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By Mark Zweig | Non-performing partners create resentment, weaken accountability, and send dangerous signals throughout an AEC firm.

By Mark Zweig | AEC firms that want better marketing need to sound more human, move faster, and stop hiding behind safe, forgettable messaging.

By Mark Zweig | Early career success comes from reliability, responsiveness, humility, and a willingness to work harder.

By Mark Zweig | Work/life balance sounds appealing, but real careers and real lives are built through integration.

By Mark Zweig | Strong leaders address underperformance directly, clearly, and quickly before it damages culture, client relationships, and team morale.

The leading source of business management insights, research, and strategies tailored specifically for leaders of AEC firms.

By Mark Zweig | Market cycles are inevitable, and firms that act before revenue drops will outperform those that wait and react.

By Mark Zweig | The fastest way to suffocate a productive AEC firm isn’t bad projects or markets, it’s too many pointless meetings.

By Matt Verderamo | Turn your team into talent scouts and build your own recruiting ecosystem from the inside out.

By Zachary Strickland | Successful program managers anticipate risks, guide tough conversations, and create confidence amid complexity.

By Brandon Pinkerton | Small decisions compound into either prisons or possibilities, and today offers the rare opportunity to choose differently.

By Mark Zweig | For AEC firm owners and top managers who say they care about value but keep acting like they don’t.

By Matt Cooper | Repeat clients keep AEC firms stable, but winning new work is what determines long-term growth and resilience.

The leading source of business management insights, research, and strategies tailored specifically for leaders of AEC firms.

By Greg Sepeda | The Marvel universe delivers 10 powerful lessons in leadership, proving that purpose, humility, and teamwork save the day.

By Kyle Ahern | A closer look reveals hiring and retention pressures demanding smarter, people-focused strategies.

By Jon Hanlon | AEC careers are built on continual learning, where mistakes, questions, and collaboration shape lasting skills and professional growth.

By Brian Shannon | Healthy rivalries fuel collaboration and innovation, ultimately benefiting communities and strengthening the AEC industry.

By Ying Liu | These three common leadership personas quietly sabotage strategy execution.

By Mark Zweig | Practical career advice for new AEC graduates on landing a great job and accelerating early career success.

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

By Hugh Smith | Community outreach and engagement are foundational to the success of any project.

By Mailena Urso | The path toward success is shaped by your courage, curiosity, and resilience.

By Morgan Stinson | Leading with purpose helps firms navigate uncertainty by reinforcing values, fostering trust, taking ownership, and turning challenges into opportunities.

By Mark Zweig | 2025 offers opportunities for AEC firms to thrive through responsiveness, strategic metrics, strong banking ties, and workplace honesty.

By Mark Zweig | Having little understanding of banking could result in missed opportunities for growth or thorny problems that could put your firm out of business.

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

By Lauren Martin | Imprecise, incorrect contract language may leave AEC firms uninsured for professional liability exposures.

By Mark Zweig | This person is at the core of what makes your business successful, however not all financial managers are competent.

By Matthew Miller | By understanding and addressing the factors that contribute to scope creep, project managers can mitigate its impact.

By Mark Zweig | Effective outside directors provide expertise and valuable relationships, enhancing AEC firm success with strategic guidance and forward-focused leadership.

By David Doxtad & Andy Brandel | As your firm grows, this person ensures you will maintain your core competencies, values, and environment with your newly added team members.

By Mark Zweig | At some point leadership has to take action and act like leaders versus just talk a good game.

By Stephen Dominguez | AEC firms struggle to retrieve all of the revenue they bill out, however there are some solutions firms can use to counteract commonplace issues.

By Mark Zweig | Entrepreneurial firms adapt better to a changing environment, are better places to work, and build significant value over time that can be harvested.

By Janki DePalma | Leadership must communicate work meaning and impact in order to foster employee engagement and understanding of individual contributions.

By Morgan Stinson | Low trust in workplaces incurs a hidden cost, hindering efficiency, innovation, and collaboration.

By Matt Johnson | Client managers face new challenges post-pandemic, requiring increased client contact, realistic budgeting, and managing expectations for success.

