Search results

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

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

By Shirley Che | Improving employee experience may be the AEC industry’s most important group project.

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

By Mark Zweig | Strong leaders address underperformance directly, clearly, and quickly before it damages culture, client relationships, and team morale.

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

By Mark Zweig | Great planning forces hard choices, clear accountability, and alignment across the entire firm.

“I hope you continue to be extremely intentional in choosing to be exactly where your feet are every moment that you are.” Lynn Wong Episode Summary: In this keynote episode from Zweig Group's ElevateAEC2025 Conference,...

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

By Stephen Parker & Mei-Ling Krabbe | The most successful organizations will treat adaptability, personalization, and inclusivity as organizing principles for workplace design.

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

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 | AEC firms thrive when marketing, HR, finance, and IT stop acting as support functions and start driving strategic growth.

By Mark Zweig | Meeting people face-to-face builds energy, strengthens relationships, and creates new opportunities.

By Mark Zweig | Winning big design projects requires strategy, preparation, credibility, and connecting authentically with decision-makers to secure long-term success.

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

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

By Sara Parkman | Zweig Group’s 2025 Rising Stars share what inspires purpose, loyalty, and change in the AEC workplace.

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

By Mark Zweig | There is a big difference between a goal or target, and a commitment or mandate; make sure you don’t confuse the two.

By Chuck Miller | Selling requires building credibility, showing up consistently, and proving that you’re in it for the long haul.

By Chris Aageson | How to strike a balance between being involved in important community work and pursuing opportunities in new geographic areas.

By Mark Zweig | Firms with owners who really understand how powerful this idea is don’t do things like all the other firms in our business.

By Chad Clinehens & Steve Hake | A bold vision of delivering business solutions through an expanded collective of resources and expertise.

By Mark Zweig | There are things you can do to stay positive and prevent pessimism from ruining your ability to lead.

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 Guy Geier | These conversations challenge conventional thinking, inspire innovation, and foster collaboration.

By Tom Mesk | Prioritizing personal well-being and balance enhances workplace culture, productivity, and presence while preventing burnout and endless to-do list cycles.

By Ashleigh Powell | Building sustainability into an AEC firm requires passion, patience, collaboration, and a focus on business value and long-term impact.

By Duane Gaugler | It’s true that mentor relationships aren’t easy to find time for, however, the potential they offer is enormous.

By Brandon Pinkerton | Integrity in leadership is sacrosanct and you must fight the urge to dilute your brand with cheap substitutes and compromised values.

By Mark Zweig | Non-responsiveness in professional settings can stem from various reasons but addressing it directly can improve communication.

By Todd Hay | Adapting to smaller AEC markets requires leveraging networks, building staff-client trust, and scaling operations for sustained success.

By Elizabeth Preston | Grammar rules are useful tools, but writers should prioritize clarity and reader engagement over strict adherence to them.

By Sara Parkman | The 2024 Rising Stars shed light on how the next generation of AEC professionals is driving innovation and strengthening firm culture in a rapidly changing environment.

By Jane Lawler Smith | Creating non-traditional peer groups allows AEC marketers to gain fresh perspectives and enhance creativity.

By Mark Zweig | Anyone who is a design professional and who wants to get ahead is probably going to have to learn to be a manager.

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

By Lauren Aguilar, Ph.D. | How to make all employees feel safer at work and more willing to build authentic connections.

By Westwood | Lessons learned and outcomes from the initial exploration through the process, and advice for firms looking to pursue an acquisition.

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

By Dan Houf | If AEC firms cannot have certainty in how they operate and grow, it will be difficult to stay competitive.

By Ezequiel Tovar | What qualities give founders peace of mind and the necessary trust to hand over the reins of their business?

By Elizabeth Preston | How do AEC industry businesses use artificial intelligence effectively and responsibly for writing?

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

By Mark Zweig | Entrepreneurial firm owners understand that marketing is an off-balance sheet long-term investment in the firm’s future.

By Mark Zweig | LLCs are often ill-suited for growing AEC firms, leading to legal entanglements and hindrances later on.

By Liisa Andreassen | CEO of Kaas Wilson Architects (Bloomington, MN), an architecture and interior design firm specializing in all types of multi-family housing.

