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By Janki DePalma | A “hell yeah” mindset helps firms move from fear-based decisions to choices grounded in clarity and strategy.

By Mark Zweig | When family enters the org chart, leaders must manage perception, opportunity, and accountability with far more discipline.

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

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

By Mark Zweig | Cash flow breaks down in AEC firms when billing is delayed, collections are weak, and discipline slips across the business.

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

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 Janki DePalma | When we measure collaboration instead of individual wins, teams shift from rivalry to shared success.

By Mark Zweig | Firms that ignore AI will look slower, more expensive, and harder to work with.

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

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 Jeremy Clarke | Micromanagement is hated, but accountability often wears that label when underperformance finally meets real leadership attention.

By Michael Sanderson | The future of professional services depends less on hours logged and more on trust, ownership, and meaningful results.

By Lauren Martin | Effective risk management in A/E firms starts with strong relationships, open dialogue, and engaging the right partners early.

By Mark Zweig | Leaders shape outcomes through mindset, so choose optimism, act on opportunity, and set expectations that inspire rather than limit your team.

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

By Matt Verderamo | Success in leadership comes from embracing change with courage, staying flexible, communicating openly, and continuously moving forward.

By Tom Godin | When the mind and body of a business move together, worry fades and real performance begins.

By Mark Zweig | If you want people to work harder, hire the ambitious, lead by example, and reward real performance.

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

By Mark Zweig | Don’t take a cavalier attitude toward potential disaster, but recognize that experimentation is essential for building a growing, successful company.

By Gary Bowman | Building a firm that attracts people, not just transactions, requires balancing scale, preserving culture, and investing in long-term success.

By Jeremy Clarke | Handle hidden tension before it blows – eroding trust, culture, and leadership credibility.

By Janki DePalma | Recognition matters, but real growth happens when leaders value quiet progress, not just visible wins.

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 Dan Schwartz | Successful M&A communication is achieved through strategy, storytelling, and staying human in the face of complexity.

By Dave Williams | Policy slack combines structure with flexibility, empowering leaders with the room to move, own decisions, and grow.

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

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

By Kyle Ahern | What high-profit 2025 Best Firms To Work For do differently to earn employee trust, loyalty, and performance.

By Mark Zweig | A business plan only works if leadership builds accountability, relationships, and follow-through into daily operations and culture.

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

By Jeremy Clarke | The key to embracing growth without giving up what made your firm great in the first place.

By Lynn Bruns | If we want to create workplaces where people thrive, innovate, and stay, we must go beyond managing to metrics.

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

By Ying Liu | Employee experience plays a crucial role in maximizing strategic outcomes.

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

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

By Ezequiel Tovar | These common leadership mistakes hinder the growth and success of your business.

By Javier Suarez | Instead of trying to fix “the big problem,” we should handpick issues that we could have a decent chance of addressing successfully.

By Kraig C. Kern | Corporate giving today should be about about creating meaningful opportunities for employees to make a difference while developing professionally.

By Mark Zweig | These employees go through the motions without adding value, negatively impacting growth and performance across organizations.

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

By Mark Zweig | AEC firms that restrict their marketing leader’s role greatly impact their success and that of the company.

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

By Greg Sepeda | Seizing opportunities fosters a mindset of continuous improvement, enabling us to refine our skills and expand our horizons.

By Shelby Smith | Although change can begin with one person, monumental, industry-altering change must be a cohesive, collaborative team effort.

By Liisa Andreassen | CEO of OWN, Inc. (Springfield, MO), an engineering firm that unleashes the power of true, 100 percent employee ownership.

By Tyler Suomala | Sales is not the monster under the bed – it’s just a conversation, a shared meal, and a chance to offer solutions and forge lasting connections.

By Tom Godin | How the military’s mission command principles can improve leadership and management in AEC firms.

By Brad Thurman | To attract and motivate the best team, you need to be able to articulate your vision and the steps you’re taking to get there.

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

By Alan Lloyd | With the right approach, our people can develop the skills and confidence needed to excel in business development, contributing to our collective success.

By Donnie Gladfelter | In the AEC industry today, the most innovative organizations will not be those with the greatest capacity to learn but those with the greatest capacity to unlearn.