By Mark Zweig | The majority of AEC companies are doing well, but that could be in spite of how they are being managed.

By Matt Hoying | When mistakes happen, it can be difficult to look for the silver lining, but doing so and making the most of it will help your business now and in the future.

By Reid Poling | As much as school can and does teach you, there are some lessons that can only be  learned “on the job.”

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

By Johnny Smith | What characteristics of a job, firm, and industry act as predictors of voluntary turnover?

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 | There’s still time to get your head on straight and do a few things to make the most of the new year.

By Randy Wilburn | Podcasting is one of the best ways you can tell the story of your brand.

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 Mark Zweig | Private equity firms that used to have no interest in AEC are now putting their money into companies in our industry.

By Mark Zweig | Most firms in this business still struggle to get their people to do their timesheets and turn them in – but there could be a simpler way.

By Liisa Andreassen | Partner at Method Architecture (Houston, TX), a full-service architecture firm that is uniquely ego-free in its commitment to a systematic, client-focused creative process.

By Mark Zweig | A few of the reasons a great, successful firm can falter and experience a fall from grace.

By Will Swearingen | When considering a transition, it’s important that you stay flexible and don’t wait until the end to plan your exit.

By Keyan Zandy | It is up to us to do what we can to improve our employees’ mental and physical health, as well as our own.

By Liisa Andreassen | President of Campos Engineering (Dallas, TX), an MEP engineering, testing, adjusting and balancing, and commissioning firm.

By Henry Liang | Mr. Miyagi was right: Balance is key. So, make sure both sides of your work-life scale are balanced.

By Mark Zweig | These five points will get you thinking differently about how you interact with potential clients in the future.

By Chad Coldiron | Whatever your role is at work or in life, showing others respect is always a good way to build a great relationship.

President of Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam (Houston, TX), a civil engineering firm that delivers exceptional quality and measurable value for the nation’s infrastructure.

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 Christina Zweig Niehues | Firms need to devote resources toward business development and ensuring a steady stream of work for the future.

By Mark Zweig | We create much of our own good luck – and a lot of that comes down to understanding probabilities and doing things that increase our odds for success.

By Liisa Andreassen | President of raSmith (Brookfield, WI), a multi-disciplinary firm of civil engineers, structural engineers, land surveyors, development managers, landscape architects, and ecologists.

By Sara Parkman | President of Shive-Hattery (Cedar Rapids, IA), a multi-disciplinary architecture and engineering firm that recognizes the power of design in transforming the human experience.

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 Mark Zweig | These are some of the common elements that are often present in the most successful leadership transitions.

Partner at LERA Consulting Structural Engineers (New York, NY), a firm that has created innovative, yet constructible and economical structural designs since 1923.

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.

As an accomplished speaker, consultant, trainer, and business coach, Wilburn helps professionals become better leaders, better communicators, and better people.

You don’t achieve success by going solo. You need allies – your manager and your direct reports – to make the load lighter.

President and CEO of CORE Consultants, Inc. (Littleton, CO), a professional services firm with a unique culture that empowers its people to thrive at home, at work, and in their community.

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.

President and CEO of Integrated CM Solutions (San Antonio, TX), a program/construction management firm that’s had more than $800 million worth of projects since 2015.

Co-founder and principal at CWE (Fullerton, CA), a  civil engineering, water resources, and environmental engineering firm whose experts pledge to create a better tomorrow, today.

By Mark Zweig | “If there’s a silver lining in this crisis it is that we may each have a chance to reevaluate our priorities and improve the quality of our lives from here on.”

As Zweig Group’s director of ownership transition, Will Swearingen understands the emotional stakes at play when a firm founder decides it’s time to pass the torch.

Women must stop apologizing, speak up, and stand tall if they want to be successful leaders.

“I find that using some of these other ‘screens’ can actually lead to greater success in buying.”

“Social media is a virtual world. It’s a false world. Spend more time in the real world and less time on your individual PR program, and encourage your staff to do the same.”

