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By Heather Applegate | Strong change management turns disruption into momentum by aligning leadership, reducing uncertainty, and helping people stay oriented through transition.

  “Say yes as much as you can when you’re young so that you can balance things a little better when you’re older.” Sondra Rotty Sondra Rotty is the newly elected president and COO of...

By Kraig Kern | An observation on modern communication, efficiency, and the messages that quietly disappear.

By Gina Rodriguez | In AEC, expertise builds credibility, but engagement is what creates trust, strengthens relationships, and drives better outcomes.

By Mark Zweig | High-performing skeptics can sharpen decisions or quietly poison culture – the difference lies in how leaders engage them.

By Julia Moroney | AEC firms must protect flexibility without sacrificing mentorship and visibility for young leaders.

By Srividhya Viswanathan | By prioritizing leadership, trust, and accountability, organizations can build teams that not only achieve their goals but thrive together.

By Ezequiel Tovar | Strategic planning transforms vision into execution by aligning leaders, empowering employees, and funding growth with intention.

By Mark Zweig | Annual performance reviews fail AEC firms because real leadership requires continuous feedback, not once-a-year management theater.

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

By Ricardo Jesus Maga Rojas | In today’s AEC talent market, belonging may matter more than pay, perks, or policies in keeping young professionals.

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

By Daryl Simons Jr. | Rethinking first impressions creates fairer decisions, stronger relationships, and lasting benefits for candidates and firms.

By Erik Stroemberg | Practical insights and recommendations for creating, communicating, and maintaining an effective AI policy.

By Shirley Che | From fees to client care, lessons learned from a season of conferences highlight growth, adaptability, and connection.

By Liisa Andreassen | President of TPD, Inc. (Pottstown, PA), a consulting engineering firm specializing in transportation engineering and related environmental and construction services.

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

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

By Liisa Andreassen | President and CEO of Cedarville Engineering Group (Pottstown, PA), a civil and environmental design-build firm that delivers value through innovation.

By Mailena Urso | The Zweig Group team is hitting the road to share fresh insights on how AEC firms can stay ahead.

By Kraig Kern | Packed calendars hurt productivity, but smarter meeting habits can help AEC professionals reclaim focus time and boost meaningful work.

By Anna Kendall | Effective internal communication plays a crucial role in shaping employee morale during times of significant change.

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

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

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

By Laura Poteat | Effective cultural integration during a firm acquisition lays the foundation for a thriving, resilient organization.

By Shelby Harvey | Ignoring the elephant in the room won’t make it go away, but it might be what pushes your top talent to leave.

By Michael Makris | Early to mid-career professionals can overcome burnout and imposter syndrome with support from leadership, mentorship, and proactive career engagement.

By Duncan Robertson | When we intentionally build connections focused on authenticity, we create healthy, long-lasting relationships that drive a return-on-investment.

The conversation dives into the importance of maintaining a vibrant company culture in the face of evolving work environments. They highlight how, despite the chaos that keeps everyone up at night, there are strategies to...

By Kathy Nanowski | A strong employee experience leads to a stronger client experience, ensuring sustainable success and differentiation in the market.

By Liisa Andreassen | President of Neumann Monson Architects (Iowa City, IA), a firm that creates exceptional spaces for living, working, learning, and playing.

By Matt Gross | Build success by fostering strong culture, investing in people and infrastructure, prioritizing cybersecurity, and planning strategically.

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 Kyle Ahern | Managers who build trust empower employees to be more receptive to feedback and more motivated to improve.

By Stuart McLendon | This process improves team coherence and speed in addition to enhancing revenue per man-hour.

By Lynn Bruns | Strategic investment in leadership development is crucial for accelerating business goals, increasing profitability, and improving recruitment and retention.

By Katherine Wilczek & Ceclia Martin-Smith | While it can be helpful to use generational trends to inform your management practices, it is most important to get to know your employees as individuals. 

By Sarah R. Adams-Slominski | Team leaders can more effectively manage employees of all ages through strategic communication practices.