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

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

By Chad Clinehens | What it means to be an entrepreneur and run a smaller AEC firm in today’s competitive environment.

By Ezequiel Tovar | Neglecting succession planning jeopardizes the future of your company’s internal transition.

By Earl Bennett | Working within a safety-conscious culture contributes to the health and well-being of both employees and the organization.

By Mark Zweig | Take these steps to reduce resistance and increase the likelihood of success for any change initiative.

By Morgan Stinson | Reading books across a wide spectrum of topics can help you develop the skills needed to calmly and confidently tackle the challenges you face as a firm leader.

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

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

By Mark Zweig | This advice isn’t hard to follow; it just takes some conscious effort and a little discipline.

By Keyan Zandy | This tool can help you develop a deeper understanding of your client’s experience by exploring their emotions, motivations, and attitudes.

By Chad Clinehens | Firms that take the time to learn and adapt to AI could gain a competitive advantage over those that are slower to adopt.

By Jeff Sober | If you want to keep people at your firm long-term, it’s time to rethink traditional approaches to preventing turnover.

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 Dan Houf | This harmful change in tax policy is going to impact the AEC industry, and may even put many small firms out of business.

By Mark Zweig | When it comes to leadership, things are rarely black and white – but there are some things leaders just shouldn’t ever do.

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

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 Keyan Zandy | The best way to foster a lean culture is by engaging with people, celebrating what they do well, and empowering them to be a part of the change you seek.

By Katie Batill-Bigler | Delegating demonstrates a strong sense of organization, self-confidence, and trust in your team – while also allowing opportunities for your team to grow.

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

By Scott McNally | If you swing for the fence, remember the fans, watch for curveballs, and rally your team, your firm will be successful.

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 Mark Zweig | You are in control of your business, and its success depends on your ability to keep a level head and keep making things happen.

By Ashley Heinnickel | A rebrand is an opportunity to elevate your firm’s identity and build excitement about where you’re going.

By Mark Zweig | Use these tactics to respond to the things that trigger you emotionally and contribute to you losing your temper.

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

By Mark Zweig | If you really know your business, you can make money in any market – even one as crazy as this.

By Kraig Kern | Too much of a good thing can lead to a crisis for you and your staff and dissatisfaction for your clients.

By Brian King | Instead, consider regular performance discussions and an annual strategy meeting to set, implement, and evaluate goals and initiatives.

By Julia DeFrances | It’s natural to want to go back to normal – but remember that employees are your firm’s most important asset, and their needs are critical to your continued success.

By Tim Schroeder | Grow your team’s empathy by embracing a culture of feedback, realigning your perspective to view feedback as an opportunity, and becoming coachable.

By Mark Zweig | You need to be identifying your successor and preparing the road for them so they can be successful.

By Jenny Phan | Get your technical professionals comfortable with sharing their stories and they’ll promote your firm, their good work, and their team.

By Mercedez Thompson | Leaders must engage in burnout prevention strategies that alleviate overburdened employees, reduce the number of meetings, encourage PTO, and promote flexible hours.

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

By Mark Zweig | This is essential if you want to build a good firm of competent people who can keep the business going whether you’re there or not.

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

By Mark Zweig | When times get tough, you have two choices: You can cut expenses and eliminate all investments, or you can double down on making improvements in your business.

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.

By Phil Keil | We can learn a lot about mission and vision through the context of some of America’s founding documents.

By Mark Zweig | Firms in this business are quickly sorting themselves into two categories – those that are doing better than ever post-COVID-19, and those that are doing worse.

For many leaders, business development resides outside their core competencies and comfort zone, to their firm’s detriment.

By Mark Zweig | With new cases of COVID-19 on the rise, now is not the time for complacency. Instead, it is a time for self-reflection and new action.

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

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 Mark Zweig | Are you doing what you really should be for your business right now? Or are you just floating along on a sea of uncertainty, afraid to move or you’ll turn over your...

By Mark Zweig | No matter how you feel personally about anything happening in the country or world as a whole, it’s your job to do your job.

By Mark Zweig | Getting on the phone right now may be the single most important thing you can do to bring in new work.