By David Keith | Prioritizing diversity, evolving leadership structures, nurturing emerging leaders, and fostering a sense of ownership drives innovation and collaboration.

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

By Mark Zweig | A lack of willingness to confront these things honestly has caused way too much frustration and unhappiness in the individuals who work in our organizations.

By Shirley Che | A spotlight on progress and valuable resources for workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

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

By Miyamoto International | Miyamoto Global Disaster Relief bridges support gaps for vulnerable communities in disaster and conflict zones, focusing on rebuilding schools and homes.

By Janki DePalma | When you notice feelings of resentment, take a moment to explore what that warning sign is trying to tell you before it escalates into something more.

Zweig Group partnered with the University of Arkansas College of Engineering to host a drone competition to highlight the importance of nontraditional and emerging professions within the AEC space.

Bill Mandara of Mancini Duffy, Benjamin Alper of Severud Associates, and Joe Levi of Pavarini McGovern discuss the importance of collaboration in managing large-scale projects and the inherent challenges that come along with tackling a complex...

By Mark Zweig | Know the pros and cons of both, and don’t kid yourself about the ramifications of either insisting everyone be there or allowing people to work remotely.

By John Watkins | Great partnership between groups inside and outside the firm don’t just happen on their own.

By Jim Bushong | What happens when decades of consistency and cost expectations in the building trades are suddenly changing in real time, based on market forces that are completely out of control?

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 Liisa Andreassen | Principal of Vector Structural Engineering (Draper, UT), a full-service structural engineering company licensed in all 50 U.S. states, Puerto Rico, and Canada.

By Julia DeFrances | Trade shows and conferences are a great opportunity for your firm, but exhibiting can be a waste of time if you don’t approach it strategically.

    In this podcast episode, Randy Wilburn sits down with Roger Krulak, CEO of Full Stack Modular.    Roger Krulak, considered the “OG” of Modular Building, has been in the construction and development industry...

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

By Mark Zweig | Your CRM should be a major asset for your firm, but you have to make sure your people are using and updating it.

By Mitch Fortner | To be effective over the long-term for an organization, our personal ambition must be grounded in mutual respect, collaborative teamwork, and integrity.

By Liisa Andreassen | Managing partner of SCHRADERGROUP (Philadelphia, PA), a full-service firm that creates enhanced environments for the people who use them.

By Mark Zweig | Many of these things will increase the value of your ownership in an external, or even internal, transition.

By Jamie Claire Kiser | ElevateHER provides a platform for AEC professionals to effect the change they want to see in our industry.

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 Mark Zweig | If you want to be an effective leader, you must help others, build trust, and set the best example every day.

By Tom Godin | People don’t leave companies, they leave managers – so make sure your managers have the skills they need to succeed.

By Liisa Andreassen | President of Mancini Duffy, a national design firm based in NYC with a 100-year-old history and tech-forward approach specializing in architecture, planning, and interior design.

By Chad Clinehens | The roundtable, although now almost a thousand years old, is providing tremendous value to AEC firm leaders.

By Liisa Andreassen | Founder of Trahan Architects, a global architecture firm that mobilizes artistry and innovation to develop thoughtful structures that enhance quality of life.

By Peter Atherton | A “lack of time” can no longer be an excuse for not doing what needs to be done or not investing in what needs to be invested in.

By Andy Chavez | Who are these private equity extraterrestrials, what do they want, and how long will they be here?

By Kyle Ahern | One of Zweig Group’s landmark awards has evolved into a powerful tool that couples celebration with data-driven change.

By Mark Zweig | If you are a leader in an AEC firm, it’s crucial that you stay positive in spite of all the bad news we’re seeing these days.

By Keyan Zandy | Disruption drives innovation, and these challenges will help us to be leaner in our business and develop more creative and collaborative ways to build.

By Liisa Andreassen | President of Hafer (Evansville, IN), a firm that has created environments that impact people’s lives with fun, thoughtful. and inspirational design since 1978.

By Christina Zweig Niehues | Zweig Group’s new website combines three old websites into one for a seamless user experience.

By Mark Zweig | How can you use change in your AEC firm to awaken your creativity and that of your people? Maybe it’s time to really think about that.

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...

