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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 Rachel Gresham | Culture erodes when organizations ask people to behave one way while systems, incentives, and authority structures reward another.

By Kyle Ahern | Employee survey data reveals the hidden drivers of culture, retention, and performance in AEC firms.

By Zachary Strickland | Successful program managers anticipate risks, guide tough conversations, and create confidence amid complexity.

By Ezequiel Tovar | Strategic planning transforms vision into execution by aligning leaders, empowering employees, and funding growth with intention.

By Aaron Quesada | By adapting to shifting expectations, embracing innovation, and acting with integrity, firms can become indispensable partners in their clients’ growth and success.

By Kyle Ahern | Outdated pay benchmarks are quietly undermining retention and credibility in today’s AEC compensation decisions.

By Jon Hanlon | AEC careers are built on continual learning, where mistakes, questions, and collaboration shape lasting skills and professional growth.

By Sara Grayum | In a world where perception drives engagement, the AEC industry is waking up to a new kind of visibility.

By Mark Zweig | Many AEC firms claim high quality, but without consistent action those promises quickly become hollow words.

By Lindsay Young | Every firm is unique, so focus on your differentiating factor to create a one-of-a-kind client experience.

By Matt Verderamo | Our future depends on bridging generational gaps through mentorship, field experience, and modern leadership development.

By Kyle Ahern | What high-profit 2025 Best Firms To Work For do differently to earn employee trust, loyalty, and performance.

By Daryl Simons Jr. | How to create a stronger, more dynamic, and future-ready workplace – where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

By Anna Kendall | Effective internal communication plays a crucial role in shaping employee morale during times of significant change.

By Mark Zweig | It’s time to take some action inside your business; do these 10 things now to be ready for whatever lies ahead.

By Tiara Marcus | True leaders tune out the noise and let their expertise, talent, and technical understanding speak for itself.

By Liisa Andreassen | President of Neumann Monson Architects (Iowa City, IA), a firm that creates exceptional spaces for living, working, learning, and playing.

By Val Brennan | By moving beyond outdated tools, we can foster more meaningful connections, better demonstrate our capabilities, and evolve with the needs of our clients.

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

By Lauren Martin | The Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act of 1990 granted architects copyright protection for their designs, but recent trends see ownership shifting.

By Kristin Kautz | In the rapidly evolving universe of AI, firms willing to “go big” will be at the forefront of transformation – with all of the risk and reward that implies.

By Kyle Ahern | Best Firms invest in an employee-centric culture, organizational efficiency, and leadership development.

By Rachel Wilde | By engaging working mothers in the workplace effectively, we can help retain top talent in our industry and create a better tomorrow for our daughters.

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 Conrey Guy | Your mission, vision, and values make up the backbone of your firms’ identity.

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’s 2023 Best Firms To Work For Award winners share how they’re leading the charge in setting new standards for employee experience.

By Lindsay Young | We need to be more intentional about prioritizing communication, appreciation, and understanding to enhance customer service.

By Kevin Johns | In order to remain competitive, AEC firms need to understand and embrace new technology.

By Johnny Smith | What characteristics of a job, firm, and industry act as predictors of voluntary turnover?

By Ezequiel Tovar | These continuing education opportunities offers valuable insight into what makes successful AEC firms stand out from the rest.

By Liisa Andreassen | CEO of MKSK, a collective of planners, urban designers, and landscape architects who are passionate about the interaction between people and place.

By Jamie Claire Kiser | Key points from this year’s ElevateHER Symposium and ElevateAEC Conference & Awards Gala.

By Will Swearingen | If there are people with dominating or otherwise off-set personalities on your leadership team, it could be time for a change.

By Lauren Rhodes Martin | Small, medium, or large, firms of every size should have a regular process in place for collection of their fees.

By Lindsay Young | Knowing what people really think will help you grow your business and serve your clients even better than you already do.

By Liisa Andreassen | Partner at Method Architecture (Houston, TX), a full-service architecture firm that is uniquely ego-free in its commitment to a systematic, client-focused creative process.

By Liisa Andreassen | President of Campos Engineering (Dallas, TX), an MEP engineering, testing, adjusting and balancing, and commissioning firm.

By Phil Keil | Firms with purpose driven leadership have tangible benefits and more successful outcomes.

By Ted Grace | This is a cost-effective alternative for AEC leaders seeking to manage enterprise risk.

By Brian King | Firms with a strongly integrated multigenerational workforce will experience tremendous power and opportunity for success over the next number of years.

By Ryan Suydam & Blake Godwin | This new award is the strongest way to differentiate your firm from the competition.

By Stephanie Warino | How employees answer a question about where they see themselves in two years, and what their responses really mean.

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

ByStephanie Warino | Examining the top 10 differences between leading and average Best Firms To Work For.

By Abdo Kardous | How an initial leap to the Middle East jump-started success around the globe for U.S.-based Hill International.

By Bill Fox | Knowing your clients and finding out how you can solve their problems is key to building long-lasting, profitable relationships.

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 Montgomery Spillane & Dillon Reio | If you’re willing to go the extra mile to help young professionals grow, they will also go that extra mile for you.

By Liisa Andreassen | Managing partner and CEO of Croy Engineering (Marietta, GA), a multidiscipline consulting engineering firm that believes in engineering the extra mile.

CEO of Olsson (Lincoln, NE), an employee owned 1,300-person firm that is working to leave the world better than they found it.

By Will Swearingen | In recent months, long-time issues like communication have been trumped by new challenges: loneliness, problems with technology, work-life balance, and distractions.

By Jamie Claire Kiser | We’re using videoconferencing more than ever, but constant communication isn’t the same as effective communication.

Submit to: ElevateHer@zweiggroup.com Deadline: 6/15/20 Across multiple industries companies are realizing that diversity is more than just a buzzword. Project teams with individuals with diverse ages, values/beliefs, traditions, ethnic backgrounds, and personalities are continually outperforming...

By Chad Clinehens | Break out of the spreadsheet mentality and build an ownership team that drives value and performance long-term.

Exceptional brand leadership is a must for a firm to be exceptional in today’s challenging business environment.

If you are within the leadership group of your company, there are times when you may need to purge your leadership team to move forward.

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

You must constantly rethink your marketing strategy, using traditional and trending methods, if you want to be effective.

Effecting a real-life leadership transition takes years of planning, and the ability to dismiss entrenched perceptions and past assumptions.

There are plenty of tell-tale signs your AEC firm needs a set of third-party experts to help you achieve your goals.

By Jamie Claire Kiser | At what should be an incredibly productive and exciting time in the lives of young professionals, the AEC industry is failing to engage.

By Will Swearingen | If you develop a reputation for being less than forthcoming, you could derail a critical ownership transition – and even destroy your firm.

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.

Your clients have definite ideas about what your firm is and isn’t, but if you don’t take the time to ask, you’ll never know what they’re thinking. