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By Mark Zweig | AEC firms build real value when they invest in growth, leadership, systems, and transition before it is too late.

By Sara Grayum | AI is accelerating fast, but in AEC the real opportunity lies in using it to expand capacity, not replace people.

By Jeremy Clarke | Most governance problems are not execution failures but clarity failures around who owns decisions and who is accountable.

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

By Brandon Pinkerton | Small decisions compound into either prisons or possibilities, and today offers the rare opportunity to choose differently.

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

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

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

By Wallace Smith | Giving back is a responsibility that strengthens communities, builds better businesses, and reminds leaders their greatest impact starts beyond the blueprint.

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

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

By Shannon Christiansen | As your firms grows, so does your capacity to give back, strengthening both your communities and your culture.

By Chad Clinehens | Record-breaking performance, bold innovation, and a new generation of leaders are redefining what’s possible in AEC.

By Som Kundral | Leadership isn’t about standing out – it’s about lifting others up and making sure no one’s contribution goes unseen.

By Mark Zweig | AEC firms today still struggle with the same old organizational issues that undermine clarity, accountability, and leadership.

By Mark Zweig | If you want more “word of mouth” advertising, assess how your firm measures up against these six critical factors.

By Matt Verderamo | These four  steps will earn your business a steady backlog, empowering you to chase your strategic goals.

By Javier Suarez | Companies should focus first and foremost on “doing” and then worry about “saying” what they are doing.

By Sarah R. Adams-Slominski | Step back and check in on how your employees are doing, learn what they care about, and discover what helps them stay engaged in their work.

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 | Having little understanding of banking could result in missed opportunities for growth or thorny problems that could put your firm out of business.

By Janki DePalma | Extroverts can create meaningful connections by observing cues, balancing conversation, and actively listening.

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

By Elizabeth Preston | Managers can unintentionally hinder their team’s writing by not providing clear standards, dedicated time, and constructive feedback.

By Kristin Kautz | Can AI consulting and development be used for state and federal R&D tax credits?

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

By Matt Verderamo | Three simple but impactful strategies to shift your mindset from needing more to getting rest.

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

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

By Mark Zweig | Exploring common questions – and their answers – from firm leaders about the buying and selling process.

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

By Kristin Kautz | AI needs effective onboarding and subsequent guidance, patience, and education in order for it to become a productive and valued “employee.”

By Matt Verderamo | Prioritize building relationships with clients and potential clients to build trust, credibility, and alignment for better outcomes.

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 Liisa Andreassen | Senior principal and president of 19six Architects (San Luis Obispo, CA), one of the oldest and most established architectural firms in California.

By Paul David | Boost your staffing by training your interns from day one to become some of your best employees.

By Mark Zweig | There are many factors that can create highly motivated people – some within your control as an employer and some not.

By Kyle Ahern | A look at some of the trends from this year’s Best Firms To Work For award program.

By Matt Hoying | It’s time to give up employee evaluations and instead commit your focus to the enjoyment and fulfillment employees have with their roles in your company.

By Joseph Losaria | A happy team is more productive and engaged, so make sure happiness isn’t just a personal goal but a business goal, as well.

Zweig Group announces the release of its 2023 Policies, Procedures & Benefits Report of AEC Firms, which helps AEC leaders benchmark their firms in all areas related to benefits and compensation.

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

By Liisa Andreassen | Founder of Chrisland Engineering (Lebanon, PA), a small civil engineering firm which specializes in subdivisions, land development, and municipal engineering.

By Gordon Greene | If you trust your staff and have hired people with integrity, you will never need to tell someone you want them 90 percent utilized.

By Mark Zweig | Companies in this industry could be more successful if they spent more time on writing better fee proposals.

By Gregory Teague | Engaging with your community enriches company culture, employee development, and offers an inside advantage to local projects.

By Mark Zweig | There’s still time to get your head on straight and do a few things to make the most of the new year.

By Kevin Bertrand | Strong connections lead to strong communications and successful outcomes, so it’s important that we listen, understand, and respond in ways that are supportive.