Leanne Baribeau – an architect with Modus Studio in Fayetteville, AR – discusses her career, her love of architecture, and why diversity is essential for the design industry. 

Lucas Hayden is product marketing director with Unanet, a leading provider of ERP and CRM solutions purpose-built for government contractors, AEC firms, and professional service firms. Unanet is also a presenter at Zweig Group’s 2021...

By Chad Clinehens | With both a virtual and an in-person conference this year, ElevateAEC has something for everyone.

Chad Clinehens, president and CEO of Zweig Group, discusses the upcoming 2021 Virtual and In-Person ElevateAEC Conferences. There's something for everyone.

By Liisa Andreassen | Co-owner of UMA Geotechnical Construction (Colfax, NC), an experienced design-build, geotechnical contractor with a proven record of performance in diverse soil conditions.

By Mark Zweig | Seeing the firm you started or used to run be successful when you’re gone is one of the greatest accomplishments you can hope for.

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 Peter Atherton | Playing to win requires a real investment in organizational redesign, and the creation of both a vision and a culture that’s worth the work.

By Liisa Andreassen | Owner of 3-Tier Alaska (Fairbanks, AK), a firm that specializes in land surveying and civil engineering in the interior of Alaska.

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 Mark Zweig | Saying you want to buy another firm in this business is one thing – actually doing it is another.

By Stephen Lucy | Actively work to shape your own legacy, otherwise it will be defined by others and probably not as positive as you would want.

By Christina Zweig Niehues | Women in the AEC industry leave at a faster rate than men, and COVID-19 has only accelerated this phenomenon.

By Chad Coldiron | Over the last 12 months, firms have been forced to rapidly adjust how they approach many workplace strategies – including recruitment strategies.

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

By Stephanie Warino | Be selective with the actions you’re recognizing and the behaviors you’re amplifying, because we’re all driving the culture bus.

By Adam Zach | Whether it’s by reading a book or going to a seminar, taking an active interest in your personal development could be the best thing for your career.

By Liisa Andreassen | President and founder of PaleoWest, a heritage consulting firm that guides clients’ projects through regulatory challenges posed by prehistoric, historic, and paleontological resources.

By Phil Keil | Decentralization of structure within our firms allows for a more agile, adaptable, and unified organization.

Focus on getting stuff done and moving forward by fitting the tasks on your to-do list to either the time slot or energy you have available.

President and CEO of Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. (Northbrook, IL), a global firm that’s committed to helping clients solve, repair, and avoid problems in the built world.

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

To manage time effectively, you need to know – not just believe – you are spending time productively.

Marcia Alvarado from TRC Worldwide Engineering discusses how she got into engineering, how her modeling career organically grew, and why diversity, equity, and inclusion are so important to her.

By Chad Clinehens | This is an opportunity to immerse your team in the best thought leadership and best practices in the AEC industry.

By Mark Zweig | If we care about the success of our people and our businesses, we cannot keep ignoring the importance of people skills.

Ownership transition can be an eight to 10 year process, so start early, educate yourself, define your goals, and keep an open dialogue with your employees.

Chris Huckabee, CEO of Huckabee and Associates, talks about how his architectural firm has learned to quickly evolve over the past few months during the pandemic.

Rather than another article about how COVID-19 is affecting the engineering world, allow me to take you back to 1630s Peru for a quick history lesson. The beautiful Spanish Lady Ana de Osorio, Countess of...

Managing principal of Woodblock Architecture (Portland, OR), a firm that sees each new project as an opportunity to create something awesome and build new relationships.

President and CEO of Ramey Kemp & Assoc. (Raleigh, NC), a transportation engineering, planning, and design firm founded in 1992.

By Kyle Ahern | Engage the people at your firm and they will tell you all you need to know to recruit, retain, and utilize every employee.

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

Managing a client’s expectations is a delicate art that requires planning, restraint, and diligence.

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

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

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

“Even if you don’t apply it to your business, knowing probabilities of success will at least keep you from buying scratch tickets or blowing your cash in a slot machine at a casino somewhere!”

With more competition, more intensive procurement, higher costs, and increasingly lower fees, firm leaders must leverage the power of mission. We have a mission as an organization. It is why we exist. The best ones...

