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By Milly Sordo | Neurodiversity awareness can help AEC firms build more inclusive workplaces where all minds are empowered to succeed.

By Chad Coldiron | The AEC industry is facing uncertainty, but leaders remain optimistic, practical, and focused on adapting to what comes next.

By Morgan Stinson | Great leaders do not chase comfort – they choose difficult conversations, hard decisions, and accountability before crisis forces them to.

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

By Nam Douglass | Operational lessons and compliance priorities for AEC firms in 2026.

By Tom Godin | Performance problems in AEC firms are rarely effort issues; they’re organizational design failures leaders must own and intentionally fix.

By Andy Cushman | When firms show up authentically for causes they believe in, goodwill follows, and so do lasting business relationships.

By Mark Zweig | Focus on these things to be more effective when it comes to raising standards for performance.

By Morgan Stinson | Winning work in the AEC industry takes teamwork, trust, and humility to bridge gaps between marketing and technical staff.

By Scott Butcher | AEC firms use seller-doers, business developers, or both, and the best model depends on buyer preferences and firm capabilities.

By Morgan Stinson | Lessons from The Bear show AEC leaders the value of purpose, process, development, and treating every client like a VIP.

By Matt Cooper | AEC firms face a middle management gap, but technology can empower PMs, boost efficiency, and accelerate talent development.

By Adam White | Meaningful employee growth goes beyond trainings and workshops – it takes time, trust, feedback, and a clear path forward.

By Janki DePalma | Ghosting job candidates damages trust, reputation, and your firm’s future recruitment success.

By Brad Wilson | This event is a catalyst for honest conversation, shared wisdom, and renewed focus on ownership, governance, and the future of the industry.

By Kevin Norgaard | Together, younger and older employees create a dynamic and innovative workplace where every generation has something valuable to offer.

By Will Swearingen | A well-thought-out, proactive plan is essential for ensuring the long-term success and sustainability of your firm.

By Lauren Martin | AEC firms should carefully assess confidentiality clauses in contracts to avoid uninsured risks, especially amid growing cyber threats.

By Brandon Pinkerton | When the time comes, the best thing you can do for yourself, your legacy, and your organization is to end the journey well.

By Kristin Kautz | Six skills to succeed for the next five years in an AI-driven world.

By Mercedez Thompson | Win themes should tell a compelling story about why your firm should win a client’s work, but without the right strategy they can inadvertently lose you the deal.

By Javier Suarez | Mentorship relationships are mentee-driven – so, it’s up to you to not only establish one (or more), but to make it worth your while.

By Alicia Kamischke | This is a versatile segment of your organization that should be tailored to best fit your company structure, strengths, weaknesses, goals, and needs.

By Greg Sepeda | Mastering the art of managing upward is crucial for career growth, involving understanding, aligning with, and proactively supporting superiors.

By Rachel Wilde | We must seek out the rare opportunities for safe failure and make the most of them to help our employees reach their full potential.

By Will Swearingen | By being proactive and creating spaces to learn and grow, firms can benefit from this evolving workplace landscape.

By Matthew Douglas | We must adapt or we could miss out on an opportunity to transform the future of the AEC industry.

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 Daniel Houf | Build a resilient design firm with quality work, attentive service, and a strong team for long-term success and adaptability.

By Janki DePalma | Having the ability to admit your own mistakes can be refreshingly liberating and lead to real growth and connection.

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 Dawson Fercho & Jordan Wilson | Year-end Congress faces challenges in repealing R&D amortization rule, with political divisions, tax revenue impact, and party dynamics at play.

By Adam Bugielski | Burnout is a serious condition that can lead to decreased job satisfaction, productivity, and overall well-being – but there are steps you can take to prevent it.

By Lauren Martin | Productive dialogues between you and your claims adjuster can add insights, reduce stress, and facilitate better outcomes.

By Mark Zweig | Choosing the right partners for your business, and then keeping a good relationship with them, has always been an important subject.

By Ezequiel Tovar | Transition planning takes time, and the results are gradual – but if you do it right, the rewards are endless.

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 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 Phil Keil | It’s time to start building a strategy for how you will compete and stay relevant in this rapidly evolving environment.

By Mark Hodges | Don’t be a victim of continuation bias; it’s time to completely change your IT strategy in the face of the ongoing cyber threat.

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

By Lauren Rhodes Martin | As natural disasters continue to increase in frequency and severity, so will the potential exposure to the design community.

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

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 Alan Lloyd | With all the discussion about the “great resignation,” why isn’t anyone talking about the employees that aren’t jumping ship?

By Justin Smith | Calling the ideal plays will only work for you if your team understands the role that they each play in executing.

By Will Anderson | When coming into the market to acquire a firm, it’s often wise to expand your horizons and think outside the box.

