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

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

By Richard McCree Jr. | A century of success is built on daily decisions, disciplined leadership, and an unwavering commitment to doing things the right way

By Matt Cooper | Most AEC firms stall at key growth stages where outdated people, processes, and technology can no longer support scale.

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

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

By Thomas Mitchell | AI is transforming dispute resolution by predicting outcomes, reducing conflicts, and enhancing decision-making – while raising vital data privacy concerns.

By Steven Rushmore | As technology advances, AEC firms must embrace digital adoption to secure long-term success.

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

By Nam Douglass | Neglecting immigration compliance during mergers or acquisitions can expose firms to costly consequences.

By Mark Zweig | Many AEC firms claim high quality, but without consistent action those promises quickly become hollow words.

By Lisa Lee | Outsourced accounting helps AEC firms boost efficiency, reduce risk, improve visibility, and scale financial operations strategically.

By Jared Maxwell | Despite recent success, AEC firms may need to navigate headwinds to mitigate risk and sustain growth and profitability.

By Niknaz Aftahi | Solving the silo problem in AEC firms starts with a connected tech stack that boosts collaboration, efficiency, and profit.

By Hal Rosner | Proper planning, organization, and understanding of data can mean the difference between a project’s success and failure.

By Adam Langley | Time is a finite resource, but by effectively managing it, you’ll contribute to your individual success and the long-term prosperity of your firm.

By Stefanie Richter | High-performing AEC teams thrive on chemistry, clarity, and control – enabled by integrated systems that eliminate costly friction.

By Sam Liao | Like electronic scientific calculators, personal computers, and CAD systems – generative AI is just another new tool in our toolbox.

By Lauren Martin | Design firms need to be vigilant about clauses and language that have the potential to significantly expand their risk while undermining their insurance protection.

By Gabe Lett | Enhance marketing by embracing creativity and disruption to craft surprising, memorable, and engaging campaigns.

By Fred Smith | AI-driven conversational interfaces offer leaders instant, data-driven insights, streamlining decision-making for enhanced efficiency and profitability.

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

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

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

By 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 Val Brennan | By moving beyond outdated tools, we can foster more meaningful connections, better demonstrate our capabilities, and evolve with the needs of our clients.

By Eric Tuthill & Jordan Wilson | It’s become increasingly apparent that Section 174 may be around longer than anyone believed possible.

By Jason Wilson | Problem-solving unforeseen challenges in order to boost productivity and regain work-life balance when working from home.

By Morgan Stinson | Failure at some level is inevitable – but how we respond to and manage that failure is what can set us apart.

By Kurtis John | Ignoring these areas of risk and their potential implications can have significant impacts on your success and your firm’s future.

By Janki DePalma | Late bloomers gain wisdom, resilience, and unique insights, proving there’s no fixed timeline for achievement.

By Mercedez Thompson | A client extension should be utilized to review, refine, and enhance the existing proposal, rather than expanding or revamping it.

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

By Kevin Brown | Five resume red flags to help AEC firm recruiters identify and set apart the best applicants from the rest.

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

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

By Kevin Brown | To become an employer of choice in AEC, you must prioritize getting the fundamentals right before investing in advanced employee programs.

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

By Leslie Jenkins | Instead of trying to impress potential clients, focus on emotional intelligence, really listening, and creating relationships built on common goals and trust.

By Will Swearingen, Kevin Johns & Alexis Martin | Finding extra deductions or credits will serve you now and when the time comes to transfer ownership.

By Danielle Eisenstock | Three questions managers should begin asking themselves and their team to ensure employees are growing and enjoying the work they do.

By Mark Zweig | Parenting is a lot like leadership in a business in that your behavior affects everyone and your actions determine how harshly you will be judged.

By Jared Maxwell & Cady Sinks | AEC firms are navigating more complex risks and an evolving market for professional liability insurance.

By Mark Zweig | If you don’t want your people or yourself to be judged unfairly, there are a few common problems that must always be avoided.

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 Janki DePalma | We need to examine the connection between confidence, competence, and our sense of self in the corporate world.

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

By Liisa Andreassen | President and CEO of W&A Engineering (Athens, GA), a growing multidisciplinary engineering firm known for its innovative design, efficient engineering, and professional service.

By Stefanos Word | Investments of time and effort need to be made with younger engineers to effectively transfer technical and communication skills and establish robust future leaders.

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

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

By Jared Maxwell & Cady Sinks | Despite slowing infection rates, AEC firms and their insurers may still endure the effects of the pandemic for many months to come.

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

By Matthew Poling | Often overlooked, the simple checklist can empower your people to coordinate more, reduce mistakes, and focus on bigger picture items.

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 Rob Hughes | Having a clear understanding of some key insurance concepts can help your firm navigate heightened requirements and hard insurance market conditions more effectively.