By Amy Patel | Building trust through clear communication, effective management, and personal attention is crucial for successful large-scale project teams.

By Anastasia Welch | Transforming team dynamics and strategies for improved leadership skills, operations, and project implementation, leading to business success.

By Victoria Verlezza | By implementing these strategies, you can lead virtual meetings that are more inclusive, engaging, and conducive to collaboration among participants.

By Jeremy Clarke | Spot these devastating hires before they sabotage your team.

By Liisa Andreassen | Chief administrative officer at UES (Orlando, FL), a privately held, rapidly growing engineering and consulting firm and No. 1 Hot Firm four years in a row.

By Ying Liu | Five essential practices you can use to actively engage board members and forge invaluable business partners.

By Sam Graves | Effective team management involves setting clear expectations, equipping and empowering members, and fostering engagement and evaluation.

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

By Leisbel Lam | Having a service recovery mindset in your projects is essential in order to keep your organization’s sustained competitive advantage.

By Victoria Verlezza | Supportive leaders who prioritize communication and psychological safety can foster a positive work environment where employees feel valued and motivated.

By Kristin Kautz | AI assistants empower personalized and effective support that will save time and money, and enhance creativity and quality.

By John Butt | This strategy empowers leaders to align their teams with organizational goals, provide feedback and recognition, and foster a culture of growth.

By Samantha Boeck | This type of culture drives people to compete at their best, challenges everyone on the team, and pushes boundaries to elevate the entire game.

By Mark Zweig | Unspoken thoughts about business coaching, writing skills, phone disconnection, and more.

By Kyle Ahern | Prioritizing EX is a strategic imperative for firms looking to thrive in an increasingly competitive landscape.

By Safa Kamangar | By applying these principles, a manager can become a source of inspiration, guidance, and stability for their team members.

By Stjepan Mikulić | This approach ensures the foundation of change is built on a solid understanding of human behavior, enabling more sustainable firm-wide implementation.

By Tyler Suomala | Losing out on a bid could present you with an opportunity to turn a “not this time” into fuel for your pipeline and processes.

By Rachel Wilde | By engaging working mothers in the workplace effectively, we can help retain top talent in our industry and create a better tomorrow for our daughters.

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

By Leisbel Lam | We need to strive for a leadership style that is centered on emotional intelligence and finding common ground, connection, and growth within our teams.

By Houston Matthews | If your team can keep communication at the forefront of all of your projects, you’re sure to be a success.

By Conrey Guy | A standardized onboarding process is critical for the overall success of any organization, but especially in our industry.

By Liisa Andreassen | President of Schaefer (Cincinnati, OH), a firm that provides all aspects of structural engineering across a broad range of projects and industries.

By Raoul Rañoa | There are various techniques and tools you can use distill complex data into digestible and actionable insights.

By Ashley Heinnickel | Dedicate time and energy to your rollout to ensure the best possible outcome when launching a new strategic initiative.

By Liisa Andreassen | Managing partner at Beyer Blinder Belle Architects and Planners (New York, NY), an award-winning architecture, planning, and interiors firm.

By Cindy Sevilla Esparza | As long as learning is at the forefront of your goals, these skills will help you reach your career milestones.

By Justin Smith | Instead of waiting for the perfect project manager to appear, invest in developing these valuable professionals within your firm.

By Eric Wilson | With the right set of values and organizational alignment, you may find yourself in a positive feedback loop where shared principles guide you toward collective goals.

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 Keyan Zandy | It’s critical to take the time to develop your trust-building skills. You, your teams, and the projects you are all working on together will only benefit.

By Liisa Andreassen | President and CEO of CHA Consulting (Albany, NY), an innovative, full-service engineering consulting and construction management firm.

By John Shaw | Communication and relationships are the greatest driving forces in success or failure during a change journey.

By Mark Zweig | There are steps you can take that will make it more likely your company will adapt to change successfully over time.