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.”

“Satisfaction with the status quo leads to complacency. Complacency is the enemy of motivation.”

“Whether or not our businesses survive is going to be up to our response to the problem as leaders. It won’t be easy, but this, too, shall eventually pass.”

By Christina Zweig Niehues | The situation is changing quickly, but versatility and fast decision-making have become necessary.

Leading a successful organization takes the courage to try new ideas, weather many storms, and know how to say no.

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.

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

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

By Christina Zweig Niehues | Women PMs are hungry for leadership and management training, and want their firms to do more in that regard.

Exercise these 12 roles with care and you will be surprised by how many admire and understand why your firm has grown so successfully.

Many people can be apprehensive when faced with new technology. It’s important to address their fears and to have a plan for successful implementation.

Zweig Group’s 2019 Project Management Report of AEC Firms presents an in-depth look at the responses of over one-hundred project managers and firm leaders in the industry. What are they doing to optimize project delivery...

No one wants just a job, and no one wants to live in “quiet desperation.” As leaders, we can help employees sidestep burnout.

Embrace change, take chances, and continually innovate to make sure your firm stays ahead on the innovation continuum.

When executives do too much, they might be avoiding a problem, and they can damage the firm in the process.

Ask yourself how you can remove constraints and let ideas flow, so they can be shared, shaped, and applied.

When working on a project, there are various human roadblocks that consistently clog the path to project execution.

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

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.

“This was the fourth or fifth time since 1997 that Zweig Group has done one of these events coupled with a racing school. They always get me thinking.”

“You had better conquer those fears! Because the power of the information to inform, educate, and motivate your people is more powerful than any negative that could come from it.”

When it comes to delegation, you have to pick the right person for the right job, and set them up to succeed.

In the early rush to make our names in the AEC business, we often overlook the basic building blocks for a great career. As a younger engineer, I occasionally spent time doing the wrong things....

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.

If we want to grow as people and as firms, we have to first find the fine line, and then what’s on either side of it. Choice breeds chaos, or so the saying goes. Even...

Approximately 10,000 baby boomers will retire every day over the next decade. By 2030, millennials will comprise three-quarters of the U.S. workforce. A common blood sport at leadership team meetings these days begins with, “WHAT...

Tax consultancy looks at people, not just price and product, to develop new business while serving existing clients. Editor’s note: Corporate Tax Advisors, Inc. is a sponsor of the 2018 Hot Firm + A/E Industry...

By Phil Keil | The development of high moral and ethical standards is the most important thing you can do as a leader, and it will transform your team for the good.

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...

It’s time to build a list that matters to you, and as you do, don’t let anything stand in your way, including skeptical friends and colleagues. With so many day-to-day responsibilities, it’s easy to postpone...

Zweig Group offers plenty of opportunities for education and training, but among the crown jewels are The Principals Academy and CEO Roundtable. If you work in the AEC industry, it almost goes without saying that...

Take a hard look at your firm. Is your operation lean and mean, or is it bloated with perks and unneeded extras? A friend of mine, an Austin-based land use attorney, grew up listening to...

Do you have a job interview on the near horizon? If so, do your research, stay on topic, and don’t forget to wear a nice pair of shoes. A close architect friend of mine recently...

No generation owns the work ethic, but when it comes to motivation and anxiety, there’s a big difference between millennials and boomers. I recently read a report from Project: Time Off called, “The Work Martyr’s...

We all need a lengthy, unadulterated turning-off of our brains. How do you start? Try taking a break from the lifelong grind. Sabbatical – rooted in the Greek word sabbatikos – the word speaks to...

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...

Architect Richard Cuebas is the co-founder and vice president of Integra Design Group, which has offices in San Juan, Santo Domingo, and Charlotte, NC. A native of Puerto Rico, Cuebas visited the island in the...

Can project owners be the judge of disputes? Of course they can, especially if the contract clause allows for judicial review. We’ve heard children ask parents to explain their decisions, only to get this response:...

If you want entrepreneurship in the DNA of your firm’s culture, a top-down commitment to innovation and risk is essential. How important is culture? Since it’s the amorphous, intangible, and mysterious thing that drives your...