“What causes AEC firms to fail? I have been a student of this business for 39 years now. Here’s what I have seen.”

It’s not easy to do, but if you want lifelong clients who are also friends, you have to commit yourself to the long haul.

“When directly confronted with a difficult or painful question and you aren’t honest with people – they’ll figure that out. And you can forget them ever trusting you again.”

President of JBCI, a small, but venerable, repair and restoration firm based in Philadelphia.

President of PDC Engineers (Best Firm Multidiscipline #45 for 2018), a 100-person firm headquartered in Fairbanks, Alaska.

CEO of TLC Engineering Solutions, an Orlando, Florida-based firm pushing its way into the future.

When your best junior associate ‘unexpectedly’ leaves, the decision was probably in the works for a long time, you just never saw it coming.

“Are you missing out on this valuable knowledge in these or any other areas that it is needed? If so, amend your evil ways and make better use of your marketing talent!”

If you want to run a successful firm, there are employees you just have to keep. But in other instances, turnover can be a good thing.

President and CEO of CME (Hot Firm #36 for 2018), an engineering firm headquartered in Connecticut that refuses to be affordable and mediocre. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “If we cannot grow fast enough to provide...

AEC firms struggle with it, but if a firm is to thrive in the good times and the bad, a quantifiable plan of attack is essential. Marketing, business development, and sales aren’t usually the top...

People have passed down their history and culture through the telling of stories for millennia. Why not do the same for your firm? I have the unique experience of working for KSA – except for...

Getting there is one thing, but staying there is another. Figure it out and your firm will have the world in the palm of its hand. Being “top of mind” with your clients and potential...

President of LandDesign (Best Firm Multi-discipline #30 for 2017), a 165-person landscape architecture, civil engineering, and planning firm based in Charlotte, NC. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “From the day LandDesign was founded, it was intended...

“When we are going through times like this, we all have a choice. We can sit back and think of all the reasons why we are in the mess we are in, or we can...

President of Gale Associates Inc. (Best Firm #18 Multi-discipline for 2018), a 115-person consulting firm based in Weymouth, Massachusetts. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Gale has been involved with a number of design-build procurements, primarily for...

COO of Aguirre & Fields, LP (Best Firm Multi-discipline #27 for 2018), a 120-person engineering firm based in Houston. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “If you haven’t started planning for ownership transition, you’re behind and you...

President and CEO of Morrison-Maierle (Best Firm #27 Multi-discipline for 2017), a 280-person firm based in Helena, Montana. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “It’s vital to our success,” Murphy says, referring to entrepreneurship in the firm....

President and CEO of Tectonic Engineering & Surveying Consultants P.C. (Hot Firm #89 for 2018), a 500-person multifaceted engineering firm based in Mountainville, NY. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Years ago we tried the sales force...

In yesteryear, leadership could get away with glaring inconsistencies, but these days, young professionals aren’t having it. In my last article, “Prove It,” I explained why organizational trust, employee choice, in addition to path and...

Co-founder, president, and CEO of WSB (Hot Firm #34 for 2018), a 475-person full-service consulting and design firm based in Minneapolis. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “The best PMs create their own brand, supporters, and clients,”...

Each week, The Zweig Letter features commentary from top-flight leaders of AEC firms. Here is a compilation of how they handle, and move beyond, failure. By The Zweig Letter Staff John Hiltz, president of OHM...

A/E firms are fragile things. When things are going well, they grow and make decent profits. The people who work there generally feel good and the future seems bright. When things aren’t going well, morale...

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...

President and CEO of SEPI Engineering & Construction, Inc. (Hot Firm #74 for 2017), a 350-person firm based in Raleigh, North Carolina. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “People need to feel like their work life is...

President of Long Engineering, Inc. (Hot Firm # 24 for 2017), a 90-person land surveying and civil engineering firm based in Atlanta, Georgia. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Begin to identify internally if you have potential...

Founder and CEO of GATE (Hot Firm #35 for 2017), a 300-plus person oil and gas engineering consulting company based in Houston. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “When clients/friends see what we post and comment to...