By Alexis Eades | The consequences of burnout can be detrimental, so give your mental health the care it deserves.

By Dathan Gaskill | Our industry hasn’t done a great job of managing risk comprehensively or systematically. There’s a better way.

By Liisa Andreassen | President of Dewberry (Fairfax, VA), a nationwide planning, design, and construction firm with more than 50 locations and more than 2,000 professionals nationwide.

By Kevin Brown | Those companies that are resolute, agile, and creative will define the workplace rules of tomorrow, while the rest will be forced to follow or buckle beneath the pressure.

By Liisa Andreassen | President at MWM Design Group (Austin, TX), a firm that continues to embody its founders’ core values of personal integrity, responsibility, and service.

By Matt Hoying | Implementing strategies to enhance collaboration can lead to better projects, better productivity, and better profits.

By Liisa Andreassen | Managing principal at GGLO (Seattle, WA), a firm that believes it’s both the opportunity and responsibility of design to inspire the best aspects of community.

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

By Mark Zweig | Not only do you need to monitor and report on the right performance metrics for your firm, but you also have to explain what these numbers mean to your people.

By Michael Syracuse | There are many ways to connect to others and contribute to a person’s professional and personal growth.

By John Bray | Whether you’re an M&A enthusiast, first-time buyer, or an apprehensive seller, it would be naive to disregard these opportunities without understanding the dynamics of the M&A environment.

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 Keyan Zandy | Many firms have been slow to engage in conversations with their employees about mental health. It’s time to make a change.

By Liisa Andreassen | President of BranchPattern (Overland Park, KS), a building consultancy dedicated to creating better built environments through its many interwoven specialties.

By Liisa Andreassen | CEO of Garmann Miller (Minster, OH), a multi-discipline design firm that impacts communities through dedicated service and smart design.

By Keyan Zandy | The positive changes we’ve made will stay with us long after the days of the pandemic are over.

By Brian Rice | These three core strategic planning areas have unique opportunities for value depending largely on the culture of your organization.

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

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 Liisa Andreassen | President of Fishbeck (Grand Rapids, MI), a firm of engineers, scientists, architects, and constructors in the business of problem solving, inspiring results, and bringing ideas to life.

By Julie Benezet | Time limits tighten focus, propel you over challenging hurdles, and maximize your chances of success.

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

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

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 Payette (Boston, MA), a firm that values the close relationships it builds with its collaborators on the journey from design to reality.

Firms are discovering new ways of operating that will allow them to be more effective and efficient throughout the rest of the pandemic and after.

If your firm has the following characteristics, the more likely an ESOP is a good and viable option for your firm.

By Will Swearingen | Don’t let the concept of treasury stock cloud your transition strategy.

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

In the current economic environment, avoid costly payment disputes and counterclaims by choosing clients carefully and staying on top of your receivables and collections.

By Jamie Claire Kiser | In this time of constant realignment, sustain success by appreciating your stars and making space for discussion.

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.

Changing your mindset and discarding your assumptions allows you to start a dialogue to improve performance, relationships, and model the type of leadership that you want to see in others.

By Chad Clinehens | Break out of the spreadsheet mentality and build an ownership team that drives value and performance long-term.

Founding principal of Kudela & Weinheimer (Houston, TX), a landscape architecture firm that has produced beautiful, exceptionally built environments for more than 25 years.

President and CEO of Ramey Kemp & Assoc. (Raleigh, NC), a transportation engineering, planning, and design firm founded in 1992.

Principal at GH2 Architects (Tulsa, OK), an international architecture and design firm founded in 1973 that’s flexible, engaging, and fun.

Implement these tips to decrease tension and drastically increase the utility of your feedback.

Believing in your value is the first step to success in winning on value. The next step is to walk away when clients don’t fit your new standards.

CEO of EDiS (Wilmington, DE), a fifth generation family-owned firm that has been thriving in the same region for more than a century.

Implementing a formal, systematic safety program will benefit you, your employees, your clients, and your greater community.

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.

Successful leaders have to be able to deliver tough messages. Use these six strategies to navigate difficult conversations.

"Doing these 20 things will only make you more effective and your company more successful. And none of them are difficult, so go to it!"

President and CEO of Falcon Engineering, a woman-owned engineering firm in Cary, North Carolina.

CEO of Caldwell Associates, a firm that’s not afraid to fail, and that’s strong enough to pick up and keep going.

President and CEO of Parametrix, a 100 percent employee-owned engineering, planning, and environmental sciences firm based in Seattle, Washington.

Sadly, fewer and fewer of us are interested in developing writing, speaking, or other communication skills as a significant professional goal.

In an M&A deal, the seller’s professional liability insurance for legacy projects will likely come into play. Deal with it early on.

