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By Heather Applegate | Strong change management turns disruption into momentum by aligning leadership, reducing uncertainty, and helping people stay oriented through transition.

By Mark Zweig | In a relationship-driven business, clients hire people they know and trust — not just the firms they represent.

By Morgan Stinson | Lessons from The Bear show AEC leaders the value of purpose, process, development, and treating every client like a VIP.

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

By Liisa Andreassen | Founder and principal of Cuono Engineering, an engineering firm dedicated to renewing the past and building the future through structural engineering design.

By Jeremy Clarke | Job descriptions need radical simplification for authenticity, brevity, and impact in attracting top talent.

By Danielle Eisenstock | Learning takes time and effort – but the end results can be as rewarding as making your favorite meal.

By Matt Verderamo | Defining your mission, vision, and values is key for uniting, motivating, and differentiating your firm.

Janki DePalma – the senior associate and director of business development at Kirksey Architecture – discusses active listening, empathy, building relationships, and the importance of psychological safety in the workplace, especially for women.

By Keyan Zandy | It’s critical to take the time to develop your trust-building skills. You, your teams, and the projects you are all working on together will only benefit.

By Janki DePalma | Pay attention to who apologizes and when, and work to create an environment of psychological safety within your firm.

By David Harvey | When well-trained staff are equipped with the skills needed to do their jobs well, everyone will reap the benefits.

By Joseph Lauk | Firms often have the same “ingredients” for creating great places to work. Your success really boils down to how you choose and blend these elements together.

By Ann M. Rolland | Even a slight shift toward more responsible materials is impactful and can effect change to the manufacturing industries and the products that designers specify.

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.

    We recently sat down with Raouf S. Ghali, CEO of Hill International.  Raouf oversees one of the largest “pure-play” Construction and Project Management firms with a global reach.  Hill provides program, project, and...

Janki DePalma, director of business development with Kirksey Architects, discusses listening, empathy, relationships, self-control, and what makes a great business developer.

By Jane Lawler Smith | Make sure your marketing uses fresh ingredients, is thoughtfully assembled, and temptingly delivered.

By Jamie Claire Kiser | Despite the challenging environment, there are tremendous opportunities to be had.

Understanding others will help you build the connections that will lead to success – in your professional and personal life.

President and CEO of Barton & Loguidice, a full-service consulting firm headquartered in Syracuse, New York.

Many of the design activities performed by architecture and engineering firms on a day-to-day basis can qualify for R&D and related incentives.

President of Ampirical (Best Firm Multi-discipline #21 for 2018), a 200-person firm on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain.

Undisciplined growth, poor people focus, low financial performance, and a weak capital structure can sink a firm – even big ones with brand names. I’ve been working with several colleagues for the past four years...

Project delivery is much more difficult than filling up the fridge at home, but there are plenty of similarities, too. Good project management that includes a thorough planning process is key to successful project delivery....

Each week, The Zweig Letter features commentary from top-flight leaders of AEC firms. Here is a compilation of their thoughts on maintaining the leadership pipeline. By The Zweig Letter Staff Nic Andreani, president with W&M...

A lot of firms say they have a great culture, but for that to be true, a firm must be intentional about implementing its core set of values. At Mead & Hunt, we say we...

Founder and CEO of GATE (Hot Firm #35 for 2017), a 300-plus person oil and gas engineering consulting company based in Houston. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “When clients/friends see what we post and comment to...

All of us have a story to tell, so don’t shy away from it in your professional life. It could be the key ingredient for your firm’s success. Everyone loves a good story. That’s why...

The first industries to adopt a new technology are the ones that succeed. Is your firm prepared for the age of artificial intelligence? According to Zweig Group’s 2016 Financial Performance Survey, net service revenue per...

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,...

Strategic cooperation among competitors can result in big gains for each firm and better projects for clients. I hadn’t heard of “coopetition” – a contraction of cooperation and competition – for a while, but it...

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...

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

PM Perspectives: Project re-planning This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 990 Originally published 1/14/2013 Even with a solid plan, some projects will just require a new start. One of...

I’m often asked two questions about leadership: 1. Are leaders born or made? 2. How did you become a leader? I believe everyone has the potential become a leader. Despite endless debate on the subject...

Breaking into new markets— you won’t find many more interesting (or timely) topics for those who run A/E and environmental consulting firms today. So many companies are either already attempting to or plotting to break...

If you look at why most A/E firms just sort of muddle along, and yet a few are growing by leaps and bounds, you’ll find the “secret ingredient” in the growing firms’ recipe is often...

Years ago in The Zweig Letter, I wrote an article entitled, “Go local” as a rebuttal to all of the pundits who were advocating A/E firms “go global.” It just made sense to me that...

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...

Turning around an A/E or environmental company that is not doing as well as it should be doing takes an artful leader (or bunch of leaders). If you take a closer look at these transformations,...

I know structural engineers who make over $1 million a year. I know landscape architects in larger firms who achieve a 4.22 raw labor multiplier on all the work they do. I know architects who...

Everyone in the A/E/P and environmental consulting business wants to be more “successful,” but I don’t recall ever seeing “success” clearly defined. It’s one of those good-sounding words that architects, engineers, and environmental consultants use...

“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...

Let me tell you a little story about two managers. Both head divisions for the same large, international engineering and environmental company. By most any standard, one of the two, who we’ll call “Jed,” is...

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...

Everyone knows the old adage: “You have to spend money to make money.” But who follows it? Take the example of two of my wife’s friends. Both are smart, educated, and come from good families...