Co-founder and president of BHC Rhodes (Hot Firm # 15 for 2017), a 130-person civil engineering firm based in Overland Park, Kansas. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Profit centers go against the dynamic of a team...

Principal at G2 Consulting (Hot Firm #67 for 2016), a 75-person geotechnical, geo-environmental, and construction engineering firm based in Troy, Michigan. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “As long as the clients are pleased and the revenues...

President, CEO, and chairman of the board for T&M Associates (Hot Firm #73 for 2016), a 350-person engineering firm based in Middletown, New Jersey. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent Gary Dahms, PE, PP, CME, has been...

Managing principal and president of HED, Inc. (Hot Firm #34 for 2017), a 350-person design firm with offices in Illinois, Michigan, and California. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Small changes often lead to significant results,” says...

Chairman and CEO of David Evans and Associates, Inc. (Hot Firm #93 for 2016), a 1,000-person engineering firm based in Portland, Oregon. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent Barkouli joined DEA in 1988 as an engineer-in-training. He...

A principal currently serving as president with W&M Environmental Group, LLC (Hot Firm #81 for 2016), a 50-person environmental services consulting firm based in Texas. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “One thing we didn’t expect is...

So many firms want to be at the top of the list for growth, but to get there, you have to be good, not necessarily fast. There is much hullabaloo made in our industry about...

President and CEO of HRP Associates, Inc. (Hot Firm #76 for 2016), a 120-person engineering consulting firm based in Farmington, Connecticut. “Big, bold, rapid changes are exciting and sometimes needed, but well planned, steady change...

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...

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...

President and chairman of Garver (Best Firm Multi-discipline #2 and Hot Firm #43 for 2017), a 500-person consulting and professional services firm in North Little Rock, Arkansas. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “We give our employees...

President and CEO of BSB Design (#87 Hot Firm for 2017), a 180-person architectural design and development firm based in Des Moines, Iowa. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “My advice is to get on it!” says...

There’s a strong case for including marketing staff post-proposal, especially if things didn’t go so well with the client. I have long told my clients that requesting a debriefing after a selection has been made...

It’s not about what emotions we experience, but how we harness and direct our emotions that will impact our success or failure. In the AEC industry, each constituent group has a stereotypical emotional profile. Engineers...

They’re everywhere, and the key to dealing with them is to understand and appreciate their bad behavior by exercising a little empathy. We spend a lot of our lives at work. So it makes sense...

We all have them and need them, but do we treat them right, and are we getting as much work out of them as we should? Trying to get work in the door can be...

President of Wakefield Beasley & Associates (Hot Firm #14 for 2016), a 165-person architectural design firm based in Alpharetta, Georgia. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “We are a fast-paced, high-performance company, and underperformers are detrimental to...

Mick Gronewold, Principal, Fehr Graham Principal at Fehr Graham (Hot Firm #72 for 2016), a 170-person engineering and environmental firm based in Rockford, Illinois. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “If you ain’t falling down, you aren’t...

We have an expression in the management consulting ranks at Zweig Group. It is this: “The names and faces change but the cast of characters remains the same.” What that means is we keep seeing...

David Arends, president and CEO of CR architecture + design (Hot Firm #19 for 2016), a 175-person firm based in Cincinnati, Ohio. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Entrepreneurship is not a standard genetic of architects, so...

They count, and they need to be made across numerous fronts if you want to get your foot in the door with a new client. As the saying goes, first impressions count. Although much of...

Donald Trump has single handedly breathed life back into the “other social media app” – Twitter. The platform had gone stale. It loses money every year and had a declining user base. Cue the late-night...

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...

The transition from boomers to millennials is going to happen anyway, so put in a good-faith effort and make it a positive experience. By 2020, 50 percent of the U.S. workforce will be millennials. In...

President of LJA Engineering (Hot Firm #2 for 2016), the largest employee-owned civil engineering firm in Houston (600-plus employees). By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent Ladner has more than 35 years’ experience in civil engineering serving both...

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...