By Christina Zweig Niehues | This group will require more flexibility, autonomy, and learning opportunities in order to stay engaged and motivated. 

By Liisa Andreassen | President of NTM Engineering (Dillsburg, PA), a civil engineering firm that specializes in water resources design, bridge design, and engineering instruction.

By Todd Perry | Early successes, failures, and significant challenges, and how a young firm navigated through them.

By Malory Atkinson | Challenge your marketing team to think beyond proposals and begin to work to strategically impact the entire client experience.

By Mark Zweig | The future will be here before you know it, so there is no time to delay your ownership transition planning efforts.

By Christina Zweig Niehues | AEC professionals have a choice about where they live and work, so what makes them choose their workplace?

By Julia DeFrances | Giving back can be a valuable tool for attracting and retaining talent – and it gives employees a good reason to be proud of where they work.

By Frank McIllwain | Companies that place a high value on listening to and investing in their employees have been more effective at attracting and retaining top talent.

By Mark Zweig | Give yourself a chance to get a lot done and you may be surprised at your ability to keep all those plates spinning.

By Justin Smith | Write your project goals in ink and your plan in pencil, because you’ll likely need to make some changes and adapt your plan as your project unfolds.

By Julia DeFrances | With the right tools and some best practices, anyone can create a persuasive and compelling proposal.

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

By Jim Toby | Taking the time to get it right the first time will lead to faster approvals, better plans, and overall project quality.

By Jennifer Waters | Employees of firms are in many ways stakeholders of an organization’s success, and they can reap the dividends in a variety of ways.

By Mark Zweig | Our industry is one of the best places for anyone to build a career, and we owe it to our children to expose them to the work we do early.

By Lindsay Young | Recruiting and marketing play a role in growing your firm, and it’s more important now than ever to make sure they are working together.

By Mark Zweig | If you feel the need to diversify your business, here are some tactics to win clients in a new market when you don’t have prior experience.

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

By Julia DeFrances | Committees give employees a chance to lead, contribute, effect change, and make an impact beyond revenue.

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

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

By Kyle Ahern | Each firm needs to find its own balance of open, consistent communication without being bothersome to employees.

By Liisa Andreassen | Owner of Croft, Inc. (Acworth, GA), a full-service architecture and engineering firm that serves clients nationally in many diverse markets of the public and private sectors.

Fayetteville, Arkansas (November 1, 2021) - Zweig Group’s ElevateHER™ program has opened applications for the class of 2022, a group that will work on initiatives to combat recruitment and retention issues while ensuring equal opportunities...

By Mark Zweig | These five points will get you thinking differently about how you interact with potential clients in the future.

By Mark Zweig | Whether or not the AEC industry experiences a ‘great resignation,’ there are some things you should do to keep turnover low.

By Mark Zweig | You may be an architect or engineer and think you aren’t really motivated by money. But money is a scorecard in the game of business, and ‘winning’ is fun!

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.

By Liisa Andreassen | Managing director of Holst Architecture (Portland, OR), a women-owned architecture firm that is devoted to turning the ordinary into the extraordinary.

By Mark Zweig | Your ability to establish and maintain relationships over time is essential to your personal and business success in the A/E business or any business.

By Liisa Andreassen | President of Lynn Engineering, a windstorm, structural, and civil engineering firm specializing in residential, commercial, and infrastructure development projects on the Texas Gulf Coast.

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

By Kyle Ahern | A good, standardized parental leave policy is a major benefit that can set your firm apart.

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.

By Liisa Andreassen | COO of CEC Corporation (Oklahoma City, OK), a multidiscipline firm with a focus on eliminating aging infrastructure and driving community growth through innovative design.

By Mark Zweig | The leadership abilities of you firm’s principals and managers will determine your collective success this year.

By Tammi Nagucki | Reconsider some of this advice, and you may find some insight to guide you through our current world of disruption and stress.

Through recessions and tough times, innovations explode as people are forced to slow down and think. Many are already working on the next big thing for their business. Are you?