By Sara Parkman | Human resources director at CORE Consultants, Inc., a professional services firm that empowers its people to thrive at home, at work, and in their community.

By Kyle Ahern | Gathering data on your employees’ experience is the first step, then you have to create action items to effect positive change.

By Janki DePalma | Pay attention to who apologizes and when, and work to create an environment of psychological safety within your firm.

By Liisa Andreassen | Project director at OBMI (Miami, FL), a leading global master planning, architecture, and design firm that has been creating timeless spaces for 85 years.

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

By Matt Hoying | Open up and embrace full company transparency, not just financial, to enhance your firm’s culture.

By Kollan Spradlin | A broader view of client objectives allows us to add value and, in some cases, recategorize isolated projects into stepping stones that line the path to the client’s ultimate goal.

By Lindsay Young | Knowing what people really think will help you grow your business and serve your clients even better than you already do.

By Linda Schulte | When your team views you as a leader and not just a manager, they will work much harder and be willing to go the extra mile when necessary.

By Peter Atherton | If we can establish trust, clearly communicate what winning looks like, and have a unifying mission and vision, we will never need to limit our success to any location.

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

By Justin Smith | There is a disconnect between the training and skills that firms want and need for their project managers and what they provide.

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

By Blake Calvert | Listen to employees, communicate strategically, embrace a growth mindset, and eliminate drama to help employees let go of negativity and thrive through change.

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

By Michael Britt | It’s important to examine how your company can maintain culture and continue strategic growth in a new work environment.

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

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 Callum Roxborough | Five ways to develop company culture and how taking these steps can improve your firm’s work environment and your business.

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 Eduardo Smith | With more work than we can handle and the current recruiting challenges we face, we need to be sure that our organizations have the foundations for sustained growth.

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

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

By Liisa Andreassen | President and CEO of PRIME AE Group (Baltimore, MD), a firm that creates vibrant communities by connecting people and conserving culture and the environment.

By Montgomery Spillane & Dillon Reio | If you’re willing to go the extra mile to help young professionals grow, they will also go that extra mile for you.

By Stephanie Warino | These 10 ideas can increase engagement and create a truly effective doer-seller culture.

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 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 | They are the founder and principal of McKinney York Architects (Austin, TX), a certified HUB and WBE that creates beautiful, responsible architecture in a culture of collaboration.

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

Positively impact your firm’s retention rates by turning abstract ideas into actionable goals.

CEO of Olsson (Lincoln, NE), an employee owned 1,300-person firm that is working to leave the world better than they found it.

By Eduardo Smith | It’s more important than ever to stay close to our clients, to understand their changing needs, and to help them achieve their business goals.

President and CEO Ulteig (Fargo, ND), an employee-owned engineering consulting firm with locations in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Colorado, Montana, and Iowa.

Marketing has a role in building brands, developing strategies, winning work, and more – and the firms that invest heavily in marketing reap the rewards.

Co-founder and executive vice president of Patel, Greene and Assoc. (Temple Terrace, FL), a firm with a mission to elevate their families, communities, and profession.

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.

If we want to be in position to effectively respond and even get ahead of the curve, we all need to know what’s likely to come next.

By Jamie Claire Kiser | We’re using videoconferencing more than ever, but constant communication isn’t the same as effective communication.

Founder of edg (New York, NY), a technology-driven firm that leverages the power of software and equipment to deliver higher quality projects in less time.

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 John Bray | Connect with your people and bolster your business so you come out of this pandemic stronger on the other side.

Learning to learn, praising the process, and reflecting on your progress all point your mind toward the common goal of persistent development.

President and CEO of Westwood (Minneapolis, MN), a firm that’s been focused on enhancing communities with smart engineering for almost 50 years.

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

Charting a sustainable future requires a willingness to critically evaluate your firm and prepare for the year ahead.

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

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

President and principal-in-charge at Taylor Design, an architecture and interior design firm headquartered in Irvine, California.

Use these five strategies to maximize client relationships without leaving your desk.

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

It might sound a bit odd, but there’s plenty of things the C-suite can learn from stand-up comedians.

