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By Mark Zweig | The financial choices young professionals make in their first five years can put them on a completely different trajectory from their peers.

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

By Robert Jones | Understanding the difference between FAR overhead audits and compilations helps AEC firms secure DOT contracts and avoid costly setbacks.

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

By Mark Zweig | You will be less stressed and might find your business more successful if you can shed some baggage.

By Mark Zweig | The ability to maintain long-term relationships, both personal and professional, is one of the keys to business success.

By Janki DePalma | Small actions today can reduce stress, improve efficiency, and make life easier for your future self.

By Harry Hawkins | Networking’s enduring value lies in fostering genuine connections, enhancing career paths, and cultivating meaningful, human-centric relationships.

By Tyler Suomala | Sales is not the monster under the bed – it’s just a conversation, a shared meal, and a chance to offer solutions and forge lasting connections.

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

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 Tyler Suomala | Understand why and how decisions are made so you can leverage the power of the human brain to increase your value and improve your clients’ experience.

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

By Matt Hoying | Getting creative with perks that go beyond the office can help you retain and attract employees and improve your culture overall.

By Lillian Minix | The pandemic has changed the way we network, opening doors to many more opportunities than we could have imagined.

By Mercedez Thompson | Leaders must engage in burnout prevention strategies that alleviate overburdened employees, reduce the number of meetings, encourage PTO, and promote flexible hours.

By Becky White | Being apart from one another tested the strength of our relationships, and we had to think creatively to meet the new challenges we were encountering.

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

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.

President of EPS Group (Mesa, AZ), a full-service consulting firm that is dedicated to exceeding expectations.

We need to remain flexible for the foreseeable future as we continue to determine what is resonating with our clients.

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 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 there’s a silver lining in this crisis it is that we may each have a chance to reevaluate our priorities and improve the quality of our lives from here on.”

Finding and hiring good engineers is critically important, but difficult to accomplish. Don’t be afraid to seek outside help or use assessment tools to help you along the way.

“The new reality of living with the coronavirus is just getting started.”

“I used to be addicted to social media … So I stopped. Today, I still use social media, though only for business purposes.”

“Mentors and those whom they are mentoring have to select each other. It’s a mutual thing based on chemistry.”

“How do you stack up in these seven areas? Is money being wasted? If so, take action now!”

“Every time you take off early or give yourself that perk you always wanted, you could unknowingly be demotivating someone. I’ve seen some egregious examples of this over the years.”

It might seem far fetched, but it’s true. AEC firms can learn a thing or two from the fast-food industry.

Giving gifts to your clients is a great show of appreciation, but make sure you know the differences between public and private entities. In the AEC business, the holiday season can be 45 very pleasant...

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....

“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...

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...

I have been traveling my entire professional career, and as much as I hate to admit it, that is 38 years now. I’m sure I could have flown to Mars or something with as much...

Here is the full transcript of a great conversation that we had with Mark Zweig. He gave us a history lesson on AECWorkforce and the importance of an effective job board for the Design and...

Here is the full transcript of a great conversation that we had with Mark Zweig. He gave us a history lesson on AECWorkforce and the importance of an effective job board for the Design and...

When you think about it, management of the design process for a complex construction project is all about accomplishing things through others. Many different people have to come together to get something done by a...

A visit with a successful principal from a fast growing MEP firm in London, Ontario. In this episode, Randy Wilburn interviewed Derek Reid, principal with Callidus Engineering in London, Ontario. Reid became a principal this...

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

When does travel time become paid time? If you don’t know the answer, you might need to check in with the U.S. Department of Labor and dust off your policy manual. It is alarming to...

Ireland-raised David Spillane likes both the past and the future, kayaking in the sea, and doing whatever it takes to keep his firm nimble. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent Like many of his colleagues, David Spillane,...

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:...

Take a look at the strategic plan, the budget, and the checklist, before making the decision on whether or not to attend. Attending trade shows can be a very expensive proposition, ranging from whether your...

Here are some tips to get the most out of your strategic plan and realize your firm’s aspirational goals. How much does a strategic plan cost? If you hire a consultant, pull your senior-leadership away...

Six suggestions for firms seeking to work with the largest buyer of A/E and environmental services. Let’s face it: The government – be it local, state, or federal – is the biggest buyer of A/E...

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...

Press Release: August 2, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (August 2, 2011) – Whether it’s a company-sponsored gym membership or paid parking, most companies offer incentives to staffers beyond their paychecks. These measures are looked upon as...

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...

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...

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....

It’s pretty well accepted by most firm owners that if you want to be successful in the A/E/P or environmental business, you MUST keep the good clients you have. No one’s marketing is so good...

We all seem to spend a lot of money on training. That’s a loosely applied term. Many things fall into the “training pot” in a typical A/E/P or environmental firm. My anecdotal understanding is that...

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...

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...

At 11:01 a.m. a few weeks back, I got an e-mail message from our switchboard operator that said Ms. So-and-so, “a principal with local architectural firm X” called. She did not want to speak to...

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...

Call me any names you want. It won’t be the first time. But it doesn’t matter. I’m tough. I can take it. I have the power of my own convictions and conscience to get me...

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...

We work for the owners and top managers of a lot of different A/E/P and environmental firms. While all those companies and their managers are different, they share one thing— they’re not happy with project...

If you talked with as many people in A/E/P and environmental consulting firms as I have over the years, you would soon discover that “office politics” is a dirty term in our industry. Engineers, architects,...