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By Gina Rodriguez | In AEC, expertise builds credibility, but engagement is what creates trust, strengthens relationships, and drives better outcomes.

By Michael Sanderson | Firms that want to grow must evolve leadership, systems, and culture or risk being outpaced and ultimately absorbed.

By Elizabeth Nilsen | Successful AEC firms treat succession planning as a strategic priority from the beginning, not a last-minute retirement decision.

By Melanie Carrido | Three decades in AEC show that while technology reshapes our work, strong communication and partnership still determine success.

By Chad Clinehens | Becoming a principal isn’t a reward for past success – it’s the start of owning responsibility for future value.

By Morgan Stinson | Attracting and retaining top talent in the AEC industry requires adapting to what employees value today.

By Brad Thurman | Consistently nurturing long-term client relationships and adding value are essential to maintaining loyalty and avoiding complacency.

By Alec Russell | The AEC industry is experiencing a resurgence in M&A activity, driven by strategic partnerships, technological integration, and geographic expansion.

By Scott Ratterman | Your employees’ mentoring experience can weigh heavily in determining whether your firm is a great place for them to work or not.

By Mark Zweig | To grow your AEC firm, identify and reinforce those who understand the company’s vision, and work to convert or replace those who don’t.

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

By Mark Zweig | We all need new challenges, variety in our daily routines, and to see tangible results from our efforts to be fulfilled.

By Steve Hammel | Business developers play a crucial role in maintaining client relationships, resolving issues, and ensuring long-term success – even after contracts are signed.

By Mark Zweig | Work should be an integral part of life, so why do so many people working in AEC firms clearly not feel that way?

By Lauren Martin | These clauses represent a real and potentially significant exposure for AEC firms for which there’s no insurance protection.

Kristin Kautz, an artificial intelligence consultant, discusses the impact of AI on the design industry and how essential it is to get into this technology race.

By Mark Zweig | The majority of AEC companies are doing well, but that could be in spite of how they are being managed.

By Mark Zweig | When you work in a crowded field full of many companies that do essentially the same thing, you can either be one of many or you can choose to stand out.

By Mark Zweig | If you don’t want your people or yourself to be judged unfairly, there are a few common problems that must always be avoided.

By Mark Zweig | There are some things AEC professionals must learn about business in order to be successful.

By Liisa Andreassen | President and founder of ThinkForm Architects (Hopewell, NJ), a service-disabled veteran owned architecture and interior design firm specializing in “total environments.”

By Mark Zweig | You won’t get decent fees from your clients until you start making these changes within your firm.

By Mark Zweig | The payoff is a more valuable company that is healthier and provides more opportunities for its employees.

By Lauren Rhodes Martin | More owners (or their lawyers) have tried to insert these clauses into design contracts, and this should be a red flag for AEC firms.

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

BySeth Carlton | Explaining things in overly technical terms could result in your message getting lost, so find ways to simplify so the most important ideas are grasped by everyone.

By Liisa Andreassen | President of Prein&Newhof (Grand Rapids, MI), a 100 percent employee-owned firm that is dedicated to thinking ahead, building lasting relationships, and crafting long-term solutions.

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

By Mark Zweig | It’s great to be needed, but it’s not really where you want to be. The position you should really seek to attain is to be wanted.

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

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.

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.

In the current economic environment, avoid costly payment disputes and counterclaims by choosing clients carefully and staying on top of your receivables and collections.

President and CEO of BSI Engineering (Cincinnati, OH), a consulting and process design engineering firm that’s building on the past to design the future.

Successful leaders have to be able to deliver tough messages. Use these six strategies to navigate difficult conversations.

Considering a design project in the fledgling cannabis industry? Make sure your professional liability coverage won’t go up in smoke.

In today’s competitive market conditions, being able to spot red flags may prove helpful in knowing when to pull out of a discussion or for negotiating a more equitable transaction.

Zweig Group, a full-service AEC management consulting firm, represented selling firm Keith & Schnars in its acquisition by Maryland-based KCI Technologies Inc. With the deal, KCI, a multi-discipline engineering firm with offices throughout the United...