We’re all busy with our personal and professional lives, but that doesn’t mean we should stop educating ourselves. I have spent a good portion of the last eight months crisscrossing the country training professionals in...

“When we are going through times like this, we all have a choice. We can sit back and think of all the reasons why we are in the mess we are in, or we can...

By Edward Friedrichs | In a time of polarization and crass tribalism, don’t forget the founding norms of respect and civility. It’ll be good for you, your firm, and your clients. 

Everything feels different. Three weeks after the 2018 Hot Firm & A/E Industry Awards Conference in Dallas, our team is still on a high. Fueled by positive feedback, a wealth of exciting ideas for Las...

If your firm makes a sincere effort to learn, teach, develop, innovate, and improve, old and new hires alike will notice. As president of a 400-person design firm, one of my favorite activities is one-on-one...

What engineers need to know (but often don’t) about this critical financial tool and how it can help a firm succeed. At JBCI, one of our guiding principles is transparency. We embrace sharing relevant financial...

Co-founder, president and CEO of WSB (Hot Firm #34 for 2018), a 475-person, full-service consulting and design firm based in Minneapolis. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Early on, I paid too much attention to those who...

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...

By Edward Friedrichs | Reducing consumption and finding new ways to re-use water will become increasingly important as populations grow.

Social media isn’t nuclear physics, but you have to have the right voice for the right channel, otherwise you’re speaking Spanish in China. Would you walk up to someone at a cocktail party and say,...

‘Why in the hell should we hire you over all these other firms?’ It’s a simple question you’d better be ready to answer if you want the contract. If you watched any of the Olympics...

Banish profit centers in small to midsize firms. Focus on your people by letting each do what each is best qualified to do. An engineering, architecture or planning professional services firm can be very successful...

Let’s try to tell our story so that we can go above and beyond the traditional marketing that AEC firms are known for. Think about some of the most iconic advertisements of the past. Many...

Continuing education is big business nowadays. With the advent of the smartphone and an extremely connected world, there aren't many places we can't go to learn something new – even in your PJs! At Zweig...

CEO of The Thrasher Group (Hot Firm #77 for 2016), a 350-person architecture, engineering, and survey consulting firm based in Bridgeport, West Virginia. “By definition, a good project manager is someone who delivers. Period,” says...

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

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...

Successful business planning isn’t about having a crystal ball. It’s about a culture that discusses goals, actions, and results on an open and regular basis. The end of one year and the beginning of a...

Jamie Claire Kiser and Christina Zweig Niehues join ownership team FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (Friday, January 6, 2018) – ZweigWhite LLC (Zweig Group), a global leader in products and services to the architecture, engineering and professional services...

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...

There’s a strong case for including marketing staff post-proposal, especially if things didn’t go so well with the client. I have long told my clients that requesting a debriefing after a selection has been made...

They’re everywhere, and the key to dealing with them is to understand and appreciate their bad behavior by exercising a little empathy. We spend a lot of our lives at work. So it makes sense...

Transparency, training, and feedback are all important, but so is remembering that people don’t live to work, they work to live. In recent TZL articles you’ve heard my thoughts about sharing the company’s financial results...

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...

What does your contract say about the ability to recover legal fees or staff time incurred to recover unpaid fees? Good question, huh? Two recent cases show that architects with good contracts can recover not...

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...

Keep your accounts receivable on a short leash if you want your collection period to shrink, and your bank statement to grow. How does a growth oriented company in our industry manage the balance between...

Your firm’s reputation can be made, or broken, on the internet. Maintain a clean online image if you want to attract and keep top talent. I’m constantly fielding questions from clients and potential clients about...

If growth through M&A is part of your strategic plan, be prepared to embrace the integration process with an open mind. Last week we discussed strategic planning and how it is an integral part of...

There's so much written about leadership training and developing better leaders in your AEC firm. But there's little information about how to become a better leader yourself. It's all about what you can do for...

There's so much written about leadership training and developing better leaders in your AEC firm. But there's little information about how to become a better leader yourself. It's all about what you can do for...

As a firm grows, new people have to come on board. But if those people threaten to damage your culture and sink the ship, you can always toss them back out to sea. We tell...