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.

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

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 | “Being allowed to teach what I’ve learned about entrepreneurship and business to my students over my long career has been one of my greatest honors and privileges.”

COO at Baird, Hampton and Brown, Inc. (Fort Worth, TX), a firm that is passionate about improving the landscape of its community with the utmost quality and integrity.

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.

There are countless ways to develop business without being a business developer, and you are most likely doing some of these things already.

Owner and managing partner at Batture, LLC (New Orleans, LA), a firm dedicated to delivering outstanding results while creating powerful social and environmental change.

To get the most return on your marketing investment dollars, leaders need to help build dynamic, collaborative relationships between principals and marketing teams.

By Jamie Claire Kiser | Addressing questions about the impact of COVID-19 through the lens of the Great Recession.

Make your business more sustainable and build a loyal team by training your people to manage themselves and their projects the way you would.

AEC Leaders – Now is the perfect time to give yourself and the workings of your firm some needed attention. Our research shows and the stories confirm that many of you have been so busy...

“It will take everything we have as leaders to get our firms and ourselves through this.”

Many firms still cling to old-school attitudes and business practices that chase away top performing employees looking for a more future-friendly place to grow their careers.

Asking questions is a critical skill if you want to understand and anticipate your clients’ needs.

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

“There’s no magic in these six steps. But there will be ‘magic’ in your results if you can consistently apply them!”

By Will Swearingen | As owners enter the final years of their careers and ponder ownership transition, they have to make some concessions.

It can lay the foundation for a positive relationship with bosses, subordinates, and co-workers when the time comes to go the extra mile.

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

“People who show any signs of a lack of character must be confronted and dealt with immediately.”

“When directly confronted with a difficult or painful question and you aren’t honest with people – they’ll figure that out. And you can forget them ever trusting you again.”

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

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

President and founder of Calibre Engineering, a national civil engineering firm based in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

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.

As a 100 percent ESOP, 50-year-old Pennoni has the culture, history, and staying power to improve the lives of its employees and the community it serves.

A good attitude and honest effort are central to California engineer’s mission to build a meaningful career.

On the surface everything might appear to be fine, but back at their office, the consulting engineers might be telling the (painful) truth.

“We get our greatest satisfaction from accomplishing things – yet we seem hell bent on getting to a position where we don’t DO anything that would give us that satisfaction.” I don’t know what’s wrong...

Ditch the ego, the fancy title, and the unnecessary rules. Instead, be the spark that inspires your team members to follow their passions. If you are a manager, you have people following your orders. If...

“So many firms in the AEC business are making transitions right now. Aging boomers in their 60s and 70s are selling down, and their chosen successors are taking the reins.” So many firms in the...

President of Gale Associates Inc. (Best Firm #18 Multi-discipline for 2018), a 115-person consulting firm based in Weymouth, Massachusetts. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Gale has been involved with a number of design-build procurements, primarily for...

“Clients, co-workers, partners – they aren’t always completely forthright in their communications. Despite this fact, your success ultimately depends on understanding them.” If you work in an AEC firm as a leader or manager, it’s...

If you’re a CEO, you need to take a good look at your team. Their passion projects outside of work could end up being multipliers for your firm. The title printed on my business card...

Be honest. Don’t puff up yourself or your credentials. Explore the nature of the job and, more importantly, the idea behind the company. You can read many stories about how to get a job and...

The highest performing teams across all organizations have identifiable characteristics – great role clarity, tough love, and solid performance standards. Just like the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles, great teams do not happen...

Surround yourself with people who will speak their truth, even when it’s hard. And then listen. You’ll see a positive impact on you and your team. There are a lot of compelling reasons to build...

President and CEO of HRP Associates, Inc. (Hot Firm #76 for 2016), a 120-person engineering consulting firm based in Farmington, Connecticut. “Big, bold, rapid changes are exciting and sometimes needed, but well planned, steady change...