By Mercedez Thompson | Create client-focused cover letters that build trust, provide clear client benefits, and connect to your client’s broader goals or vision.

By Rob Hughes | This subtle but onerous language is becoming fairly widespread in design contracts and, if overlooked, could leave design firms with significant, potentially uninsured exposures.

Chairman and CEO of Salas O’Brien, an employee-owned firm with no corporate headquarters that provides building and facility solutions to clients across the United States.

Contract disclaimers reflect the reality that estimating is an art, not a science – and that design professionals cannot guarantee or warrant the actual costs of construction.

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.

We must apply our human intelligence to identify the real problems and leverage technology as a platform to bridge the gaps between tools, people, and processes.

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

Educating yourself about these biases as well as potential strategies for mitigation can help you avoid prejudice in your decision-making.

Engineers of the future will solve problems and meet challenges in a different way and through technology that will continue to be dynamic.

The tools that Revit provides have the power to help firms save time and money, while improving the quality of the final product.

By Jamie Claire Kiser | Discarding an entire year’s worth of results may be an even greater barrier to future success than our current circumstances.

Firms should evaluate their services, internal IT systems and controls, and check their insurance to make sure they have the protection they need.

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.

Don’t be afraid to charge what you’re worth. You want clients who value your relationship and appreciate your talent.

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

“I used to be addicted to social media … So I stopped. Today, I still use social media, though only for business purposes.”

If you’re looking to grow your firm, be diligent and adaptable in finding the IT system that suits your needs.

Taylor Dayton, EIT, is a project engineer at Aspect Consulting’s office in Wenatchee, Washington.

Unless you put yourself out there as perfect, courts will typically hold you to the standard of reasonable care if you make a mistake.

CEO of ATI (Hot Firm #43 for 2018), a California firm rooted in philanthropy, and with a bright future on the horizon.

If you’re a firm owner or design professional, don’t leave contractors guessing. Using plain language, make your intent clear to avoid disputes, change orders, and claims.

If you are looking for a training program that covers all the basics, Zweig Group has what you and your team needs. Our Excellence in Project Management training program was developed to support project managers...

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...

In the absence of extraordinary situations, the courts will rely on the contract’s terms, not the Impossibility of Performance Doctrine. My wife and I visited St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome a few years ago. A...

Lack of information leads to assumptions and guessing. Good and complete information at the appropriate time leads to informed decision-making. Over my 30-year career, I’ve had the opportunity to work on a wide range of...

They are everywhere, but they don’t have to win. Identify their behavior and rectify it, or risk losing your staff. Regrettably, we have all been there, regardless of the profession. Whether it’s real estate, marketing,...

Even with the long lead times, the proposal process can be stressful. Marketers have to own the process and enforce the schedule. Some people describe the proposal process as a marathon while others consider it...

The well-being of your staff cannot be sacrificed for other priorities such as production, profitability, and convenience. As the director of health and safety for an AEC firm, I often find myself asking, “What is...

Things have gotten better in the last 10 years – probably due to the popularity of texting and emailing – but architects and engineers still have a big problem with bad writing. An old friend...

The Spearin Doctrine: Public owners do not shed all design risk by contracting for design-build if there are specified criteria upon which the design-builder is to rely. On government projects you may sometimes hear a...

The true character of any firm can be determined by how it responds to adversity, and that character is usually embodied in the troubleshooter. The troubleshooter. Every A/E and environmental services firm has at least...

Autonomous vehicles are on the way, and when they arrive, parking decks will increasingly become obsolete, and will need to be repurposed. Cars that can drive themselves, using radar, LIDAR, and other imaging devices will...

“Quality” is an elusive thing. It’s like a moving target. One person’s definition of high quality could be completely different from another’s. For firms providing architecture, engineering, planning, or related services, it is really all...

If you don’t want scope creep and unforeseen expenses to ruin your profit margins, try improving your estimating process. You planned for your project to make 14 percent, but you end up with 8 percent....

In states that adhere to the ELD, design professionals have a strong defense against third-party claims for economic damages. Know the law in your project state. Law books are full of various “doctrines” that have...

There’s something to be said for looking and acting the part if you want to be recognized as a professional. I think sometimes people in our business forget that. Here are some examples: Vehicles. If...

As 2018 approaches, A/E firms may want to revisit professional liability insurance limits, and find optimal solutions for their requirements. As design firms look ahead to 2018, the time may be right to reassess their...

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...

A/E firms with new projects should carefully examine their contracts, or risk expanding overall exposure and adding potentially significant uninsured liabilities. Before inking a deal on a new project, architects and engineers should conduct a...

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...

While the lure of them is understandable, there are probably better, more human ways of evaluating candidates before you hire them. Some people are enamored with personality tests. But despite their popularity in certain circles,...

Register for the seminar and receive the 2017 Project Management Study for free. EXCELLENCE IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT was specifically developed to support Project Managers in AEC firms. Many architects, engineers, planners, and environmental consultants receive...

