas.

The industry is in desperate need of future leaders who know how to talk with, and understand, their people.

“Square peg for a round hole? No thanks! My first preference is square pegs in square holes!”

Do you want to survive the next year, the next recession, and the ongoing reset of the workplace, the marketplace, and the recruiting space?

Do you want to survive the next year, the next recession, and the ongoing reset of the workplace, the marketplace, and the recruiting space?

Being cautious and reasonable about your growth plans is a smarter move than filling seats just for the sake of beefing up the org chart.

“There’s a lot to know about your people. And we have to keep updating this information because your people are constantly changing.”

“There’s a lot to know about your own business that you cannot know if you aren’t intimately involved with every detail of it at some point.”

“A lot of managers in AEC firms – design and technical people who have become managers – need to learn a few supervisory basics.”

“Always be recruiting! That has to be the mantra for anyone who’s an owner or manager in an AEC firm today because finding people is crucial to your growth.”

“Just as it is easier (and cheaper) to keep an existing client than to get a new one, so goes it for your employees. Keeping good people is essential to your firm.”

“People working in this industry can be sensitive. It’s so easy to turn them off – and difficult to get them going again – if you can!” The difference between making and losing money in...

“Should one design their organization and then look for the right people to fill specific roles on the chart, or should the organization be designed around the people the firm already has on board?” An...

“After devoting my entire career – since getting out of grad school at the ripe old age of 22 – to the AEC industry, I have had plenty of time to reflect on where we’ve...

When you look at principals of firms in this business who are really happy and successful – who have growing, profitable companies – you’ll see certain common traits that emerge. Here are a few of...

“Clients, co-workers, partners – they aren’t always completely forthright in their communications. Despite this fact, your success ultimately depends on understanding them.” If you work in an AEC firm as a leader or manager, it’s...

By Kyle Ahern | When I think about the people our society considers stars, I think of actors and athletes, not architects and engineers. That needs to change.

Picking the ideal business partner or partners is an inexact science, but a critical one nevertheless. The subject of how people find business partners in the AEC industry is one that is rarely discussed. Usually,...

In recently revising our own policy manual here at Zweig Group, it became apparent to us that we cannot have a policy that addresses every single thing that someone in our employ could do (or...

As it relates to the AEC “industry,” we all should know by now that those who can sell a lot of work are the people who rise to the top of their firms, have the...

You know, the A/E and environmental consulting business has always been driven by the technical and design professionals who do all the billable work. These are the people who toil away on client projects that...

Finding and keeping good people is the number one problem AEC firms have today. And it will get worse if any of the predictions are true about the demand for talent and the lack of...

While I am a big believer in promoting from within – it’s essential, really, if you want to have any kind of cultural consistency over time, not to mention that it’s more economical – it’s...

If that’s your justification for not having a marketing department, you’re either blessed with a super team of all-stars, or you’re kidding yourself. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had an architecture/engineering firm...

One of my theories about why A/E firms do so poorly with at-risk construction projects is we are just not equipped for the people we deal with in that “other” world. There are some bad...

Bringing good people on board is one thing, retaining them is another. Make a concerted effort to keep your personnel engaged. I recently facilitated a roundtable discussion. Never mind that the table wasn’t round. It...

Here is the full transcript of a great conversation that we had with Mark Zweig. He gave us a history lesson on AECWorkforce and the importance of an effective job board for the Design and...

Here is the full transcript of a great conversation that we had with Mark Zweig. He gave us a history lesson on AECWorkforce and the importance of an effective job board for the Design and...

When you think about it, management of the design process for a complex construction project is all about accomplishing things through others. Many different people have to come together to get something done by a...

It dawned on me the other day when we had to order new business cards and were reviewing job titles for our people in my design/build/contracting/development company that we have a big problem. It seems...

The workplace is at its best when teams are as close as tribes, but the only way to get there is to retain your talent. Retention is a growing concern, fueled by lower unemployment rates...