Social responsibility can be one of the biggest and most powerful marketing and recruiting tools at your disposal, but be careful. How much should your firm be concerned with social responsibility? And are charitable donations...

Whether it’s a monthly email campaign, promotional event, thought leadership piece, or blog post, firms need to give marketing the time it needs to evolve. “Do you want the job done right or done fast?”...

President and chairman of Garver (Best Firm Multi-discipline #2 and Hot Firm #43 for 2017), a 500-person consulting and professional services firm in North Little Rock, Arkansas. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “We give our employees...

If there’s gossip in the workplace, your firm will pay the price with warring teams and stalled dynamism. But there’s a three-point antidote to the problem. Work gossip. Some of us participate in it, and...

President of Infrastructure, RPS (Best Firm Civil #36 for 2017), a 500-person firm based in Houston. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Our limitations are people,” Abbott says. “We could do more if we could find more...

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:...

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

You can leverage M&A to accelerate strategic shifts and implement your growth strategy, but there are plenty of risks along with the reward. While M&A is not a strategy in and of itself, it is...

Value really, truly is in the eye of the beholder. If you can find someone who sees value in what your firm does, the clients you serve, your expertise, the markets you know, your leadership...

President of ESG (Hot Firm #36 for 2017), a 120-person architecture and design firm based in Minneapolis. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “We have a small SWAT team that focuses on networking and about 75 percent...

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”...

President of Ross & Baruzzini (Hot Firm #57 for 2017), a 270-person international design and consulting company based in St. Louis. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “We’ve offloaded some of our IT functions to the cloud...

Customer relationship management has changed over the decades, but some things have remained the same: currency, correctness, consistency, and completeness. Walkmen were all the rage, cell phones were the size of eggplants, and Whitney Houston’s...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (July 24, 2017) – Zweig Group’s 2017 Policies, Procedures and Benefits Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning and Environmental Consulting Firms released earlier this year, surveyed industry firms on a wide variety of topics...

When marketing your firm, it’s great to be friendly and persuasive, but if you sell your brand for cheap, it’s a real turn off. I recently started watching a show called Black Mirror on Netflix....

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

Summertime is here. If you aren’t someone like me who travels all year round, odds are you’ll be going somewhere this summer. Since I’ve been doing this stuff for 37 years and been practically everywhere...

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

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

By Phil Keil | Strategic planning is the roadmap to your firm’s success. Without it, you might get knocked down and never get back up.

Strategic planning is the roadmap to your firm’s success. Without it, you might get knocked down and never get back up. I have a lot on my mind this week, so get ready, buckle up,...

They wreck the recruiting process, and a lot of them want a great offer to use as leverage for a raise where they already work. Remember how recruiters used to sneak up and wow candidates...

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...

Over the years, we have developed work styles that are not good for our physical, mental, or emotional health, but that can be changed. Taking these tips to heart can really change the health of...

Hiring good people isn’t easy, and hanging onto them is just as difficult. When you find the right person, offer an excellent benefits package. By Gale Associates Inc. Best Firm #4 Multidiscipline for 2016 Recruitment...

The holiday season always motivates us to give back, but a company-wide campaign can provide for charity where and when it’s needed most – locally and all year long. I really like this quote from...

Executives who delegate important decisions to the second tier, and not the principals, run the risk of curbing their firm’s potential. Since when is it okay for a firm’s senior executive to outsource leadership? Hopefully,...

As we move deeper into the final quarter of the year, now’s the time to look ahead to 2017’s backlog, pipeline, and cash flow. As we move deeper into the last quarter of fiscal 2016,...

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...

In decline since 1950, the city is finally reversing its downward trend, and architects and engineers are taking part in the recovery. By Richard Massey Managing Editor When architect Michael Tunkey graduated from his hometown...

Keep the inexpensive items on the table and hand them out freely, but give the good stuff only to those who seem truly interested in your firm. Costs for attending trade shows can range from...

Virginia landscape architecture firm was acquired by a much larger engineering outfit from North Carolina, and big and small didn’t mesh. By Richard Massey Managing Editor The owners of what was then called H&G Landscape...

