Search results

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

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

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 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 Mark Zweig | Better project management isn’t about new systems, it’s about disciplined leadership, clear decisions, and relentless execution of fundamentals.

By Scott Butcher | Most AEC strategic plans fail not from bad ideas, but from misalignment, weak accountability, ignored culture, and lack of execution discipline.

By Mark Zweig | In a world of constant distraction, true effectiveness comes from knowing your priorities and having the discipline to follow them.

By Mark Zweig | Calm leadership under pressure –whether in business, aviation, or racing – proves experience and composure drive effective decision-making.

    “Vernacular is what you do when you can’t afford to get it wrong.” Carley Chastain Episode Summary: This episode of The Zweig Letter Podcast, hosted by Randy Wilburn and joined by marketing co-host...

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

By Alan Lloyd | In a fast-paced AEC world, servant leadership empowers teams, boosts outcomes, and shapes a culture people want to join.

By Sara Parkman | The top 2025 Marketing Excellence Award winners share how strategy, authenticity, and collaboration drive real AEC marketing impact.

By Chad Clinehens | ElevateAEC celebrates high-performance AEC firms moving fast and intentionally in a changing industry.

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

By Mark Zweig | It’s time to take a serious look at this stuff in your strategic plan and instead of fluff, focus on coming up with some substantive actions.

By Liam Watson | These four virtues will help you survive and thrive in all parts of daily life, both personally and professionally.

By Lauren Martin | The standard of care for architects and engineers is evolving as climate change, disasters, and emerging risks reshape industry expectations.

By Mark Zweig | These qualities will be essential for entrepreneurial leaders in the AEC business to have in the coming months and years ahead.

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

By Lindsay Young | AEC firms that invest in marketing and business development enjoy higher profitability, attract aligned clients, and foster top talent.

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

By Liisa Andreassen | President of Southern Steel Engineers (Lexington, SC), a firm that provides state of the art engineering and analysis for structural steel projects.

By Emily Gaines | The words and numbers used to describe design concept, building component, and client goal form a dataset that guides decisions and improves project success.

By Morgan Stinson | AEC firms that focus on fostering genuine client relationships build trust, loyalty, and long-term success.

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

By Mark Zweig | Flexible job descriptions with clear responsibilities, single reporting lines, and adaptable salary ranges foster employee satisfaction and avoid rigidity.

By Mark Zweig | These four things are beyond essential if you are serious about building an enduring organization that will evolve over time.

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

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

By Mark Zweig | Are you going to do anything different with HR or just follow the same tired practices of all the other firms you have worked for or compete with?

By Dan Houf | Nothing prepares you for the challenges of managing a firm like putting your feet to the fire and learning from everyday experiences.

By Mark Zweig | If you take an honest look at people who are really good project managers, you’ll find they have some specific personality traits and abilities that lead to their success.

By Greg Sepeda | If you can clear out the unnecessary underbrush, you will benefit from a staff that finally can breathe, see new paths, and move your firm forward.

By Mark Zweig | There are things firm owners can do to awaken the latent entrepreneurial spirit lying dormant in some (if not all) of their people.

By Keyan Zandy | Embrace significance over success, treat everyone with respect, and challenge conventional thinking for a more inclusive and compelling leadership approach.

By Keyan Zandy | Traditional construction practices pit trade partners against each other; adopting a collaborative team approach can enhance outcomes.

By Mercedez Thompson | A firm’s approach to proposal development greatly impacts how marketing and proposal professionals do their job and how they understand their role.

By Liisa Andreassen | CEO of UES (Orlando, FL), a privately held, rapidly growing engineering and consulting firm and No. 1 Hot Firm three years in a row.

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 Liisa Andreassen | President and CEO of Sunrise Engineering (Fillmore, UT), a full-service professional engineering and consulting firm that has been providing its services since 1978.

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

By Liisa Andreassen | Principal at JQ (Dallas, TX), a team of professionals providing structural and civil engineering, geospatial, and facility performance services within a diverse group of markets.

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 Mark Zweig | These three things are important to your firm’s success, but they may require a reallocation of your time and money.