Through enlightened business practices, young firm leaders are embracing a world of freedom, harmony, prosperity, and compassion. It’s energizing to be around young entrepreneurs with exciting ideas. My wife and I are honored to be...

The winning percentage in the A/E industry is not that good, so it’s vital that you learn how to take a punch and get back up to fight again! You’ve probably heard the quotes about...

If you want to groom the next generation of leaders, you’ll have to make sure your firm is changing with the times. I’m a millennial. Gasp! There, I said it. A lot has been made...

Move forward in 2017 with Zweig Group seminars across a range of essentials – business development, project management, marketing, and more. For a short while during my undergraduate years, I majored in management. After a...

Office amenities are shifting from a focus on whimsy to a focus on meaning, and that adds up to improved productivity and increased profitability. As someone who designs workplace environments, it’s fascinating to participate in...

From job to job and firm to firm, all with the push of a button on a mobile app. Is that the future for the design industry? There’s plenty out there who sure hope so....

The annual Hot Firm and A/E Industry Awards Conference in Phoenix was a success, and it’s heading to Seattle for 2017. By Richard Massey Managing Editor The 2017 annual Hot Firm and A/E Industry Awards...

Beantown’s tarnished redevelopment agency comes up with a new name, a new logo, and a new mission, but locals aren’t convinced it’ll do any good. By Richard Massey Managing Editor The Boston Redevelopment Authority may...

The two don’t have to be at odds with each other. Make sure someone’s at least answering the phones so perks don’t impede responsiveness. Coming off the high of our annual Hot Firm and A/E...

A trio of profound shifts in the A/E/P industry has made it much more difficult for firm owners to retire. As I enter my mid-50s (never thought it would happen) I have become privy to...

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...

Even if the strategic planning process turns out as hoped, it can still be an adventure with plenty of thrills and spills. Strategic planning connotes an organized, step-by-step effort. It’s true, but it’s also quite...

Familiarity, loyalty, promotion, marketing investment, staff satisfaction, and corporate reputation – to achieve these things you must be consistent. Disney is the world’s most powerful brand. The Brand Finance Global 500 report also ranked Lego...

You should if you want more business and enhanced services for your clients, and besides, the new generation of engineers has to have it. In 1971 the founders of our firm went to their local...

If your content is consistently valuable, potential clients might give up their personal information to have it, and chose your firm over others when it’s time to close the deal. Are you lost in marketing...

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...

With college debt at an all-time high and expected to increase, now’s the time to think about adding loan reduction as a benefit. Recruiting great talent takes skill, a little bit of luck, and some...

You have to keep your firm moving if you hope to stay ahead of the competition, and if you want your firm to age gracefully. If you’ve ever spent any time at the beach, you...

‘Job Descriptions & Organizational Charts’ Offers Two AEC Resources for Price of One Fayetteville, AR – March 23, 2016 — Zweig Group’s newest managerial resource, Job Descriptions and Organizational Charts for A/E/P & Environmental Consulting...

Having fun and encouraging creativity can lead to the generation of fresh, new business ideas. I have long felt one of the problems with the A/E/P and environmental consulting business is that we have so...

AC Martin Partners, Inc. (Los Angeles, CA), an 85-person architecture firm, is taking home fifth place in the Internal Marketing category of Zweig Group’s 2015 Marketing Excellence Awards for its New Employee Questionnaire. AC Martin...

Klohn Crippen Berger Ltd. (Vancouver, BC) – a 500-person international engineering, geoscience, and environmental consulting firm – is taking home second place in the Internal Marketing category of Zweig Group’s 2015 Marketing Excellence Awards for...

Westwood Professional Services (Eden Prairie, MN), a 350-person professional services firm, is the second place winner in the Special Event category of Zweig Group’s 2015 Marketing Excellence Awards for its Brand Refresh Launch event. Westwood...

Top ranking AEC firms have positive organizational cultures, provide employees with the tools they need to be successful, and foster open communication. How do you get your firm to a place where every one of...

Sometimes negative thoughts can creep in; here’s why leaders should always try to maintain a positive outlook. Being positive – surrounding yourself with other positive people and believing you CAN do something – is essential...

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...