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:...

Sonia A. Martinez, Chief Financial Officer of BCC Engineering, Inc. a Miami, Florida based engineering firm, is named as the 2016 recipient of Zweig Group’s Jerry Allen Courage in Leadership Award. When Martinez first joined...

Subscribe to The Zweig Letter for free to receive business management advice from industry experts to your inbox every week! If successful people accomplish 20 time‎s what average people do, unusually successful people accomplish 20 times what successful...

Here are nine tips on how to be successful in the A/E/P business. Hint, most of these tips are not specific to the A/E/P business. I have the honor of being a guest lecturer once...

If you’re one of those people who still thinks “word of mouth” is the way to go when it comes to marketing, my guess is you have a very small firm that will remain a...

Inspiration is necessary for technical/design professionals and those who manage projects to be successful. I watched an outstanding documentary recently on the life of Henry Ford. I learned a lot about him – and heard...

There are a few basic traits that differentiate firms that make money from those that scrape by. Chad Clinehens and I were talking in the office yesterday about why some firms we work with make...

Today’s competitive market – and the fact that the best employees aren't necessarily looking for a job – means your digital footprint must be big enough to reach everyone. Creating a game plan for recruiting...

It may sound cheesy, but it applies to both personal and professional relationships. There’s so much written these days about how to be a great leader. It’s everywhere. A million ideas and things one should...

Five types of unnecessary practices that are making you lose big bucks, Mark Zweig writes. I’ve always thought there was a lot of time wasted in the typical AEC firm’s office, especially for the managers....

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

Find out what you should be really pursuing and go for it. Mark Zweig predicts success. Some years ago, Toyota’s Lexus brand promoted itself through the slogan, “Lexus: The relentless pursuit of perfection.” That decision...

A new era dawns as this company moves ahead refreshed and re-emboldened. The 15th Annual Hot Firm and A/E Industry Awards Event marked the announcement of a new name and complete rebranding of ZweigWhite to...

Give recruiting the attention it deserves. Create a recruiting budget and follow these three tips from Mark Zweig. I have always wondered why recruiting is not a more prominent function in the majority of A/E/P...

Stop holding so many of them and get back to work, Mark Zweig writes. We’ve got a HUGE problem in the A/E/P and environmental business. And it’s one we can solve easily. I’m talking about...

Press Release: June 16, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (June 16, 2011) – Social media, fierce competition for the same jobs, clients who expect more value, and young creativity all are pushing the evolution of marketing to...

By Debbie Frederiksen Today I was sitting by myself on an outdoor patio eating lunch, checking email on my phone, scrolling through tweets, when suddenly this quote from an article resonated, “What is a place...

There are lots of firms that feel stuck in the mud today. They’re just muddling along, treading water, at a break even at best. Some owners think this is a fine position to be in....

After 29 years observing leaders and managers in A/E/P and environmental firms (as well as many other professions and industries), I have learned that one of the keys to success is simply “being nice.” That...

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...

Regardless of how you feel about the results, the national, state, and local elections are now over. Yea! We can move on with our lives and get back to business. Lord knows many A/E/P and...

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...

Now that we are fully working ourselves into a recession frenzy (whether we needed one or not), many A/E firms will be facing some tough choices IF they want to remain as profitable as they...

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...

I can admit it. I’m a little “bah, humbug” about the upcoming holidays. I sure don’t need or want anything for myself I don’t already have. All of us in the Zweig family have so...

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...

As 2006 winds down and planning gets underway for 2007, I frequently find myself being asked about what the top trends are for our industry that future-oriented leaders need to be aware of. Where do...

This morning, I am sitting on a bench outside Vol Walker Hall in the beautiful old campus area here at The University of Arkansas. Vol Walker Hall is home to our School of Architecture. Today,...

For years, we told principals of architecture, engineering, and planning firms that they should have a mission defining what their firms were all about. The question of “why are you in business?” is fundamental, we...

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...