HELIX CEO Michael Schwerin headed into the New Year with double-digit profits and a strong book-to-bill ratio. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent In 2001, Michael Schwerin started as an assistant environmental planning group manager with HELIX...

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...

It seems like we have more of them ever to contend with. I’m talking about brain drains. The things that literally suck the life force out of you. When you get to be my age...

Florida multidiscipline firm Kisinger Campo and Associates, with four decades under its belt, knows how to treat clients and employees. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent Kisinger Campo and Associates (Tampa, FL), a multidisciplinary engineering firm of...

The subject never gets old and you can't talk about it enough. Collecting money. Architects and engineers are horrible at it! There are several reasons for this problem, including: ‎Poor self-image. If you don't think...

Figure out what your firm is and what its values are, and remain disciplined if you want to flourish in a competitive market. The competitive environment continues to change at light speed, and that in...

We have all heard the adage, "Hire for character and train for skills." A/E/P firms really need to "get" this idea. Most don't do it. They're focused on PE registrations and degrees and knowledge of...

In a good economy, it’s easy to take on a lot of work and fill the pipeline, but some of that work can be bad for your firm. In a robust economy like the one...

New Recruitment and Retention Survey sheds light on key issues in finding, hiring, and keeping the best talent in the design industry. One thing I enjoy about working here at Zweig Group is that we...

You may have long-term “relationships” because of your company’s reputation with people you don’t even know. I've always been a long-term relationship kind of guy. I still have friends that I went to grade school...

Get your project managers to pick up the phone and call clients to improve relationships. In the A/E business, we hate confrontation. As a result, we tend to communicate via email instead of talking on...

Rapid hiring during the recovery has changed the complexion of many firms The rapid recovery in the A/E industry has led to unprecedented growth for many firms. Most firms have rebounded, surpassing their pre-recession revenue...

In work and in life, our past experiences, relationships, and the information we consume contribute to our outcomes. You know – in life, or in business – things pretty much happen as you expect them...

M&A really isn’t all about the valuation and the payout terms. For sellers, there is usually a strong emotional attachment to the company that they’ve devoted years, resources, and their career to growing. A concern...

There are a few basic traits that differentiate firms that make money from those that scrape by. Chad Clinehens and I were talking in the office yesterday about why some firms we work with make...

Take an honest look at your client relationship and ask yourself if it’s still mutually beneficial; if it’s not, it is time to do the hard thing. In addition to working at Zweig Group, I...

Though harder to apply and evaluate, assessments of interpersonal skills can promote team performance and increase morale. I have had a number of discussions lately about how to measure performance. The people I’ve spoken with,...

Over-confidence going into a proposal or interview can create a self-fulfilling prophecy; front-runners must be sure to wow clients. We have all been there. We find out we are short-listed for that project that we...

Embracing marketing to set you apart from everyone else can change your business – and your life – for the better. Good marketing has the power to change your firm – and your life. If...

Four suggestions from Mark Zweig that will result in more work than you can handle. It’s interesting to me to see how many architects, engineers, planners and environmental consultants really don’t understand marketing. Many either...

Four additional suggestions from Mark Zweig because the time is now. It’s here – the New Year. They keep coming faster and faster. It’s kind of funny to see the past futurists’ ideas about what...

Technical professionals are affected by failure too. Mark Zweig offers four examples. Many people think engineers and architects don’t really care about whether or not the company they work for is profitable. “They just want...

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...

This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 996 Originally published 2/25/2013 Mark Zweig offers six suggestions on how to pick the right people and nurture them. But act with care....

This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 987 Originally published 12/17/2012 See what more successful firms than yours are doing, straight from ZweigWhite’s surveys. We’re down to the end of...

This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 985` Originally published 12/3/2012 Mark Zweig enumerates a series of actions and credos that will help you maximize your potential. Think whatever you...

By Ed Friedrichs Chairman, ZweigWhite When I was CEO of Gensler I was often asked how I kept track of it all. At the end of my tenure, we had 2,400 people in 25 offices...

Press Release: June 22, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (June 22, 2011) – The other side of the world really isn’t that far away anymore. As work dried up in the U.S. during the recession, many firms...