Did you ever hire someone who didn’t work out? Someone who effectively “fired themselves” by either refusing to accept your coaching and input or recognize the signs that they were in trouble and change their...

We often talk about compatibility in the context of marriages. Oftentimes, when there’s incompatibility, one spouse tried to change the other. We all know how well that works out! It rarely does. If people aren’t...

Getting people to do what you want them to do. This is what leadership is really all about. And it is never easy. Especially today in the A/E industry, where finding a job is not...

In spite of an incredibly healthy economy and high demand for AEC services throughout the land, there are still individual companies out there that are struggling financially for one reason or another. And inevitably, since...

Zweig Group’s research data shows us that fast growth/high profit firms have a higher number of hours in their average work week. It makes sense – more hours put in by salaried people equates to...

There's so much written about leadership training and developing better leaders in your AEC firm. But there's little information about how to become a better leader yourself. It's all about what you can do for...

Are you a “can do” person or a “can’t do” person? I’m sure that virtually all of you readers of The Zweig Letter – 95 percent of which work in privately-held A/E or environmental consulting...

There's so much written about leadership training and developing better leaders in your AEC firm. But there's little information about how to become a better leader yourself. It's all about what you can do for...

We just opened up our Best Firms to Work For award entries and it got me thinking. Making your firm a truly great place to work isn’t easy. There’s always someone out there trying to...

The thought occurred to me that some of our readers could benefit from a few of the lessons I have learned over the years – both on my own and from observing/working with a lot...

The thought occurred to me that some of our readers could benefit from a few of the lessons I have learned over the years – both on my own and from observing/working with a lot...

In the latest episode of The Zweig Letter podcast, we talk with Mark Zweig, CEO of Zweig Group about an article he recently wrote in The Zweig Letter dealing with paying your employees properly. ("Paying...

Sure – it’s hard to hire good people. There are lots of reasons for it. One of them is that we aren’t keying into the talent pool all around us. People in our network. People...

Outdated or “dead” contacts are a real problem for any company that has a marketing program that uses a CRM or Client Relationship Management System. CLICK HERE TO UPDATE YOUR CONTACT INFO WITH US The...

It’s time for a quick review of what firm leaders should – and should not – be doing. There are a lot of people with the “principal” title in A/E of environmental firms. But I...

Architect Mike Reynolds, founder and owner of an unconventional design-build company, uses recycled materials to construct a sustainable enterprise. By Richard Massey Managing Editor Mike Reynolds, the founder of Earthship Biotecture, rose from obscurity outside...

I love human resources people. Believe it or not, I was one of them once. I even authored the only hardcover book published on the topic for the A/E industry, Human Resources Management: The Complete...

Your ability to sell work is probably the most crucial skill you can have IF you really want to maximize your opportunities in the AEC world we all live in. Here are a few pointers...

Finding and keeping good people is getting increasingly difficult. Paying people properly – it’s one of those areas that is a constant issue for those who own and run a business – is essential if...

Subscribe to The Zweig Letter for free to receive business management advice from industry experts to your inbox every week! If successful people accomplish 20 time‎s what average people do, unusually successful people accomplish 20 times what successful...

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...

Troublemakers within a firm can do a lot of damage, especially if they are tolerated. Every firm has these people to some degree. The naysayers, the skeptics, and the gossips. These people are holding back...

By Mark Zweig | If you’re hiring people without these traits you’re doing a disservice to your firm.

More so than the everyday small business, organizations that aim to grow must employ specific types of people. Not every A/E or environmental firm is an entrepreneurial firm. But, if you’re reading this, odds are...

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...

Though most everyone on your team is important, there are 4 major positions that no successful firm can do without. Managing your business effectively means the business grows, makes a profit, and has good employees...

Inspiration is necessary for technical/design professionals and those who manage projects to be successful. ​I’ve been saying for years that having two tracks – one for managerial and sales people, and one for design and...