I have been in business long enough to know that there’s one rule everyone should follow if they’re smart— “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” It always drives me mad when certain people...

It’s Sunday morning on Mother’s Day 2006. We have a lot to be thankful for in the Zweig household as my wife just bore our first, a baby girl, “Olive Josephine,” 15 days ago. As...

No doubt about it— A/E and environmental firms do waste money on useless research. Finding out, for example, how large the land development market is nationally, when you have a need to create work for...

Yesterday was one of those perfect days. It was so nice that I almost felt guilty about it. I really should have been at my office getting ready for the next semester or working on...

As the new year gets ready to start, most companies in the A/E/P and environmental consulting business are gearing up to hire. Sure— most of the needs are for experienced staffers— but, since there are...

I just got another of the many announcements that come through the ZweigWhite e-mail system today— one of our clients just bought/merged with/sold to another firm. We see so much of this that I barely...

Every year, after we announce the winners of The Zweig Letter Hot Firm List, we get contacted by other firms wondering why they are not on the list. It’s always one of two reasons: Either...

Here’s something I have observed in many different A/E and environmental firms around the country— certain employees who act as if they don’t understand how critical it is for them to be responsive. This one...

Thank God for technology! If we didn’t have the technology that we have today, there’s no way most of us who travel could keep up with the demands of work and life. For example, I...

Regardless of your opinion of Bill Clinton (and I am sure, for the majority of A/E firm principals, it’s negative— as a group, you are 48% Republicans and only 17% Democrats!), you cannot deny one...

Everyone in the A/E or environmental consulting business wants to turn their technical people into sellers. Not a week goes by that the desire to do this isn’t mentioned to me by someone in this...

“Take this job and shove it” was a phrase popularized by country singer Johnny Paycheck back in the 1970s. The song told a story about a hard-working factory man whose wife left him, so he...

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...

It’s always distasteful to compare your employees to your children. I hear firm owners do it all of the time, and I see the non-owners cringing when they do! That said, I have noticed a...

This is really getting to be the busy time of the year for the ZweigWhite consultants who help firms with business planning. And it’s good to see that many firms are refining their processes so...

Conventional wisdom and a course in marketing will tell you that any business— especially a professional service business— must have close relationships with clients IF the firm wants to keep those clients and get as...

Here’s one thing we can all agree on. No one likes a whiner. Complainers suck you down. They are depressing. And when they work in our firms in key roles, they are like a cancer....

I think a lot of smart, motivated, capable people working in A/E and environmental firms often get the idea that if they don’t start their own companies they have somehow sold themselves short. This is...

It seems to me that I am running into a greater number of pissed off people working in client organizations as of late. Maybe it’s the winter blues. Or maybe it’s war threat induced economic...

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...

It seems to me that the mega management consultants have gotten their comeuppance recently. Read your local business pages or The Wall Street Journal. Many of these firms are hurting as evidenced by revenue reductions,...

Last week I was on the phone ordering a part for an old British motorcycle. It vibrates so much that every time I ride it something either breaks off or falls off. In any event,...

Victor Goodcoat knew he had a problem. Sure— he may have been a principal at Honest Engineers for the last ten years but things weren’t like they used to be. Clients weren’t calling and he...

George Alexandra was fed up. He was tired of always having to take a back seat to his partner, Mick Flashyman. “Just because Flashyman started the company (Godlike Architects, Inc.) didn’t mean it wouldn’t be...

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...

I read somewhere once that being in love is a mental illness. All logic goes out the window. Rationality does not prevail. The ugly can become beautiful. Suffering is tolerable. Sacrifices can be made. Walls...

I was doing my usual deep thinking in the shower this morning, and I started wondering what I would do if I were on a flight that terrorists were hijacking. My first thoughts were about...

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....

Denise Jones, CADD technician and seven-year employee at DEF Associates, was fed up with the complainers at her firm. What was wrong with these people? All they could do was gripe about one thing or...

It just doesn’t take that much to be so much better at serving clients than the rest of the firms that do what you do. And it’s so important! Do a lousy job (or just...