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 Jeff Clark, Managing Director & Principal, Investment Banking Get out there and make it happen. Tell people, from your accountant to your attorney to your friends and business associates on all your social networks,...

By Mark C. Zweig We’ve all been through it. We have a good, old client; someone we have done a lot of business with over the years. The decision-maker with the client is someone we...

By Ed Friedrichs What, you may ask, is this all about? A few days ago I began a blog dialogue (I feel like I’m finally entering the 21st century when I participate in a blog...

Let’s face it. People will come AND go. And they don’t always leave (voluntarily or otherwise) at the best time. Sometimes it really hurts! A critical client relationship may be injured or lost by a...

With the consolidation wave just starting to gain momentum in the A/E/P and environmental industry, it seemed appropriate to get into a subject that many firms in our business seem to have an ongoing problem...

If you aren’t worried about your banking relationship right now, you are deluding yourself. Besides the fact that we have already had firms in our business— large firms— put out of business by their banks,...

One of the keys to success in business— all types of business, not just the A/E/P and environmental business— is practicing common courtesies (or perhaps they should be called not-so-common courtesies?). Architects, engineers, and scientists...

Project management training tends to emphasize the legal and liability aspects of what we do, along with scheduling and budgeting techniques. But, there is so much more to it beyond the science of project management....

While I have probably written about business planning in the pages of The Zweig Letter a dozen or more times over the years, it seems necessary to do so again. As you read this, A/E/P...

This week’s focus is all about the new industry buzz term, “IPD.” For those who don’t know, IPD stands for “integrated project delivery.” You might wonder what that means (as I did the first time...

As the economy gets worse, and panic sets in amongst the management of too many A/E/P and environmental firms, mistakes will be made that are difficult to recover from. I’m referring to decisions such as...

Frank Fickleheimer had to do something different. His firm, Fickleheimer Enginee-ring, did not have the operating capital it needed. Fifteen good years of solid growth and profits had left them with a lot of mouths...

Things aren’t looking real great out there for a lot of firms in this business. The stock market is in a free-fall, we’re in the midst of pre-election paralysis, banks are failing, housing is in...

I just saw a blurb in our ZweigWhite’s 2008 Marketing Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning & Environmental Consulting Firms that stated A/E and environmental firm’s number-one marketing strategy is “relationship building.” While most people in...

You take a look at any really successful person— whether they are in the A/E/P or environmental business or some other business— and I will show you someone who knows how to build good personal...

I was at Lowe’s the other day buying a Jacuzzi tub for a 1925 bungalow we are redoing from top to bottom to resell. While the plumbing guy ran off to get my tub, I...

For my kickoff presentation at our eighth annual The Zweig Letter Hot Firm Conference and Awards Celebration in Boston last month, I decided to talk about the differences in entrepreneurial A/E/P firms from those that...

Like it or not, most firms in this business of any size have to borrow money. Whether the firm needs the money to provide operating capital while waiting to collect accounts receivable, to finance business...

How many times have you heard it? Someone turns in their notice to leave and the response of his or her immediate supervisor is: “We didn’t need Bob (or Sue), anyway,” or, “We were going...

It’s no wonder that contractors are getting more and more control over the building process. Contractor-led design-build’s popularity compared to designer-led design-build is just one example. There are many reasons for the decline of the...

I know it sounds corny, but the fact is, a client is precious. They are hard to get and harder to keep happy. We need to treat them as if they are as valuable as...

Architects, engineers, and planners are always talking about what they will do to keep their clients happy. In marketing meetings, repeat business statistics of 80% or better are bandied about with pride, and chests are...

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....

With my work as a board member for the College of Business at Southern Illinois University, and the teaching I’m doing at the University of Arkansas this semester, I have found myself giving a lot...

Every single A/E or environmental firm in this country needs more people who can sell work. These people feed the rest of the firm, allow the owners to sleep at night, and are generally the...

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...

Everyone in the A/E or environmental consulting business wants to turn their technical people into sellers. Not a week goes by that the desire to do this isn’t mentioned to me by someone in this...