Westwood Professional Services (Eden Prairie, MN), a 350-person professional services firm, is the first place winner in the Integrated Marketing category of Zweig Group’s 2015 Marketing Excellence Awards for its refreshed brand. Clients complained that...

Sometimes negative thoughts can creep in; here’s why leaders should always try to maintain a positive outlook. Being positive – surrounding yourself with other positive people and believing you CAN do something – is essential...

Sometimes firm owners feign ignorance to avoid spending time, money necessary to achieve their goals. ​It’s been said before: “You can’t get what you want if you don’t know what that is.” Nowhere is that...

Today’s competitive market – and the fact that the best employees aren't necessarily looking for a job – means your digital footprint must be big enough to reach everyone. Creating a game plan for recruiting...

Are you getting all you need from HR today? Three suggestions from Mark Zweig. Human resources management often gets a bad rap. That isn’t without cause. In my experience, too many HR managers forget whose...

It may sound cheesy, but it applies to both personal and professional relationships. There’s so much written these days about how to be a great leader. It’s everywhere. A million ideas and things one should...

Ten characteristics Mark Zweig has seen in high-flying AEC leaders. Thirty five years as a student of human behavior – all concentrated in one industry (the AEC world) – coupled with an incredible amount of...

Your job is to instill harmony between those who thrive on change and those who prefer the status quo. After working with A/E firms for about 35 years, I have come to the conclusion that...

A test of your staff’s commitment to you so you know what to fix. Architects and engineers are seeing increased activity in the marketplace and firms are hiring. This is not news to most of...

Mark Zweig offers five things you can do to keep valued employees who just don’t see eye-to-eye. After working as an owner, consultant, and employee in A/E firms for more than 34 years, it’s interesting...

Mark Zweig reflects on the passing of a friend and employee, and offers six tips about forming a winning team. A week ago Sunday, one of my best friends, and also the lead carpenter for...

Mark Zweig provides 10 tips how to treat potential new employees right. One of the things we do at ZweigWhite is a limited amount of executive search consulting. Most people don’t really understand that. They...

Coach your staff on the small things that make all the difference and follow these four tips from Mark Zweig. So much of one’s success in the architecture, engineering, planning or environmental business has nothing...

Mark Zweig offers six pointers that will help resolve conflict inside the company. Professional services firms such as architecture and engineering companies are owned and run by smart people. I’ve said it before – as...

Habits that will make people not like you – yes, it includes always checking your phone. It’s been said before that for people to want to do business with you, they have to know you,...

Give recruiting the attention it deserves. Create a recruiting budget and follow these three tips from Mark Zweig. I have always wondered why recruiting is not a more prominent function in the majority of A/E/P...

There may be something missing in your firm after the recession, Mark Zweig writes. The recession of the last six- to 8 years has been hard on the A/E/P and environmental consulting business. Many companies...

Mark Zweig contrasts five examples of individuals best avoided. It has been said before that you “can tell a lot about someone by the company they keep.” It is such a true statement! Successful people...

Pent-up demand means more hiring, so here are some critical musts for attracting and retaining great people. July is a time for grilling hamburgers by the pool, packing everyone into the family Denali or minivan...

This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 998 Originally published 3/11/2013 Three lessons the design industry can learn from a successful auto dealership. I feel fortunate to be a consultant...

By Mark C. Zweig CEO, ZweigWhite Some could argue that human resources management has taken a blow in the past three or four years with such a soft economy. Many employers have probably felt they...

By Ed Friedrichs In a fascinating recent book, Fred Reichheld asks The Ultimate Question (also the title of the book), “On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to refer __________ (fill...

By Mark C. Zweig So many people today in this business are just getting tired of the grind. The last three years haven’t been fun— with more competition, reduced profitability, delayed or cancelled projects, stalled...

By Mark C. Zweig I thought it might be fun to reflect back on my 30-plus years of working in this business and assemble a list of fundamental laws none of us can get around....