By Mark Zweig | Improving this will not only help you attract and keep good people, but it will also bring in new clients.

By Liisa Andreassen | Partner at Orcutt | Winslow (Phoenix, AZ), a design firm that aspires to positively disrupt architecture through innovation, experimentation, and invention.

By Mark Zweig | It’s time to turn your firm’s HR upside down and make some big changes to your policies and practices.

By Mark Zweig | It’s time to take a good hard look at what everyone in your business is doing for you.

By Jerry Holder | Three lessons learned from stories of leaders’ successes and failures – and their ramifications.

By Kraig Kern | Your firm’s collective strengths can and should be applied to make your new employees’ onboarding a standout experience.

By Liisa Andreassen | Principal at Brenner Design (Indianapolis, IN), an award-winning, woman owned architectural firm that designs and constructs innovative buildings and interior spaces.

By Mark Zweig | What really makes people take responsibility for something and give it their all – to truly be accountable?

By Phil Keil | There is a bridge to opportunity that can lead us to a landscape where the change we seek is possible.

By Phil Keil | Think of strategy as a revolutionary process requiring continual iteration and agility.

By Eddie Wade | Burnout is blazing through workplaces at a rapid pace and negatively impacting productivity, morale, and retention.

By Keyan Zandy | There are a lot of heroes in our companies, but some are less noticeable. Their successes are quieter and less dramatic, but no less valuable.

By WSB | In 1959, Kennedy became the first Black woman to receive an engineering degree from a school in Texas. Here, she reflects on her more than 55 years of experience since then.

Domestic Transactions HDR, (Omaha, NE) a leading design firm has acquired WKE (Santa Ana, CA). WKE has expertise in design and construction management for streets and highway corridors, bridges, runway structures, trail and transit facilities,...

By Mark Zweig | Here are 12 things you can actually change in your business that will help you win the talent war.

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 Dave Martin | To be an effective leader, you have to be authentic, acknowledge what you don’t know, and be willing to make mistakes.

By Mark Zweig | Firm owners need to be thinking about and planning for the huge wave of business that’s coming just around the corner.

By Mark Zweig | Firms that can quickly fill any opening with excellent people have a major advantage over their competition in any market.

By Kevin Token | A singular leader, in place for all time, might not be the best model for your firm. Consider a different way, one that plans for transitions and accommodates change.

By Mark Zweig | Many people in this business will say they agree with this idea, yet the people doing the hiring rarely do it.

By Jamie Claire Kiser | Respond to your call to action, whatever it may be, and build a legacy that will leave your profession better than you found it.

By Mark Zweig | There are 10 things practically every firm in this business should do but won’t. If you try these things, your firm will be more successful.

By Chad Clinehens | Embrace this period of rapid evolution and push yourself even further out of your comfort zone.

President and CEO Arora Engineers, Inc. (Chadds Ford, PA), a firm that meets the evolving needs of its clients through more intelligent, sustainable, infrastructure solutions.

Leaders of employee-friendly firms talk about recruiting, culture, and the importance of employee feedback.

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

By Mark Zweig | If you make these 50 calls, you will not only get new projects, you will also learn a great deal and renew old friendships.

Founding principal of PK Electrical (Reno, NV), a women-owned, small business electrical engineering and design firm founded in 1996.

President and CEO of the North American operations of Mott MacDonald (Iselin, NJ), a $2 billion global management, engineering, and development firm.

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

“You would be surprised how quickly your employees get in the bandwagon when they can be part of the solution.”

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

As Zweig Group’s director of executive search, Chad Coldiron’s passion is connecting top talent with AEC firms.

By Phil Keil | If you’re struggling to build a productive team, it might be time to take a long look in the mirror.

They count, so gather your leadership team, find the set of behaviors they admire, and make them part of your mission and vision.

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

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

“Years ago, I worked for an A/E firm in Memphis by the name of Pickering, Wooten, Smith and Weiss. My boss was Don Smith and my mentor was Irving Weiss. Both of them taught me...

Portland office leader for PCS Structural Solutions believes in the legacy of engineering as a community builder.