“Take this job and shove it” was a phrase popularized by country singer Johnny Paycheck back in the 1970s. The song told a story about a hard-working factory man whose wife left him, so he...

It’s kind of funny. I was out visiting a firm the other day— a rapidly growing, multi-office, multi-service firm— that is apparently beating the pants off of its larger, more established competitors. I’ve seen it...

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...

I was at a management seminar recently where I am convinced that fully 15 or 20% of the attendees were there only because their firms told them to go. And my guess is that a...

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...

Conventional wisdom and a course in marketing will tell you that any business— especially a professional service business— must have close relationships with clients IF the firm wants to keep those clients and get as...

I think a lot of smart, motivated, capable people working in A/E and environmental firms often get the idea that if they don’t start their own companies they have somehow sold themselves short. This is...

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

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

In the nineties, executive coaching became a popular management fad, particularly outside of the A/E/P and environmental industry. So while budget cutbacks in Fortune 500 and high-tech companies have eliminated a lot of these expenditures,...

Curt Robinson closed his middle desk drawer with a resounding thud. “This is the last time I’ll be sitting here,” he thought to himself as he threw last year’s calendar into the cardboard box of...

It just doesn’t take that much to be so much better at serving clients than the rest of the firms that do what you do. And it’s so important! Do a lousy job (or just...

Is your firm a compassionate firm? Do you choose what’s humane over what’s best financially in certain situations? And what difference does that make, anyway? Business is business. And we all know that to be...

“What goes around comes around.” “The harder I work, the luckier I get.” “You reap what you sow.” “To get love, you need to give love.” These adages (and many more) all reinforce the thinking...

Everything I need to know was not taught in kindergarten! In growing our own business and working with hundreds of firms over the years to help them grow theirs, I feel like I have learned...

There’s a lot out there on management: books, articles, videotapes, newsletters, seminars, and more. Ditto for marketing. And negotiating. And project management. And leadership. There’s even a lot of stuff aimed exclusively at our audience—...

Let’s all hope it never happens. But as anyone with a few gray hairs can tell you, another recession can, and probably will, occur. So what are you going to do about it? Here are...

One of the most interesting products we have put together is our new Fast-Growth Firm Survey, just released a couple weeks ago. It’s just fascinating when you look at the comparisons between A/E/P and environmental...

I like the fact that The Zweig Letter has an editorial point of view. So many newsletters for this industry and others are just compilations of other, previously published articles. Or, they are so white...

These are the good old days for the A/E/P and environmental consulting business. Times are good. Firms are growing. Employment offers are going out weekly, daily, and in some cases, hourly. But did you ever...

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...

We’re in the throes of our annual business planning process here at ZWA. You know the routine— get everyone together, have an office party and a holiday dinner at a nice restaurant and spend a...

To a lot of people in the A/E/P and environmental business, small projects are still something to be avoided. In fact, many business plans we read contain some sort of strategy statement that say the...

After I got my MBA, my first job was with a consulting firm that served the construction and real estate development industry. They worked for large and small companies of all kinds— general contractors, heavy/highway...

From all we see and hear through our “catbird seat” at ZW&A, it seems to me that many of the professionals out there in our industry have forgotten what their role is in the building...

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...

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...

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I’m not the sentimental type. But I must say— I love the people who work here. I love them because they work so hard, they never complain,...

If you listen to the “experts,” you could easily be convinced that it’s darn near impossible to successfully acquire a firm. By “successful,” I’m not just referring to getting the deal done. I’m talking about...

One of the most important milestones in the development of an A/E/P or environmental firm is the first time the company turns down work. Knowing what work to take on and what work to refuse...

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...

From time to time, architects and other design professionals all come under fire from the business types for not being sufficiently “business-minded.” And, the standard line of defense from those under attack is “I didn’t...

On Monday, December 20, 1993, William Edwards Deming, the 93-year-old management guru of Total Quality Management (TQM) died in his sleep. A statistician with a doctorate in Physics from Yale, Deming was credited with engineering...