Connections across teams and offices increase employee engagement and performance, but the connections must be fostered.

In terms of feedback, there’s a big difference between what millennials want and what you’ve been told they want.

There are plenty of tell-tale signs your AEC firm needs a set of third-party experts to help you achieve your goals.

When the veteran transportation engineer changed lanes from the public sector to a private firm, he used his blinker and stepped on the gas.

President and CEO of Hitchcock Design Group (Best Firm Architecture #7 for 2018), a 35-person landscape architecture firm headquartered in Naperville, Illinois.

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

CEO and founder of Partner Engineering and Science, Inc. (Hot Firm #9 for 2018), a 700-plus person engineering and environmental due diligence consulting firm. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “There’s no boundary between entry-level and senior-level...

If your firm has a weekly or monthly newsletter, great. But if not, you need to get cracking on that important piece of internal communication. Does your firm have an internal newsletter or some kind...

It’s a daunting task, but can result in an energized, unified organization that can withstand setbacks while gaining strength. Companies with a highly engaged workforce have seen a 19.2 percent increase in operating income; highly...

Leading through accountability takes a willingness to do a better job at recognizing challenges and accepting feedback toward positive change. Have you ever worked with someone who can’t perform their basic job functions? Have you...

It’s not always flattering, but hearing from those you work for and with, and acting on it, is key to improving your products and services. We’ve all become accustomed to, and maybe a little weary...

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...

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...

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...

If you request even a minute of precious time to meet with your firm’s leader, make sure you don’t waste the moment. If there is one thing I have learned growing up in an increasingly...

It’s OK to wrestle with yourself as you chart the path to success. The AEC industry needs its performance metrics and monetary goals, but don’t forget about your heart. Recently I saw a coffee mug...

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...

Understanding what fans their flames and what douses their embers will foster a more productive and fulfilling environment for everyone. Editor’s note: This top eight list was borrowed from Tony Morgan, chief strategic officer and...

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...

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...

When it comes to our projects, we need to know as much as we can to ensure we stay on track for our firm and our clients. There’s a fine line between what we know...

President and CEO of BKF Engineers (Hot Firm #44 for 2016), a 415-person engineering firm based in Redwood City, California, with 13 offices primarily in Northern California. “It’s easy to get a job, but more...

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

Ditch the lecture-and-listen style of training and replace it with something much more effective – the do-it-to-learn-it style. In the ultra-competitive AEC job market, professional growth is becoming the new perk. Employees and candidates –...

Co-founder, president, and CEO of P2S Engineering, Inc. (Best Firms To Work For Multi-discipline #8 and Hot Firm #27 for 2017), a consulting engineering firm in Long Beach, CA. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “The belief...

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...

President and CEO of EAPC Architects Engineers (Marketing Excellence #3 Website and #1 Holiday for 2017), a 140-person firm based in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Editor’s note: EAPC, founded in 1967, is celebrating its 50th...

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

Employees can help attract, recruit, and retain great talent in a tight labor market, so look to them as an augment for HR. A steady stream of job postings for engineers, architects, and construction workers...

In an environment where innovation is the driving force, you need a space that allows for inspiration, ideation, and implementation. We are quickly entering a new era. And it comes with new problems. A small...

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...

President of WestLAND Group, Inc. (Best Firm #41 Multi-discipline and Hot Firm #45 for 2017), a full-service civil engineering and land surveying firm based in Ontario, California. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “It’s important to identify...

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...

You want your firm to be more valuable at the end of the project than it was at the beginning. Start to GRIPE. Many of our clients turn to us for assistance in providing project...

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...

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...

Planning regulations in Johnson City, Tennessee produced a 26-foot bun and frankfurter made of brick, and it’s the talk of the town. By Richard Massey Managing Editor Johnson City is a quaint place of 66,000...

Empty slogans and tired jargon don’t do the trick. To be a great leader you have to make a personal connection with members of your team. I’ve attended a lot of leadership courses over the...