President of Bernardon (Hot Firm #39 for 2018), an 80-person architecture, interior design, and landscape architecture firm based in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

“If any of these situations sounds familiar – and you have tried to correct the situation by directly confronting it – it may be time to let that person go.”

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...

A lot of people leave their jobs because they hate their bosses. They stay because the C-suite listens to what they have to say. The results of the Best Small and Medium Workplaces 2018 present...

Our success, as people and as businesses, depends on the quality and speed of our response to problems and opportunities. This play on the word responsibility is not new, but it has never been more...

Breaking into new markets isn’t easy, but it can be done if you have a long-term, coordinated plan of attack. Following 30 years as an Army Engineer officer, I went to work as a market...

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

As an industry, we generally leave a lot of money on the table and drive up costs with our lack of effectiveness in management and training. When we think of improving, we often turn to...

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...

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

Non-creatives have to understand and respect what marketers do, or we run the risk of demotivating those who are critical to our success. A recent study by InSource reported that “Creative professionals are being asked...

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

Are all your processes in place in the event your firm is waylaid by a wildfire, earthquake, hurricane or flood? Things were pretty much business as usual in early December with sunny skies and strong...

Anyone who knows me knows how much I don’t like trendy business books, self-appointed life coaches, or motivational experts – for many reasons that I won’t got into here. That said, I must say I...

Do you want to win a project, identify a new service offering, or attract a new employee? Pick the right medium and have at it! Humans have been communicating through stories for more than 25,000...

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

Good old American ingenuity is what we need to save the planet, not a cumbersome set of rules and regulations. A great deal has been written, and there has been significant handwringing, about America backing...

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...

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....

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...

Someone turns in their notice. They were either close to being fired or should have been. They let you down. Or, they are going to work for a competitor. Do you refuse to say “goodbye”...

Eroding profitability. Never good. Never fun. The result is less and less money to go around. I’m not going to talk about the obvious things such as labor costs that are too high, overly lavish...

Keeping a good team together requires lots of maintenance, great perks and benefits, and the willingness to toss out the bad apples. I get asked the same question all the time – how do I...

Did you ever hire someone who didn’t work out? Someone who effectively “fired themselves” by either refusing to accept your coaching and input or recognize the signs that they were in trouble and change their...

Business planning in an AEC firm is such a critical function. It really is one of the key roles of the CEO. Yet we seem to struggle with it. Here are some of the ways...

CEO and founder of Comprehensive Environmental Inc. (Best Firm #3 Environmental for 2016), a 30-person firm headquartered in Marlborough, MA. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent A cornerstone of great project management? “Be available,” Pannetier says. A...

As designers, it’s time to redefine the world and make it better, and that starts with preserving our resources. As I read the various architecture, interior design, and engineering journals, I see many people, firms,...

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...

There are four ways AEC project managers can shine in team interviews. Try them all and win more work. Juggler. Cat herder. Diplomat. They go by many names, but project managers have one of the...

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...

Over the years, we have developed work styles that are not good for our physical, mental, or emotional health, but that can be changed. It’s not that we’re bad people, or that we aren’t working...

This year’s event, as in previous years, featured a full slate of breakout sessions with dynamic speakers. Here’s what they had to say about the 2016 conference. “As our industry heats up, good people are...

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...

It’s time for a quick review of what firm leaders should – and should not – be doing. There are a lot of people with the “principal” title in A/E of environmental firms. But I...

We got a fax the other day from a firm that wanted to cancel four seminar registrations it had sent in just a couple weeks before. Evidently, the firm had hit on hard times, had...

“John,” the president, CEO, and co-founder of a 250-person midwestern E/A firm, was frustrated. After so many years of success, it seemed to him that all he was doing now was de-fusing irate clients, talking...

Engineering duo publishes a report on cold-formed steel and how it can be used to make buildings more resistant to the external blast from a terrorist attack. By Richard Massey Managing Editor The Cold-Formed Steel...

Now in my 36th year of this business, ‎I am still learning. Here are some quick bits of advice that have helped me over the years: Never lose your temper. Being calm is always best....

Fayetteville, AR – April 20, 2016 — Zweig Group provided consulting over the recent HFA Architectural and Engineering firm acquisition of ALLEVATO Architects. The Northwest Arkansas based HFA is consistently ranked nationally in the top...