Though harder to apply and evaluate, assessments of interpersonal skills can promote team performance and increase morale. I have had a number of discussions lately about how to measure performance. The people I’ve spoken with,...

Three ideas to help you implement a successful HR recruiting program. I sit here writing this article the day after Super Bowl 49. I’m neither a Patriots nor Seahawks fan but it was an exciting...

As hiring picks up in 2015, make sure you are taking all factors into consideration, Mark Zweig writes. Some years ago, I got a call from a good client and friend of mine. He ran...

Results of long-running study show that those who wait for reward do better in the end, Mark Zweig writes. Back in the ’60s a Psych professor at Stanford, Walter Mischel, gave a famous test to...

Go deeper on the statements you make to potential clients. Convincing them to hire you takes a customized approach every time. How many times have you used the “we’re local” crutch as one of your...

It doesn’t look good right now, but in a changing world, architects will always be needed. There’s a lot of discussion about the future of architecture. It’s happening in the media, it’s occurring in the...

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...

Six traits that will make you and your team highly successful, Mark Zweig writes. There’s no doubt in my mind that most successful people in this business didn’t get there by accident. It’s because of...

Listen to your staff, have an appealing culture, hire selectively and keep your employees for the long-term. I’m hearing more and more about the market firming up and people being in demand. So, I think...

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

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

This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 989 Originally published 1/7/2013 Novel pays homage to engineering profession and is a great airplane read, Mark Zweig writes. The week before Christmas,...

By Christine Brack Principal, Business Planning Consulting Many firms are glad to be leaving 2011 behind and are casting a warmer, more positive outlook to the New Year. Other firms claim they enjoyed moderate success...

This time of the year is marked by a frenzy of activity, both professionally and personally. The thoughts we had in September and October of looking to a new year with renewed enthusiasm and at...

By Jeremy Clarke Getting top talent is still a critical priority… even in this economic environment. How so? Well, because business needs are still evolving, and employee turnover is still an unavoidable reality. All of...

By Jeremy Clarke Director, Executive Search Consulting ZweigWhite Recruiting and selection can be a meticulous and costly campaign. Those who recruit regularly know that an average management-level search can last 90 days or more. These...

By W. Hobson Hogan Principal, Investment Banking Our ego makes us think that we are irreplaceable; there is no way that our organizations could soldier on without us. You imagine your office falling apart the...

Press Release: June 29, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (June 29, 2011) – With the economic challenges that architecture, engineering, planning & environmental consulting firms have faced in recent years, effective project management skills remain a crucial...

Press Release: June 7, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (June 7, 2011) – Two can be better than one. From adding clients, expanding to new markets or locations, increasing services, or building staff numbers/skills, a merger or...

Press Release: May 3, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (May 3, 2011) –New evidence points to a brightening mood among the leaders of design firms, with bonuses, raises and incentives now poised to make a comeback. A...

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...

Press Release: March 7, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (March 7, 2011) — ZweigWhite has partnered with American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) to produce and publish a co-branded version of the 2011 Financial Performance Survey of...

By Christine Brack, PMP A few weeks ago, I was talking to a client about his firm’s project management practices, its managers, and systems, and… eventually we began discussing the challenges and frustrations he was...

Press Release: February 2 , 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, AR — Firms in the architecture, engineering, planning and environmental consulting sphere are joining the national chorus of opposition to a provision that would significantly boost tax-reporting requirements,...

Press Release: January 7, 2011 If the A/E/P and environmental consulting industry has learned one thing in 2010, it’s that recov­ery doesn’t happen overnight. Last year there was an expectation that 2010 might provide the...

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...

One of the keys to success in business— all types of business, not just the A/E/P and environmental business— is practicing common courtesies (or perhaps they should be called not-so-common courtesies?). Architects, engineers, and scientists...

As I begin to write this article I am sitting at “The Tournament of Kings” show at The Excalibur in Las Vegas with my two oldest daughters. Earlier today we finished off the 10th annual...

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...

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...

I just got back from the ninth annual Zweig Letter Hot Firm Conference and Awards Celebration, held in Chicago this year. It was, as it always is, a great event filled with optimistic people— something...

I have worked in this business nearly three decades (how can I be that old??). And I can tell you with certainty that our managers have a real tendency to be overly optimistic. I have...