If you’re looking to sell, it’s critical you attract the right buyers with a detailed yet concise overview of your firm. The M&A transaction “teaser” is the first document that a prospective buyer will review...

“It is widely-recognized that "The Age of Easy Oil" is over, and companies are entering more inhospitable environments – both politically and geologically-speaking - than ever before in the quest for the Black Gold.” Sed...

“At vero eos et accusamus et iusto odio dignissimos ducimus qui blanditiis praesentium voluptatum deleniti atque corrupti quos dolores et quas molestias excepturi sint occaecati cupiditate non provident, similique sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt...

“At vero eos et accusamus et iusto odio dignissimos ducimus qui blanditiis praesentium voluptatum deleniti atque corrupti quos dolores et quas molestias excepturi sint occaecati cupiditate non provident, similique sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt...

“Digital transformation deserves better than a buzzword and a marketing concept.” Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et...

“At vero eos et accusamus et iusto odio dignissimos ducimus qui blanditiis praesentium voluptatum deleniti atque corrupti quos dolores et quas molestias excepturi sint occaecati cupiditate non provident, similique sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt...

Automation can be helpful, save a ton of money, and even cut down on errors, but you have to know how to push the ‘stop’ button. Not long ago someone at Zweig Group was scheduling...

If improperly worded, they not only can shift significant risks, but do so in ways that leave design professionals exposed to potentially large claims. A critical component of effective risk management for design firms involves...

Automation can be helpful, save a ton of money, and even cut down on errors, but you have to know how to push the ‘stop’ button. Not long ago someone at Zweig Group was scheduling...

Sometimes you have to fire an employee, but in plenty of cases, a mistake is a mistake, and an employee with a second chance is loyal. It’s a position that no boss wants to be...

San Francisco’s tallest and most luxurious residential skyscraper is sinking, leaning, and setting the stage for an epic, and even precedent-setting, bayside court battle. When it was completed in 2008, the 58-story Millennium Tower in...

If you are you stuck in neutral, break out of the rut by asking questions, altering your approach, and accepting the possibility that there may be a problem. Some of us have a hard time...

If a firm wants to succeed at a high level, it must keep a keen eye on the documents, and have an ear for what the client needs. It’s my experience that too many firms...

The checklist is long, but with meticulous attention to detail, a firm can avoid unpleasant surprises after closing the deal. Merger and acquisition activity among A/E firms continues to heat up. When planning to buy,...

Mark Zweig offers 13 lucky suggestions on how to be closer to your clients. How you manage your clients is a big part of success in the A/E or environmental consulting business. And these skills...

By Hobson Hogan Just as the proverbial third wheel, the statement of cash flows gets summarily skipped over by management. In earnings calls, CFOs spend time talking about sustainable earnings and strong balance sheets. Where...

I was recently interviewed for a magazine article about the residential redevelopment projects we do here in Fayetteville. In addition to figuring out why my houses sell either before we start working on them or...

There’s no question in my mind that using personal letters is one of the best-kept marketing secrets for architects, engineers, and environmental consultants. Newsletters are overused. Every firm has one. And if the firm is...

When you talk with those folks who have really “made it” in this business, i.e., successful principals in successful A/E and environmental firms, they will usually tell you that being able to write was critical...

A lot of design and environmental firm principals have been around a long time— they’re an average of 48 years old. That means that they have probably been doing this work for 20-25 years or...

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

I can’t tell you how many business planning meetings I have sat in on in large firms where someone comes up with the novel idea of checking all project deliverables before they go out. It’s...

Human resources people are big on job descriptions. I was never that fond of them because it seems that they can always be used against you somehow. Here are some examples: “I meet the requirements...

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...

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...

I said something to my 78 year-old father the other day about going someplace or another to conduct a “management retreat.” His response was, “Why not a management charge?” He went on to say that...

I have said before that I think most project management training is ineffective. But that doesn’t help the majority of our readers— owners and managers of firms who depend on having good enough project management...

Most of us heard it from our parents at some point in our childhood: “You can grow up to be anything you want, but be the best at it you can be.” It’s a good...

There may be truth to the old adage: “Ignorance is bliss.” Because the fact is, there are a lot of people, many of them at the highest levels in A/E/P and environmental firms, who are...

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

One of the great things about the A/E/P and environmental consulting business is that it always provides you with a challenge. Right now, many firms are feeling particularly stressed— with a higher than normal workload,...

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

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

Conventional wisdom (CW) isn’t always so “wise.” Let’s take a look at some of the wisdom frequently heard in the halls and conference rooms of A/E and environmental consulting firms: The company will be profitable...

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...

The importance and difficulty of maintaining quality was driven home to me personally last month. We sent out 12,000 pieces of mail promoting a new book, only to discover after the fact that the price...