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 just got back from a 1,720-mile motorcycle trip with my wife on our new Kawasaki ZG1000 sport touring bike. It was fantastic! We went up the coast of Maine from Kennebunkport to Bar Harbor....

I have always been interested in design and construction. When I was as young as seven years old, I was drawing up floor plans for houses on graph paper and building them with my Legos....

“What goes around comes around.” “The harder I work, the luckier I get.” “You reap what you sow.” “To get love, you need to give love.” These adages (and many more) all reinforce the thinking...

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...

I just got back from a College of Business Advisory Board meeting at my alma mater, Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. Thanks to the State of Illinois, I got my BS and MBA degrees...

One of the most interesting products we have put together is our new Fast-Growth Firm Survey, just released a couple weeks ago. It’s just fascinating when you look at the comparisons between A/E/P and environmental...

As periodically happens, I have a number of issues I want to share with our readers, none of which merits an entire article. Here they are: There will never be true equality of the sexes...

I would say that most readers of The Zweig Letter work in firms that export themselves beyond their immediate local area. Although not everyone gets on a plane every week, some travel is required to...

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

Traveling all the time is no party, as anyone who does it can tell you. But it’s a fact of life for many of the top people working in the A/E/P and environmental (as well...

I just got back from a business planning retreat one of our Atlanta-based clients held at The Highlands Inn in Highlands, North Carolina. Highlands is an absolutely idyllic small-town setting. It’s like something from another...

I am not proud of my five airline frequent flyer program gold cards. All that means is that I spend too darn much time in the air, when I’d much rather be someplace else. But...

Here are 10 things about the A/E/P and environmental consulting business that they don’t teach you in college. The best clients get crapped on. I hate to say it, but sometimes we treat our best...

No doubt about it, all of us who are managers in an A/E/P or environmental firm have to face some tough situations from time to time. They aren’t usually “fun” decisions, or situations that give...

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...

Believe it or not, having fun helps your pocketbook. If your people are having fun, they’ll work harder, longer, and put out better quality work. And that will make you more money. I’m convinced that...

I just got back from the annual business planning meeting with the board of directors of a client of ours that underwent a significant turnaround in the last couple of years. They went through everything...

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...

Until the 69,000 firms who make up the A/E/P and environmental consulting industry wake up and start doing something different marketing-wise, we’re destined to remain a fragmented group of small firms owned by people who...

Scott Adams, the creator of comic strip “Dilbert” and author of the best-seller “The Dilbert Principle,” is clearly familiar with the absurd, idiotic stuff some companies do in the name of “better management.” In fact,...

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...

This is the time of the year that the majority of firms in the A/E/P and environmental consulting industry decide who gets how much in the way of pay increases and/or bonuses— in other words,...

“Leadership development” for our industry too often translates into another boring all-day seminar on liability reduction, or a weekend retreat with a soft-spoken consultant who walks us through “team building” exercises. We say we want...

Practically any firm that makes money in the A/E/P or environmental business does so by getting a superhuman effort out of its staff. You just can’t do it with everyone working only 40 hours a...

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...

If you are like a lot of our clients, 1994 was a really great year. For many firms, all indicators were up— including sales, backlog, revenues, and profitability. Our ZWEIG 100 index (based on 100...

Almost every motivated person working in an A/E/P or environmental firm is either already a manager, or wants to be one. That’s OK, but I’m not sure all of these people really understand what it...

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...

As Art Linkletter observed: “Kids say the darnedest things.” The other day, my daughter Christina, who is in the first grade, said to me, “Dad, why don’t you do a commercial where you tell everyone...

In seven years at XYZ Engineers, Bill Jones had become one of the firm’s most dependable project managers. Bill’s jobs always made money, and his clients loved him. Unfortunately, XYZ had gone through three bad...

Ask anyone who has risen to the top of a consulting engineering, A/E, or environmental consulting firm where are the greatest weaknesses in their staff, and they will almost always say it’s in their “soft”...