Most of us know that it isn’t really hard to start an A/E or environmental firm. You don’t need a lot of capital or other resources to hang a shingle and make a run for...

I was sitting in a meeting of top managers in a fairly large A/E firm the other day when the topic of candidates for their vacant HR director’s position came up. The woman who had...

When you’ve had the benefit of more than 26 years of working with A/E/P and environmental firms like I have, some patterns about what makes one company more successful than others clearly emerge. One of...

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 was talking with a woman recently who started her own design firm a couple years ago. Her passion for her work and her business was fantastic. She thought about it/planned/worked every waking hour. She...

Anyone who knows me or who has read my writings on management for architects and engineers over the years knows that I absolutely HATE buzzwords. They automatically raise the suspicions of the smart design, management,...

It’s time to call an end to something that there are entirely too many of in A/E/P and environmental firms everywhere— lazy marketing directors. I am talking about those marketing directors who do very little...

I got a call from a friend and old client of mine recently. He’s down right now— and has been for months. His small design firm just isn’t doing very well, at least not compared...

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....

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...

We are now in our 17th year of working with A/E/P and environmental firms of all types and sizes around the world. And, over that time, we have seen literally thousands of different companies’ business...

Paul Weir, president and CEO of Weir-Sofein Architects and Engineers in Albany, New York, had a problem. He and his primary business partner, Wolfgang Sofein, usually saw eye-to-eye. There was a long history of mutual...

Last week, we held our first-ever conference on mergers and acquisitions, the 2003 AEC Mergers & Acquisitions Summit, at the Omni Parker House in Boston. It was a successful event with a wide range of...

There’s nothing like a little quality time to do nothing but think. Just sitting in a chair or lying back in your hammock… pushing the mower… driving on a long solo drive. I relish those...

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...

While it certainly wasn’t the case 20 or even 10 years ago, today most design and environmental firms have a business plan. Most of them are labeled “strategic plans,” though I’ll confess that I usually...

If you look at the effect the events of September 11 had on everyone in this country, it’s really pretty amazing. The collective funk that ensued hurt businesses of all types in an unprecedented way....

As I write this, I have just returned from The Zweig Letter Hot Firm 2001 Conference and Celebration in San Francisco. Some things never change. The airports and planes seemed just as crowded as ever,...

Let’s face it. In business, as in life, things don’t always go the way you want. There will be problems that you can anticipate, and there will be problems that you never expected. Either way,...

I just got back from the Design Build Institute of America (DBIA) (Washington, DC) national convention in San Diego (held October 4-6). What a turnout! Their estimates were that they had somewhere between 1,400 and...

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,...

I hate to say it. I thought the past was behind us. But the fact is some architects are repeating history right now. They’re getting ready for another fall. They’re making the same mistakes they...

“You can lead a horse to water, but first, you’ve got to have a horse,” is one of the homilies my old friend Mike Latas of ) used to use all the time. I don’t...

We’ve talked about it for decades, but the labor shortage in the A/E/P and environmental industries is finally here. Our clients are telling us that it’s hard to hire just about anyone. Every job takes...

Let’s all hope it never happens. But as anyone with a few gray hairs can tell you, another recession can, and probably will, occur. So what are you going to do about it? Here are...

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...

This week, you get three topics for the price of one. What makes for value? An article in the February 21 edition of The Boston Globe under the headline “Internet ad company stock gains 57%...

Every owner in an A/E/P or environmental firm knows you can make all the paper profits you want, but unless you turn those profits into bank deposits, you have nothing. I’ve written so much about...

The recent acquisition of Woodward-Clyde Group (Denver, CO) by URS Corporation (San Francisco, CA) is just one big deal among many, many other smaller deals that are going on weekly in the A/E/P and environmental...

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...

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...

Management people are usually critical of technical people for their lack of business knowledge. But having a business degree is no assurance you know any more than the average design or environmental consultant about how...

We just had the experience in the last few weeks of working with an architect. Business has been good, and we are committed to growth, so we decided to triple our office by moving to...

Earlier this month, I was in Scottsdale for the Professional Services Management Association (PSMA) national convention— a worthwhile event that I encourage everyone to attend next year in New Orleans. I saw many old friends,...