Subscribe to The Zweig Letter for free to receive business management advice from industry experts to your inbox every week! Live with rejection, learn from rejection, and conquer your fear of rejection. Once all that’s out of the...

They go hand in hand, and both need regular maintenance if they are to be positive. Take a look at your firm and make adjustments if necessary. A company with a great culture can, and...

We can always improve. Take these steps and your life as a leader will get much better. Confronting those who are not doing their jobs. This is one of the primary roles of a leader....

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...

When you have an AEC or environmental firm – or any business, for that matter – there is always a question about how strict your policies can or should be. Generally speaking, I am not...

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...

Don’t expect your PMs to be great leaders just because they are competent professionals. They need training and practice to be effective. Like peanut butter and chocolate; peas and carrots; Bert and Ernie. Project management...

Handle the difficult conversations by knowing who you are, learning about other people, and knowing what’s needed to win. This time he went too far. Milo, your senior engineer, will not budge on his code...

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...

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

If your firm is small but you want it to be big, don’t be afraid, just hold onto your values as you also accept inevitable changes. A company’s growth directly correlates with the company’s culture....

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

New earthquake building codes and rating system, crumbling U.S. infrastructure combine to create enticing market in resiliency. By Richard Massey Managing Editor With a new business segment opening up in the world of seismic assessments...

My Dad, Fred Zweig, died on August 16. He was born in 1920 – lived a long and, for the most part, happy life. He grew up poor in St. Louis. His mom was married...

Mentorships are supposed to be two-way streets, so when you consider your program, make sure you make the right connections. The mentoring partnership is an agreement between two people to share experiences and expertise to...

The towers just south of Central Park are supertall and eye popping, but as sales taper off, and as opposition to them grows, a hush envelopes the design community. By Richard Massey Managing Editor At...

Did your interns live the dream? If so, great, but if not, it might be time to retool your program by taking these six simple steps. As a communications major with an interest in broadcast...

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...

As good as business is in the AEC world – and believe me, it’s really good for most everyone right now – we are seeing a lot of companies developing profitability problems. It’s pretty simple:...

Firms like to talk about growth, but fear of risk, and even laziness, contribute to lackluster marketing and timid strategic plans. If asked to offer words that describe your firm, would you use ordinary, average,...

Letting go is hard to do, so when the time comes for a changing of the guard, it helps if the second tier is groomed, confident, and empowered. Much of our recent work has been...

Change is a powerful force, so embrace it, learn from it, and by all means, take account of its effects and be reasonable in dealing with it. Life would be more comfortable if clichés helped....

Friendships are not only good for the soul, their good for business, so make as many of them as you can if you want your firm to prosper. Personal engagement with clients determines so much...

If a firm is to achieve something spectacular, its leaders have to have big hearts, and they have to galvanize the entire staff. One of the most rewarding things we do as consultants is guide...

Successful ownership transition is difficult to achieve, and for it to happen, the first tier has to embrace the transformation brought on by the second tier. Over the last two years, Zweig Group has supported...

You may have an “open door” policy as a CEO or manager, but you could still be seeing your firm through rose-tinted glasses. If you want to grow, are having a hard time recruiting or...

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

FAYETTEVILLE, Ar. October 30, 2015– On November 15, Zweig Group releases the latest Project Management Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning, and Environmental Consulting Firms, which contains an expanded look at project management trends. “In every...

In my line of work, I talk "big picture" about modeling acquisition outcomes and the pros and cons of stock swaps. But anyone who has worked in the M&A business long enough will be the...

Show paints difference between risk-takers and everyone else. Mark Zweig shares some additional food for thought. Watching “Shark Tank” episodes back-to-back last night was a great case study in the differences between entrepreneurs and most...

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

Design firms may have a niche to fill in this area. After all, you can do it better than a dispassionate program manager. Architects and engineers have long complained about their relationships with program managers....

Mark Zweig expresses frustration about the mishandling of the sales process at design firms. It is a hard to manage the business development (BD) effort in the A/E and environmental consulting industry. To start with,...

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

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...

These are the two core words that define how and what people lead. I’ve spent a great deal of time thinking and learning about leadership. Endless books have been written about leadership and I’ve pursued...