Today’s workforce is multigenerational, so those with experience and seniority must learn to understand, and teach, younger colleagues. I was born in 1944, a couple of years before the Baby Boom. But my values and...

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...

For most of my career, I have defended the "new generation," i.e., those just getting out of school and starting their careers. The older people have always complained about the group coming in behind them,...

CMTA Inc. is increasing its presence in the Washington, D.C. Metro area via a merger with TMR Engineering (Arlington, Virginia). The transaction was facilitated by Zweig Group and closed on January 1, 2016. Zweig Group...

When seeking to define his or her position, a top leader should consider these 7 vital responsibilities. Because top firm leaders (CEOs, presidents, managing partners, etc.) probably have a better opportunity to define their own...

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...

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

My husband and I had dinner one evening last week at one of our favorite local restaurants, an upscale place with a gracious staff and fantastic fare. Or, at least, we went to the restaurant...

Architectural colleague shares new scale for assessing employees’ impact on the firm, community, world in areas of attitude, capability, performance. I’ve always been skeptical of the “performance review” style of evaluating. I believe in a...

Being human, we all have opportunities to learn (and re-learn) valuable truths for dealing with others. You’re never too old to learn, if you keep your mind open to it. I have found over the...

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

Industry prosperity can’t last forever, but preparation now can help you be ready if – and when – the cycle ends. The A/E industry is hot right now, People! The overall industry is as healthy...

Asking five questions can help competent men and women prioritize their endless workloads. When you look at those people working in A/E firms who seem to get a lot done, you find one of their...

Hot buttons, communication preferences, politics are just a few elements to know how – or how not – to address. It occurred to me the other day how crucial it is to really know your...

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

Build a better, more sustainable company with these suggestions from Mark Zweig. 2015 is shaping up to be a FANTASTIC year for firms in this business. It’s really fun to see how many firms are...

Five facts to consider during the recruiting process at your firm. Managing expectations in an executive search process can be a burdensome task. After all, you’re eager to quickly find that perfect new team member...

Coach your staff on the small things that make all the difference and follow these four tips from Mark Zweig. So much of one’s success in the architecture, engineering, planning or environmental business has nothing...

Four pointers from Mark Zweig for firms stuck in a no-growth mode. One thing is for sure about the A/E/P and environmental consulting business: We’re all “stuck” if we can’t train people who work for...

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...

Don’t we all want to be part of an organization that we are thrilled to be a part of; that makes us proud? I often get chills when I think back on my early career...

This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 1001 Originally published 4/1/2013 The long love affair between design firm leaders and cars continues, Mark Zweig writes. We were doing an in-house...

Press Release: September 21, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (September 21, 2011) — It’s no big news that a rough economy has taken its toll on many architecture, engineering, planning and environmental firms, but this situation isn’t...

By Jeff Clark, Principal, Investment Banking I have been a Nevada resident and have seen it all, from boom to bust, over the past seven years since I moved here from California. “Viva Las Vegas,”...

By W. Hobson Hogan ZweigWhite Principal, Investment Banking I have represented many businesses in M&A processes and I have analyzed both great and not-so-great firms. In all of these M&A processes, I have witnessed some...

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 Mark C. Zweig I may make many folks mad at me with this week’s editorial. But too bad. I never wanted to be one of those CONsultants who tells his clients what they want...

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

You can talk about training all day long but when it comes to management training, there is no substitute for having your managers train by example. Let’s look at some common problem areas in A/E/P...

The 10th annual The Zweig Letter Hot Firm Conference is about to take place in Las Vegas. There will be untold celebrating (what happens in Vegas stays there, remember) from this year’s winners. But, what...

Making money is rarely the reason one either buys into or starts their own A/E/P or environmental firm. It certainly can work out that way— i.e., that one makes a lot of money in this...

Economic crisis or not, there’s a lot of it going on these days— firms in our “industry” buying other companies— for a variety of reasons. And while there is lots of information out there on...

We’re in the middle of some tough, turbulent times. It seems like every market served by A/E/P and environmental firms is full of uncertainty. No one knows whether or not tomorrow will be harder than...