Business is starting to get better and hiring activity is restarting for many A/E/P and environmental firms that have shrunk over the last few years. That’s good news for the economy and for some of...

I hear the question all the time: “How can we make good project managers out of our people?” The answer— like it or not— is, “You may not be able to make good project managers...

Over the years of working with A/E and environmental firms, I have run into those who will try to tell you that some managers are “too intense.” It’s as if these people are saying there...

Sometimes I think people in our business forget that the culture of the organization guides the behavior of its members. Sure— you can always have a bad apple who exhibits some crazy or bad behavior....

Getting new people productive sooner is something that everyone who owns an A/E/P or environmental firm should be concerned about. This is NOT a topic that only H.R. managers should worry about. Principals and line...

There’s a popular book out right now in the education field entitled The Global Achievement Gap written by a fellow named Tony Wagner, the co-director of the Change Leadership Group at Harvard University. I picked...

Turnover is costly. All of the human resources experts can tell you that— some could even give you the real cost of turnover for any specific position to the penny if you wanted it! Staff...

We all seem to spend a lot of money on training. That’s a loosely applied term. Many things fall into the “training pot” in a typical A/E/P or environmental firm. My anecdotal understanding is that...

When it comes to A/E/P and environmental consulting firms, the difference in profitability and growth vs. marginal performance and no growth is very little. But that “little” difference may just be how your people feel...

Lawrence Tunican was really starting to wonder what was wrong. Was the company he started nearly 30 years ago— Tunican Engineering— that uncool of a place to work? He could not hire young people any...

Just about every firm in the A/E/P or environmental business today has identified its number one problem as “not having enough good people.” Solving this ongoing problem takes a lot of hard work and some...

It seems like yesterday that I was “the young guy.” And that’s the last thing I wanted to be. I always tried hard to look and seem older than I really was so people would...

Just about anything you read nowadays for our business mentions the top concern of firm owners everywhere is finding and keeping good people. Finding good people is never easy. Nor is it the topic of...

There’s an old expression frequently heard around these parts— “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.” My experience is this one really applies to the people who work in A/E/P and environmental firms. Those who ask...

As the new year gets ready to start, most companies in the A/E/P and environmental consulting business are gearing up to hire. Sure— most of the needs are for experienced staffers— but, since there are...

I was talking with a woman recently who started her own design firm a couple years ago. Her passion for her work and her business was fantastic. She thought about it/planned/worked every waking hour. She...

A recent article in Fast Company magazine focused on Despair, Inc., the makers of calendars and posters that poke fun at those motivational posters from companies like Successories and others. The fact that Despair, Inc....

Hiring enough people— and the right ones— is where it’s at today. How well an A/E/P or environmental firm does this really is either an impediment (or stimulus) to growth. It impacts every area of...

It just doesn’t matter what type of business one talks about. Whether you are a housepainter, you sell window blinds, or you are in the architecture, engineering, or environmental consulting business— ALL of your clients,...

We all know it. If we cannot train a second generation of leaders who will be able to take over the firm and run it successfully after we are gone, we probably won’t see any...

For whatever reason— and I have seen it countless times— sometimes the work environment just goes bad. Like fruit that sits in the bowl too long, it rots, it molds, and it becomes intolerable. Just...

As anyone who’s read any business books in the last decade can tell you, Jim Collins’ “Good to Great” is a classic that will be talked about for years to come. In the book, Collins...

Let’s face it, the motivation of any A/E or environmental firm’s leaders is, in many ways, more important than the motivation of the staff. Because if the leaders aren’t fired up, how can anyone else...

When you do what I do you see a lot of smart people. Architects, engineers, planners, scientists … who own and run firms. Many of these smart people started their companies; others were strong enough...

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....

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...

Ask a CEO or managing partner of the typical A/E/P or environmental firm what keeps him or her up at night and you know what you’ll hear? It probably won’t be “selling work” or “getting...