“Are you making decisions as quickly as you should, or is this a problem that you keep facing over and over again? Just like all problems in this business, there’s always something you can do!”

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

President and CEO of Eclipse Engineering (Best Firm Structural #12 for 2018), a Montana firm that likes to have a little “phun.”

In 20 years as an in-house graphic designer, the lessons learned are simple: Serve the customer, protect the brand, meet the deadlines, and communicate with the client.

By Phil Keil | People need something to rally behind. Identifying a mission for your firm is more than just a box to check when creating a strategic plan.

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.

By Will Swearingen | If you develop a reputation for being less than forthcoming, you could derail a critical ownership transition – and even destroy your firm.

Successful people will overcommit where their passion meets a purpose, where service is not a burden but a privilege.

By Will Swearingen | The words ‘difficult’ and ‘uncomfortable’ are synonymous with ownership transition. If you try to execute one on your own, it might come out half-baked.

President, Choice One Engineering Corp. (Best Firm Civil #2 for 2018), a 45-person firm based in Dayton, Ohio. By Richard Massey Managing Editor “Work-life balance is a phrase thrown around a lot, but we believe...

Project delivery is much more difficult than filling up the fridge at home, but there are plenty of similarities, too. Good project management that includes a thorough planning process is key to successful project delivery....

Having the ability to offer candidates participation in the ESOP may provide your company a benefit your competition cannot offer.

President, Alta Environmental (Best Firm #4 Environmental for 2018), a 50-person firm based in Long Beach, CA. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “It’s said that people typically don’t leave companies, they leave bosses,” Kay says. “Making...

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....

Everything feels different. Three weeks after the 2018 Hot Firm & A/E Industry Awards Conference in Dallas, our team is still on a high. Fueled by positive feedback, a wealth of exciting ideas for Las...

If you want your closing to go smoothly – before, during, and after the deal – make sure you take these six critical steps. There is a lot of acquisition activity in the AEC industry...

Chairman and CEO of NV5 (Hot Firm #1 for 2018), a 2,000-person global engineering firm headquartered in Hollywood, Florida. By Richard Massey Editor “I must convey to every employee that we are in this together,”...

President and founder of Brudis & Associates, Inc. (Hot Firm #36 and Best Firm Multi-discipline # 51 for 2016), a 90-person firm based in Baltimore. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “While I like to say we’re...

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...

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...

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...

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

President of Fleis & VandenBrink Engineering, Inc. (Hot Firm #30 for 2017), a 200-person civil engineering firm based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Marketing is very important,” Galdes says. “We actually increased...

Transparency, training, and feedback are all important, but so is remembering that people don’t live to work, they work to live. In recent TZL articles you’ve heard my thoughts about sharing the company’s financial results...

A successful marketing campaign is difficult to measure using hard metrics, so don’t get caught in the quicksand of trying to quantify nebulous numbers. It’s Monday, 9 a.m., and as you get comfortable in an...

President of Environmental Partners Group, Inc. (Hot Firm #22 for 2017), a 55-person firm based in Quincy, Massachusetts. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Their problems need to be your problems,” says Gabriel, referring to the client-firm...

A visit with a successful principal from a fast growing MEP firm in London, Ontario. In this episode, Randy Wilburn interviewed Derek Reid, principal with Callidus Engineering in London, Ontario. Reid became a principal this...

President and CEO of Milhouse Engineering & Construction (Hot Firm #50 for 2017), a 180-person firm based in Chicago. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Engineers aren’t usually braggadocios,” Milhouse says. “We’re just not good at it....

CEO of Coffman Engineers (#62 Hot Firm for 2016), a 400-person virtual, multi-discipline firm with offices across the West Coast, Alaska, Hawaii, and Guam. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Outside members can act like guests at...

One of the best things we can do as leaders is create more leaders, but to be effective, the effort must be deliberate. It’s a rare organization that succeeds without a solid succession plan identifying...

The word “strategy” is kicked around a lot in the A/E industry when referring to the “business” of the business. But, like many other words, I find it widely misunderstood and subject to different interpretations....

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...

Break free from immediate metrics and returns, because with marketing, the ROI could take months or even years to realize. Growing up in the ‘80s, the recent passing of George Michael brought a lot of...

President of Passero Associates (Best Firm #5 Multidiscipline for 2016), an 85-person engineering and architecture firm based in Rochester, New York. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “There’s lots of calculated risk,” Caruso says. A conversation with...

Chairman and CEO of Maser Consulting P.A. (#12 Best Firm Multidiscipline and #16 Hot Firm for 2016), a 650-person firm with 22 offices across eight states. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “The most important formula for...

When the company you acquire has better ideas than your firm’s, you have to remain open to change and be willing to learn. Acquisitions help companies in many ways. They enable access to the professional...

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...

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...