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

If you have a firm of any size and have been in business for any length of time, you will at some point discover one of your key people is interviewing with a competitor. You...

The year is winding up. Along with that, usually goes a little self-examination. One thing many firms are discovering as they go through this process is an alarming increase in old accounts receivable. By “old,”...

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

I was in a board meeting recently with a quality, old-line engineering/architecture/consulting firm where one of the primary topics was business development. We spent several hours talking about it and how they are changing their...

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 &...

The design and construction industries have enjoyed an unprecedented period of growth and prosperity. We have had a few hiccups along the way, but for the most part, the last 15 years or so have...

Over the years, in the pages of The Zweig Letter, we’ve spent a lot of time trying to help companies grow. But the fact is many of those running and operating A/E/P and environmental firms...

I just got back from ZweigWhite’s 2007 A/E Marketing Now Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was our biggest and best-attended marketing conference ever! My task was to open the show with a short talk...

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

Mitchellene Terrence was the 42-year-old director of human resources for Wright, Skidmore, and Johnson, a top-line A/E/P firm in Los Angeles. She was proud to be there. Graduating with a BS degree in 1986 from...

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

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

When it comes to project management for A/E/P and environmental firms, there’s one thing we all agree on— it could be done better. I won’t even begin to attempt to postulate why that’s the case....

They’re making their lists. Nope— I am not talking about the Santa Clauses of the world. I am talking about your employees, and more specifically, your key employees. And the lists they are making don’t...

The folks at Deltek Systems, Inc. (Herndon, VA) have always claimed their market for software and consulting services was “project-driven businesses.” The truth is, the first time I heard that, I was skeptical. I wasn’t...

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...

Ask any expert and they will tell you that you should be doing succession planning at all levels in the organization. What is succession planning? It’s simply answering who is going to take over when...

While there is no doubt a downside to employing too many seasoned veterans in terms of their vacation accrual rates and basic hourly labor cost, I do not understand why some A/E and environmental firms...

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...

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 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...

Let’s face it, the motivation of any A/E or environmental firm’s leaders is, in many ways, more important than the motivation of the staff. Because if the leaders aren’t fired up, how can anyone else...

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

The utilization data of A/E/P and environmental firms over the last several years pretty much proves that if you keep everyone overloaded you can’t help but be profitable. That’s easily accomplished in a heated market...

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

Antoine Nicholas Smith had just started feeling a little better. He’d survived some tough times recently and come out smelling like a rose. After 9/11, his firm, Jones and Stern, tanked. They were losing money,...

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,...

Right now, everyone seems to be interested in profits. 2001 shook owners and employees alike. And even though most firms had a decent year (but “decent” is not the same as “great”), most made about...

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...

I just read two articles written by management consulting firms that serve the design industry. Each of them staked out ridiculous positions. The first dealt with firm valuation and talked in circles about the difference...

“God, it smells good out here,” Bob Trunkwater thought to himself as he started out on his early evening walk around the neighborhood. Trunkwater had just recently made the decision to start his own company....

What is it with some people? We have all had the opportunity (or misfortune) to work with a man or woman who finds fault with everything and pours cold water on every hot idea. These...

It’s becoming more apparent to me every day that human resources management as we know it needs a total overhaul. Many human resources experts (staff and consultants) are perpetuating bad advice, and the typical A/E/P...

When it comes to leadership, there are many different paths that lead to the same destination. Attila the Hun, Moses, Jesus Christ, Mohammed, Tom Peters, and even our kindergarten teachers can all be pointed to...

When it comes to staffing your A/E/P or environmental consulting firm, it’s one thing to have all of your seats filled. It’s another thing to have those seats filled with people who are motivated— motivated...

I’m bullish on this business. As a group of firms, we are doing better than ever. Revenue is up. Profits are up. And the projects are gratifying. It’s an ethical business. There are a lot...

Set to music from The Beverly Hillbillies: Let me tell a little story about a man named Jed, a poor engineer, barely kept his family fed. And then one day when designing to buy food,...