In some previous articles we’ve talked about principals who are too involved and wreak havoc on budgets and schedules due to their last minute involvement on projects. But there’s another problem, and it may be...

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...

There’s an interesting article elsewhere in this issue of The Zweig Letter about the workplace of the future. It sounds like a fantastic design that the architects, engineers, planners, and designers have cooked up to...

It’s what we’re all looking for: young people that we can move up. And if we aren’t, we’re fools. Why would we hire someone, especially a younger person, who we don’t think has any potential...

Everyone says they’re interested in it, and there are all kinds of articles out there on the subject. How to attract and keep an outstanding workforce is clearly on the minds of many principals and...

When it comes to staffing your A/E/P or environmental consulting firm, it’s one thing to have all of your seats filled. It’s another thing to have those seats filled with people who are motivated— motivated...

One thing I know about smart people—they hate being treated like children. It’s insulting and demeaning. Unfortunately, we routinely see owners and managers of A/E/P and environmental firms who do just that to their employees....

If you want to build an A/E/P or environmental consulting firm that has lasting, sustainable value, this is where it is at: You have to get your primary revenue producers to see the forest instead...

We’ve talked about it for decades, but the labor shortage in the A/E/P and environmental industries is finally here. Our clients are telling us that it’s hard to hire just about anyone. Every job takes...

Most people would agree: Much in life works out like you expect it will. So why, if this is the case, do so many of the people running A/E/P and environmental consulting firms have such...

He’s a really nice person, a “people person.” He’s someone who deeply cares about other people. He’s a really good listener. He’s someone the employees will confide in. Does this sound like the ideal human...

I have found myself saying more than once recently that just about every firm (would you believe 80-90%+?) is looking for someone to work in their marketing area. Whether it’s a marketing manager, marketing director,...

As A/E/P or environmental consulting firms, we love to tell our clients that we can meet the schedule, stay within the budget, and provide high quality. Then under our breath, we mutter: “Pick any two,...

Believe it or not, some people don’t like the term “human resources management.” They think it diminishes individuals in some way, and by referring to “human resources” we might as well be talking about “natural...

Most A/E/P and environmental firms send their people to conferences. Whether it’s the annual event of a “peer” organization such as the AIA, ACEC, or NSPE, or a “client” organization such as the Building Owners...

The headline for this week’s editorial sounds like the title of a bad country and western song, but there’s a lot of truth in it. Maybe it’s human nature, but we don’t seem to appreciate...

We just got back from the 15th Annual Inc. 500 Conference and Award Ceremony held in Philadelphia. Zweig White & Associates made it onto Inc. magazine’s list of 500 fastest-growing privately held firms for the...

There’s a good article in the September 9, 1996, edition of The Wall Street Journal, entitled “How to Survive When I Take the Reins.” It’s in the “Manager’s Journal” section and was written by Albert...

One reason the A/E/P and environmental consulting industry is predominated by small, not-so-successful firms is that it has too many weak leaders. A firm can end up with a weak leader for many reasons. The...

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,...

Several times in the last few months, I’ve been asked to speak on the topic of what keeps people in A/E/P and environmental firms happy and productive. The first thing I always tell folks is...

Just about every A/E or environmental firm wants to grow. And there are a lot of good reasons for it. To paraphrase an old adage, “growth covers a multitude of sins.” When you are growing,...

I hear from a lot of disgruntled people working in support roles in A/E and environmental consulting firms— (“support” meaning anyone whose primary job function does not create revenue for the firm). I know how...

Management people are usually critical of technical people for their lack of business knowledge. But having a business degree is no assurance you know any more than the average design or environmental consultant about how...

In any number of surveys conducted over the years on what demotivates professionals in the workplace, “not feeling in on things” always ranks at or near the top. By “demotivation,” we are referring to what...

After countless management consulting assignments involving turnarounds and strategic business planning for A/E and environmental consulting firms, it has only recently become clear to me why so many companies in this business don’t believe in...