Mark Zweig lists seven concerns, so it’s time to act. With the construction economy roaring back, it’s interesting to me to see some A/E and environmental firms cashing in on it and others that still...

But let’s just be clear – no one really enjoys working in a maddening environment. I was working with an engineering firm two weeks ago and we were discussing ways to improve operations. They had...

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...

By Christine Brack Principal, Business Planning Consulting ZweigWhite Our Best Firms To Work For Summit, held in San Diego in late September, celebrated the firms with the best work environments, commitment to strong values, dedication...

Press Release: July 26, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (July 26, 2011) – For many leaders in architecture, engineering, planning and environmental firms, a finance chief’s job goes beyond managing finances. When editors of The Zweig Letter...

By Ed Friedrichs Chairman, ZweigWhite A good friend and business associate, Kit Miyamoto (CEO of Miyamoto International, a structural engineering firm based in California) recently sent me a reference to a one-minute video by John...

By Christine Brack Principal, Business Planning Consulting Design firms don’t sell an actual product, even if drawings and written deliverables are part of the final package. They make their living selling units of professional time....

By Jeff Clark Many firm owners are afraid to market their firms, for fear that once the word is out that they are for sale, their perceived value will go down and their staff will...

By Mark C. Zweig Sooner or later one comes to the realization that the answer doesn’t always lie in growing revenue. It may just not be possible with the time you have to fix the...

By Jeff Clark From a personal viewpoint, I often wondered in the past what I would say, and with such frequency, on this celebrity-glamorized and ego-centric platform called Twitter. I’m not John Mayer and if...

Press Release: February 22, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, AR (February 22, 2011) — Architects, engineers, project owners and others wishing to work collaboratively under a delivery method known as Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) may have a found...

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...

Until 2004 Ravi Maniktala ruled supreme at ME Group (Omaha, NE), a 60-person mechanical and electrical engineering, building simulation, and lighting design firm. At that time, however, Maniktala, still the firm’s president today, decided to...

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...

Probably no one warned you before you started your A/E/P or environmental consulting firm about the slipperiest of slippery slopes— one you don’t want to go down— that of not paying your bills on time....

In these hard times we live in, many companies in our business are not performing like they once did. No question about it— there’s been plenty of suffering to go around. Fewer projects, lower profits,...

I first predicted the recession on Aug. 13, 2007, in an article in The Zweig Letter, Issue No. 724, entitled, “Many have been lulled…” (referring to the false sense of security about the economy that...

Right now, a record number of senior owners of architecture, engineering, planning, and environmental firms are facing a serious question. Should they sell their firm— or not? It’s a question every entrepreneurial small business owner...

Any business— be that A/E/P or otherwise— survives and prospers to the extent it meets the needs of its clients. That is so incredibly fundamental it borders on the obvious— yet firms falter (and occasionally...

The Zweig Letter Hot Firm List for 2008 is chock-full of success stories. Many are incredibly inspirational and serve as great examples of planning, execution, and character. Some Hot Firms have even been on the...

A friend of mine who redoes old houses here in town was telling me the other day about an architect he’s been working with lately. She’s a registered architect, has her own company, and is...

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...

Human resources management has long been criticized and undervalued by top management in A/E/P and environmental firms. Evidence of this fact is pay. According to ZweigWhite’s 2007-2008 Management Compensation Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning &...

Although I have been generally getting calmer with age, I’ve found myself getting mad lately— mad at design professionals who will NOT do what they should do to build a reputation for themselves and the...

I have already written in The Zweig Letter that I think times are going to get a little—perhaps even a lot— tougher for many A/E/P and environmental consulting firms. It doesn’t mean I’m not bullish...

Being the leader of a Zweig Letter Hot Firm isn’t for everyone. Believe me, I know plenty of these characters personally (and they are “characters!”), and while they come from many different age groups, racial...

After 26 years of immersion in A/E/P and environmental firms, it has come to my attention that one thing probably holds more firms back from achieving their potential more than anything else: the owners’ fear....

It’s been said before that “cash is king.” It’s also been said that you can be profitable and still go out of business if you run out of cash. That said, our industry— that of...