The idea came to me at 3:50 p.m. on Sunday, January 2, 2000. It was a balmy afternoon here in the Boston area— temperatures in the 60s, sunny and bright. I took out my wife’s...

While I have been and continue to be bullish on the A/E/P and environmental consulting business, I must say that we see some wacky things out there when it comes to how firms manage and...

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...

I would be surprised if more than one of our readers hasn’t said to themselves recently, “We really ought to be thinking about what we’ll do if things slow down.” Well get ready folks, it’s...

Summer’s here. Our local swimming hole— “Farm Pond”— in the town I live in (Sherborn, Mass., pop. 4,300) is also a social gathering spot. Late in the afternoon and on weekends you’ll see all of...

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,...

Raymond Stodge, managing principal of “Stodge Engineers and Architects,” was depressed. How would he get the firm’s executive committee to start taking action on the issues that had plagued the firm for years? And now...

Believe it or not, some people don’t like the term “human resources management.” They think it diminishes individuals in some way, and by referring to “human resources” we might as well be talking about “natural...

t seems to me the only way to really be successful is to be different from everyone else. Whether it’s your career or your firm we are talking about, it’s all the same. Yet many...

At our new “Managing a Growing Firm” seminar series, which kicked off last week in Boston, a hard-driving CEO from a local area firm took exception to one of our recommendations on how to improve...

A lot of firms are successful right now. But the question they should ask themselves as the new year approaches is, “Are we successful because of what we are doing as management, or in spite...

Oops.....I just used a four-letter word. Excuse me. But unfortunately, I don’t know a better term to describe people who constantly push the limits and question the status quo. In fact, I think having one...

If you’re not worried about who is going to take over when you’re gone, you should be. The second-tier management in an A/E/P or environmental firm is every bit as important as the first. This...

One of the principals of a firm I have been acquainted with for a couple of years called the other day to tell me he had just left a board of directors’ meeting where they...

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...

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

Fred White and I just returned from the 14th annual Inc. 500 Conference and Awards Ceremony, which was held this year at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. The event is held to recognize...

If you’re anything like me, you hate to fire people. It’s at the top of my “least desirable activities” list, above even performance appraisals, collection calls, cold calls, and dental extractions. Most halfway-decent folks feel...

I thought about a headline for this week’s treatise along the lines of “Second guessers, naysayers, and negative thinkers,” or “No more excuses,” or “Let’s cut the crap.” But I decided that none of these...

Every A/E/P and environmental firm I’ve encountered that has survived over the long haul has periodically made a push to improve its profitability. All the growth in the world won’t do you any good if...

I have yet to see an A/E/P or environmental consulting firm with a utopian project management system— one where every single job goes exactly the way it’s supposed to in every way. One of my...

If I could give only one caution to principals of A/E/P and environmental firms, it would not be “grow slowly so you don’t over-expand and outstrip your managerial capabilities.” Nor would it be “watch every...

There really is something to the notion that you do your best work when you feel good about what you are doing. This is especially true when you are under stress. Any professional working in...

Not a week goes by that someone doesn’t ask us for help with project management training. There is a huge demand for it. Nobody seems happy with the effectiveness of their project managers. But is...

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,...

This year’s Professional Services Management Association (PSMA) National Convention was held in St. Paul last week. (I keep wanting to say “Minneapolis,” but St. Paulians are sensitive about that). Ed Vick, president of PSMA (Charlotte,...

I don’t think anyone who knows me or reads my stuff is confused about where I stand on at least one subject— how many hours a professional in this business should work each week. There’s...

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...

The ability of an A/E or environmental consulting firm to quickly hire qualified people for any opening affects virtually every aspect of its management. I call it “supply-side human resources management.” If you think about...

We’ve all heard it before from people we work with: “I’m going to...” or “We’re going to...” or “I would have, but....” or “Some day, we’ll...” These “do-nothing” people may work for you, with you...

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...

After countless management consulting assignments involving turnarounds and strategic business planning for A/E and environmental consulting firms, it has only recently become clear to me why so many companies in this business don’t believe in...

Last week, I spoke to an engineer laid off from the consulting firm where he had been employed for the past 18 years. Unfortunately, his layoff was the direct result of a recommendation contained in...