Your entire staff can sell the firm, and don’t forget, there’s no such thing as a completely internal role that doesn’t affect the brand. When it comes to business development, professional service firms typically have...

Blame is a form of punishment that rarely works, and removing it from a firm’s environment will increase productivity and collaboration. Would you rather have an employee change her behavior, become more motivated, or make...

The exclusive rights to a new technology launched TerraTherm into a world of contamination – and that’s right where John Bierschenk wanted to be. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent It all started with research. John Bierschenk,...

In the form of growth, profitability, and important projects, multidiscipline firm based in upstate New York is reaping the benefits of a well-executed ownership transition. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent In 1977, when Wayne Wegman joined...

The marketing of ‘quality’ is ubiquitous in the A/E industry, but oftentimes, the difference between perception and reality can undermine a firm’s brand equity. Many firms are dealing with record high workloads. That translates into...

End-of-year bonuses and evaluations are obsolete. Try monthly or quarterly perks for your staff. It's clear to me that A/E firms are all in a huge rut when it comes to how they pay their...

A few weeks ago, I wrote a short article about how important it is for firm owners to understand the value of their business. The point of the piece was to address the real threat...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ar. January 15, 2016) – Four Zweig Group award programs for the architecture, engineering, planning, and environmental consulting industry are now open and accepting registrations/nominations: Hot Firm, Best Firms To Work For, Marketing Excellence,...

Four Zweig Group award programs for the architecture, engineering, planning, and environmental consulting industry are now open and accepting registrations/nominations: Hot Firm, Best Firms To Work For, Marketing Excellence, and Jerry Allen Courage in Leadership....

O’Neal (Greenville, SC), an industrial engineering and construction firm, is taking home third place in the External Newsletter category of Zweig Group’s 2015 Marketing Excellence Awards for The Apostrophe. The O’Neal team’s goal in developing...

Westwood Professional Services (Eden Prairie, MN), a 350-person professional services firm, is the third place winner in the Online Marketing category of Zweig Group’s 2015 Marketing Excellence Awards for its new website. Before commencing with...

Several things happen when a new person joins your firm. Don’t scare them away. This term seems to have come into popular usage among HR folks lately, referring to how a firm brings a person...

This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 997 Originally published 3/4/2013 HR, recruiting and hiring teams also need to take a critical look at their operations, so make use of...

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...

Press Release: January 20, 2011 The 2011 The Zweig Letter Marketing Excellence Awards will recognize the most innovative and effective marketing strategies in the architecture, engineering, planning, construction and environmental consulting industry. The competition will...

Marketing in our industry is a-changing, Folks! It is not business as usual for A/E/P and environmental firms. The tough economy and the increasing power of the Internet and electronic communications are changing everything marketing-wise....

The first time someone suggested that I needed to have an “ice cream social” to help motivate my employees, I wanted to strangle the guy. Are you kidding me? We have professional employees. Sure— morale...

Although there have been many compensation-related articles over the years in the pages of The Zweig Letter, I thought perhaps it was time to clearly articulate my own strategies for compensating employees in A/E/P and...

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...

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...

My theory is that no firm is completely happy with how it handles project management. There are always problems. And one of the common complaints heard is, “We don’t have enough good project managers.” While...

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...

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,...

We’re talking to a lot of company CEOs who aren’t the least bit concerned about the effects a recession would have on their firms because they serve government clients. But my experience is, if the...

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...

I’ve received several calls asking me if I had seen a recent article that appeared in The Wall Street Journal (November 21, 1996) on performance appraisals. Evidently, it is causing quite an uproar in the...

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

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...

Management junkies— There is a whole cadre of “management junkies” out there working in A/E/P and environmental consulting firms. These are smart people. But as a friend-of-a-friend of mine, Tony Pirrone (an octogenarian Cadillac salesman)...

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,...

What’s the best way to motivate staff people? When faced with that question, most firm principals think about what to give them. The experts tell us to pay spot bonuses for an effort that goes...