President and one of the founding partners of San Diego-based Rincon Consultants, Inc. (Hot Firm #35 for 2016), a 115-person environmental planning and engineering firm. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent Mike Gialketsis shares his insights on...

President and CEO of ISG (Hot Firm #58 for 2016) a 200-person architecture, engineering, and environmental planning firm based in Mankato, Minnesota. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent With the recent acquisition of Green Bay-based Raasch Associates,...

Working with millennials was a hot topic at the recent Hot Firm and A/E Industry Awards Conference. Most researchers define the millennial generation as those born anywhere between 1982 and 2004 (although some sources end...

Recruiting top talent to small markets is an adventure, but with persistence, you can ride the horse all the way to the summit. As I was discussing the need for a lead architect with a...

A trio of profound shifts in the A/E/P industry has made it much more difficult for firm owners to retire. As I enter my mid-50s (never thought it would happen) I have become privy to...

Firm leaders often think they know what the company needs, but in reality, are looking for answers in the wrong places. I receive a lot of phone calls from firms inquiring about many of Zweig...

Here are a few tips on ensuring that potential employees accept your job offer, and have a back-up in case they don’t. It’s a big problem today. You go through a long search process, interviewing...

We’re each leaving a trail behind us – our reputations and our effect on the world – as industry leaders, we should focus on making those as pleasant as possible. If you have a leadership...

Don’t let the current market surge allow you to become too busy or lazy to effect needed changes, and don’t underestimate the time and resources this will require. ​Have you ever been at the controls...

Five things that differentiate entrepreneurs from the rest of the people in the world. I was watching a show on Netflix the other night with my eight-year-old daughter. It was all about humans with superhuman...

Have a conversation about project details and fees so you can staff them right and finish work on time, preferably below the allocated fee. On the architecture and engineering professions, we measure everything by time....

Marketing is the area of your business intended for giving to others. I was on-site with a client recently and we were discussing a business development strategy for their new planning group. One of the...

Is personality a window to culture when interviewing candidates? It’s amazing how often the word “culture” is used in the recruiting process. More often than not, a candidate’s fit with, or should I say into,...

This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 994 Originally published 2/11/2013 Most architects and engineers never studied how to run a business, so the issue of governance becomes increasingly complex...

This time of the year is marked by a frenzy of activity, both professionally and personally. The thoughts we had in September and October of looking to a new year with renewed enthusiasm and at...

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...

From the Chairman:Ed Friedrichs As the end of this rather protracted recession plays out (we all hope), I’ve been questioning lots of clients— both the architecture/ engineering firms to whom I consult and the companies...

Purpose. Now, that can be a difficult concept to nail down. All three panelists at a The Zweig Letter 2010 Hot Firm Conference session in late October had different views about what purpose means and...

When business starts hurting, employee morale suffers immediately. Employees who are laid off can become disgruntled, and the ones remaining start wondering if they’re next out the door, which often degenerates into an awful work...

As I begin to write this article I am sitting at “The Tournament of Kings” show at The Excalibur in Las Vegas with my two oldest daughters. Earlier today we finished off the 10th annual...

More and more design and environmental firms are adding outsiders to their Boards of Directors. There are many reasons for doing so but that’s not the point of this article. Instead, what I want to...

Everyone who starts a company or ends up as its leader eventually starts thinking about how to get out. You may have the greatest job in the world, but life is short and most of...

I’m no fan of most of the performance appraisal systems I see used in A/E/P and environmental consulting firms. The simple fact of the matter is they don’t work. They don’t motivate anyone to do...

We are now in our 17th year of working with A/E/P and environmental firms of all types and sizes around the world. And, over that time, we have seen literally thousands of different companies’ business...

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...

As the year winds down, it’s apparent that the majority of design and environmental firms are finishing up a year that wasn’t as good for them as 2001. Flattening out of growth coupled with a...

John Dilbertson left the Dilbertson & Terry board meeting shaking his head. How many times did they have to reconsider the issue of principal compensation, particularly base pay? It seemed like it never ended. One...

In tough times like those we are in right now (and they could get a lot worse), it’s easy for people to lose perspective. Little problems get blown up beyond their importance. Fear takes over....

I just got back from the Design Build Institute of America (DBIA) (Washington, DC) national convention in San Diego (held October 4-6). What a turnout! Their estimates were that they had somewhere between 1,400 and...

“You can lead a horse to water, but first, you’ve got to have a horse,” is one of the homilies my old friend Mike Latas of ) used to use all the time. I don’t...

Any business, particularly A/E/P and environmental consulting firms, better be concerned about how to keep current clients happy and satisfied. The reason is simple— getting new clients is expensive, and if you have to constantly...

It is almost heresy in this day and age of “customer service” to say it, but in the A/E/P and environmental consulting business, the customer is not always right. In fact, many times the customer...