“Should one design their organization and then look for the right people to fill specific roles on the chart, or should the organization be designed around the people the firm already has on board?” An...

As communities look for ways to protect themselves from large-scale weather-related events, design firms are equipped to help them meet the challenge. Through mid-2018, the U.S. experienced six weather and climate disaster events with losses...

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

AEC firms must be diligent during design and construction to avoid becoming ‘responsible’ for worksite injuries or death. Although site safety generally is the responsibility of construction contractors and subcontractors, when injuries or deaths occur...

Designing for the future will require intense research, following tech trends, and thinking beyond conventional boundaries. When we moved into the 21st century just a short 18 years ago, surveyors were using the same techniques...

If you don’t identify and address your firm’s problems, you could increase the measure of risk while decreasing value. There is a four-letter word floating around out there that’s probably the first that comes to...

As the outlook for AEC firms remains bright and professional liability insurance rates stay competitive, the time is right to make sure your firm has adequate protection. Things are looking up for design firms. They...

AECWorkforce.com, a digital ecosystem where great firms can find great people. Transformative job site launches in November. For the past several months I’ve been working with a fantastic team. We’re figuring out just how many...

For multi-office firms, it’s important to monitor overhead allocations so one region doesn’t consume more than its fair share of resources. Here’s the issue: Department managers, regional managers, and office managers all question the general...

When the company you acquire has better ideas than your firm’s, you have to remain open to change and be willing to learn. Acquisitions help companies in many ways. They enable access to the professional...

Due to the absence of a comprehensive, federal Good Samaritan law, A/E professionals are hesitant to lend a helping hand after an emergency. We have all heard someone in a perilous condition say, “Don’t just...

Editor’s note: Originally published June 22, 1996 I’ll come clean. It’s time to fess up and share how I feel about the state of the art in project management today for A/E/P and environmental firms....

A command of soft skills is essential to delivering a project that’s on time, on budget, and with no surprises. If you’re in the business of infrastructure and you manage projects, staff, or both, you...

The M&A process is like the dating game: there’s plenty of fish in the sea, but hauling in the big catch isn’t easy. Firms close deals every day without engaging an M&A consultant to help...

If a firm wants to succeed at a high level, it must keep a keen eye on the documents, and have an ear for what the client needs. It’s my experience that too many firms...

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...

Six suggestions from Mark Zweig on how to form and keep relationships alive. I never liked the idea that a consulting business should have its marketing based on personal relationships. I just don’t like being...

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...

Mark Zweig reflects on the passing of a friend and employee, and offers six tips about forming a winning team. A week ago Sunday, one of my best friends, and also the lead carpenter for...

Mark Zweig provides 10 tips how to treat potential new employees right. One of the things we do at ZweigWhite is a limited amount of executive search consulting. Most people don’t really understand that. They...

By Tracey Jeffers Principal, Valuation Consulting ZweigWhite I recently worked on a valuation engagement for a project management firm involving minority shareholder value in a litigation. Besides the relevant financial data, one of the first...

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...

By Tracey D. Jeffers There is a four letter word floating around out there in the atmosphere that is likely the first formed in the mind of an investor when determining whether or not an...

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...

We have a terrible problem with accounts receivable in this business. The average A/E or environmental firm waits 80 days or so to get paid for their services whereas attorneys and accountants often get their...

The year is barely underway, and I am already hearing complaints from A/E/P and environmental firm owners: It’s time to be more profitable! This will sound like a bold claim. But the truth is, I’ve...

In observing firm leaders of A/E and other firms over the years, one quality stands out in the best of them. These leaders do something that endears them to all in their employ— they deflect...

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

September 11, 2001— I was talking on the phone when I looked through the glass interior wall of my office out into the rest of our space and noticed people standing around a TV monitor....

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

If you want to build an A/E/P or environmental consulting firm that has lasting, sustainable value, this is where it is at: You have to get your primary revenue producers to see the forest instead...

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

ONE OF OUR CLIENTS just hired a new marketing director. He’s a great guy— been in the business a long time— somebody with a firm handshake who makes friends easily. He can talk with anyone....

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