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...

A couple weeks ago, a motley group of A/E firm principals and I went on a 700+ mile ride on two-lane roads through some beautiful countryside in New Hampshire, Vermont, and just a little bit...

I recently agreed to serve as an outside member on the board of directors (BOD) for one of our client companies. This is not the first (nor probably the last) time I have done this....

It’s real popular for A/E and environmental firms to proclaim that they are “client-centered.” Sounds good, right? Give the clients what they want…. But not many firms really do what is necessary to make this...

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...

The older I get the more convinced I am that being a successful leader in a design firm is every bit as much an art as it is a science. You just can’t teach someone...

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...

Cultural alignment, i.e., getting everyone in the firm— especially those at the top—on the same page, is something everyone in our business can tell you is critical. Without it, decisions don’t get made, opportunities come...

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,...

It’s the kind of question that plagues principals: Why, if their firm has spent more than $300,000 on an all-new web-based software program that is designed to integrate every single front office function, are they...

Everyone wants to talk about project management as one of the keys to profitability. But based on some of what I have seen and heard lately, the problem may not be so much about how...

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....

Irving “Tuck” Schlockmeir walked into the Schlockmeir Associates board meeting in a bad mood. Tuck was frequently in a bad mood, and if he wasn’t, the fear that he might go into one scared everyone...

One of the best benefits of working at ZweigWhite is the free food and drink we get. We give everyone whatever they want as long as you can store it in a cabinet or a...

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

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

When design or environmental firms face problems, the first course they usually pursue is one of cost cutting. Obviously, there’s merit to it. I have recommended cost cuts to clients many times over the years,...

I have had a chance to work with a great number of firm leaders over the years. Some were incredibly effective people. Some were incredibly ineffective, too. When you look at the characteristics of those...

While we’re big believers in building a brand name for your firm through a variety of means so your phone rings off the hook with new opportunities, we also know that somebody has to eventually...

“Process marketing” is a term you’ll see a lot of in The Zweig Letter. Heck, we even have a supplemental, stand-alone Process Marketing Advisor devoted entirely to the subject! The reason is that process marketing...

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

I spend more of my billable time helping A/E/P and environmental consulting firms with their business planning than anything else. Most firm owners want to do more with their businesses, to be more successful. But...

My daughter pointed out a great bumper sticker to me last weekend. It said “Stop Global Whining.” It got me thinking. With the state of the economy right now, it’s hard to understand how anyone...

I’ve been thinking a lot about change lately, probably because I have been experiencing so much of it so fast. Moves are one type of change that most people find stressful. I know— I have...

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...

Most A/E/P and environmental firms spend a lot of money just for the opportunity to make a presentation to a client. You send your technical/professional staff chasing all over the countryside, hither and yon, looking...

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,...

A few weeks ago, I went to Colorado and gave an all-day presentation on marketing at the management retreat of a rapidly growing environmental consulting firm. I thought I’d share with our readers what it...

What holds us back as individuals and companies? That question is critical to any A/E/P and environmental firm that wants to be more successful— and being successful is what it’s all about. There’s a tremendous...

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...

As someone with a business orientation and education who started competing at a young age, competition is something I’ve always been interested in. I take pride in being a pretty competitive guy— one who likes...

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...

I watched a movie on T.V. the other night titled “Lean on Me,” starring one of my favorite contemporary actors, Morgan Freeman. Freeman played Joe Clark, the inner-city high school principal who had one year...

Road Warriors Square Off— One Monday a couple of weeks ago, I got up at 3:45 a.m. to catch a 6:00 flight from Boston’s Logan Airport, the start of a long week to come. After...

I’ve always been a student of human interaction. So when I hear someone say of another person in a derogatory tone, “That Wilson sure has a big ego,” I immediately ask myself “Who is this...

When it’s time to hire, most A/E and environmental consulting firms do a pretty good job defining their needs in terms of education, registrations, experience, and so forth. But they don’t do a good job...

It’s the time of year when you can’t reach anyone on the telephone, when important decisions seem to be postponed, and when, as one CFO who participates in our ZWEIG 100 index remarked recently, firm-wide...