Search results

By Chad Coldiron | In today’s AEC market, retention isn’t just about culture – it’s about whether employees can afford to stay. 

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

By Julia Moroney | The real AI conversation in AEC isn’t about tools or speed, it’s about preserving trust, judgment, and accountability.

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

By Steve Jarmon | AEC firms cannot afford to ignore cybersecurity leadership as digital risk grows alongside cloud platforms, data sharing, and remote work.

By Julia Moroney | AEC firms must protect flexibility without sacrificing mentorship and visibility for young leaders.

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

By Tom Godin | Performance problems in AEC firms are rarely effort issues; they’re organizational design failures leaders must own and intentionally fix.

By Jeremy Clarke | Micromanagement is hated, but accountability often wears that label when underperformance finally meets real leadership attention.

By Duncan Robertson | Motivational leadership drives loyalty, ownership, and growth by connecting people’s individual goals to the firm’s larger purpose and vision.

By Kyle Ahern | A closer look at the structures, risks, and rewards shaping leadership in today’s AEC industry.

  Zweig Group is the leading advisory firm for the AEC industry, providing expert guidance across the entire M&A lifecycle. With deep industry knowledge and decades of experience, we help firms navigate transactions, maximize value,...

By Robert Jones | The DOT’s new rule ends automatic DBE presumptions, requiring individualized proof of disadvantage and immediate recertification for all firms.

    Zweig Group is the leading advisory firm for the AEC industry, providing expert guidance across the entire M&A lifecycle. With deep industry knowledge and decades of experience, we help firms navigate transactions, maximize...

By Erik Stroemberg | Practical insights and recommendations for creating, communicating, and maintaining an effective AI policy.

By Matt Cooper | AEC firms face a middle management gap, but technology can empower PMs, boost efficiency, and accelerate talent development.

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 Dathan Gaskill | Fractional CFOs offer flexible, expert financial guidance to help AEC firms grow, reduce risk, and improve efficiency.

By Nick Heim | Innovation in AEC succeeds when people, processes, and technology work together with purpose and alignment.

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

By Kristin Kautz | Six skills to succeed for the next five years in an AI-driven world.

By Morgan Stinson | Delegation is crucial for growth, helping managers shift from doing the work themselves to empowering others effectively.

By Anastasia Welch | Transforming team dynamics and strategies for improved leadership skills, operations, and project implementation, leading to business success.

By Alicia Kamischke | This is a versatile segment of your organization that should be tailored to best fit your company structure, strengths, weaknesses, goals, and needs.

By Kristin Kautz | AI assistants empower personalized and effective support that will save time and money, and enhance creativity and quality.

By Safa Kamangar | By applying these principles, a manager can become a source of inspiration, guidance, and stability for their team members.

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 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 Sara Karstetter | AI is a hot topic with numerous applications in AEC, though navigating the options can be overwhelming.

Zweig Group is the leading AEC Industry, advisory service provider. We blend industry and sector knowledge with experience across the M&A lifecycle to help you capture value for shareholders. Reach our Mergers & Acquisitions Advisory team here.    ...

Zweig Group is the leading AEC Industry, advisory service provider. We blend industry and sector knowledge with experience across the M&A lifecycle to help you capture value for shareholders. Reach our Mergers & Acquisitions Advisory team here.    ...

By Joseph Lauk | No one is “above” the work of others, and developing staff this way ensures succession within the firm will carry the values of the firm for years to come.

By Liisa Andreassen | President and chairman of the board at McFarland Johnson, a national consultancy providing program management, planning, environmental, engineering, and construction phase services.

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

Zweig Group is excited to announce the addition of Keith Sequeira in the role of Director of Data Analytics, and Ying Liu in the role of Strategy Advisor, to the team.  Keith is a collaborative...

By Liisa Andreassen | President of GAI Consultants, an employee-owned planning, engineering, and environmental consulting firm that provides local expertise to worldwide clients.

Zweig Group is the leading AEC Industry advisory service provider. We blend industry and sector knowledge with experience across the M&A lifecycle to help you capture value for shareholders. Reach our Mergers & Acquisitions Advisory team here.Domestic Transactions:  ...

By Liisa Andreassen | President of Dewberry (Fairfax, VA), a nationwide planning, design, and construction firm with more than 50 locations and more than 2,000 professionals nationwide.

By Kevin Brown | Those companies that are resolute, agile, and creative will define the workplace rules of tomorrow, while the rest will be forced to follow or buckle beneath the pressure.

Domestic Transactions: ESOP engineering, consulting and construction firm, KCI (Sparks, MD) has announced the acquisition of Civil Engineering Consultants (CEC) (San Antnio, TX). CEC is a wide-ranging civil engineering, construction management and surveying firm, whose capabilities will complement KCI's...

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

By Roger Marquis | What is a self-perform general contractor and why should your firm consider working with one?

By Mike Nunley | The pandemic highlighted the importance of workday social interaction, protecting key technical staff from burnout, and using technology to engage with clients.

By Tim Schroeder | By focusing on teams, you could deepen employee engagement, enhance communication, and improved your firm’s agility.

By Liisa Andreassen | President of Line Scale Form (Birmingham, AL), a firm with a goal of providing clients with designs that are exceptional and practical – visually, fiscally, and functionally.

SWCA Environmental Consultants (Phoenix, AZ) has acquired Sycamore Environmental Consultants, (Sacramento, CA) an environmental consulting services, compliance and permitting firm. Sycamore provides environmental permitting support to the public and private sectors and specializes in public...

By Liisa Andreassen | CEO of HLB Lighting Design, Inc. (New York, NY), an internationally recognized design firm focused on architectural lighting for both interior and exterior environments.

By Rob Hughes | Enterprise risk management provides a formal process for firms to examine their critical risks in context, and implement cost-effective risk management and risk-financing solutions.

By Chad Coldiron | Practice becoming a better communicator, and you’ll build better rapport and credibility with clients, colleagues, and just about everyone else.

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

CEO of Wendel (Williamsville, NY), an innovative AEC and energy efficiency firm that collaborates with clients for a holistic project approach.

Founding principal of Kudela & Weinheimer (Houston, TX), a landscape architecture firm that has produced beautiful, exceptionally built environments for more than 25 years.

In these uncharted times, we run the risk of only thinking about the immediate and not about where we are going to be three months, six months, or a year from now.

Chairman and CEO of Mabbett & Associates, Inc. (Bedford, MA), a verified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business.

“There are many ways to ‘cook the books’ so they show certain results. Here are some typical problems that we see showing up in the financial statements of A/E firms.”

Before you pass the torch, you need to make sure that your next generation of leaders is up to the task.

President and principal-in-charge at Taylor Design, an architecture and interior design firm headquartered in Irvine, California.

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

If you’re like the rest of us, your firm is busy. But as the projects and revenue pour in, so do plenty of problems that you’ll have to deal with.

President and CEO of Kleinschmidt (Best Firm #34 Multi-Discipline for 2018), a 140-person environmental consulting firm.

Add value, share work, respond quickly, and be open about your process to get more business and increase revenue without spending more.

Founder and CEO of Wright Engineers (Best Firm #1 Structural for 2018), a Vegas-headquartered firm where perfection is the goal but excellence is tolerated.

President of PES Structural Engineers (Best Firm #10 Structural for 2018), a 57-person firm based in Atlanta. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Leadership development,” Planer says, referring to his No. 1 responsibility. “We work hard to...

President and CEO of Ghafari (Hot Firm #54 for 2017), a 550-person multi-discipline firm based in Dearborn, Michigan. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “I would describe myself as a people person and am elated to see...

Lack of information leads to assumptions and guessing. Good and complete information at the appropriate time leads to informed decision-making. Over my 30-year career, I’ve had the opportunity to work on a wide range of...

Principal at G2 Consulting (Hot Firm #67 for 2016), a 75-person geotechnical, geo-environmental, and construction engineering firm based in Troy, Michigan. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “As long as the clients are pleased and the revenues...

Zweig Group just released its 2018 Policies, Procedures & Benefits Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning and Environmental Consulting Firms. The report covers many of the questions that firm leaders are faced with when they look...

What are some of the duties and responsibilities of the typical board in an A/E firm? An excerpt from A/E Board of Directors Manual The board described below, for most A/E Firms, falls somewhere between...

Fight the brain drain by reducing burnout, building resilience, and making sure employees are empowered and engaged. Most leaders of companies today recognize the importance of having engaged people at work. Yet research from the...

Generational ownership and leadership transitions pose unique challenges. Anyone you promote to the highest level must be cut from the right cloth. The statistics bear repeating: Most professional services firms are aging at the top....

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...

If at first you don’t succeed, don’t give up. Cast your net again and chances are you’ll catch another fish. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent Rob Matthews, president of Matthews Design Group, Inc. (#10 Best Firm...

You know what you’re supposed to do, but since your marketing department is understaffed and disempowered, you can’t make it happen. I’m sure many of you have found yourselves in that familiar seminar or conference...

There’s a lot to evaluate, and measures can be severe, but if fiefdoms form, or if turnover is high, it’s time to take action. Are you frustrated because some of your teams, groups or offices...

If vertical or horizontal expansion (or both) is in the cards for you, approach with caution. Business has been good lately in the A/E professions. Opportunities abound, yet many firms struggle with the question of...

Take the time to share with new hires your wisdom about why things are the way they are and how they got that way. What happens when someone joins your firm? Do you merely sit...

Being treated as a second class employee, independent of rank, is very demoralizing, Mark Zweig writes. The other day I stopped to talk with ZweigWhite’s CPA, who was meeting with our in-house accountant – a...

This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 994 Originally published 2/11/2013 Most architects and engineers never studied how to run a business, so the issue of governance becomes increasingly complex...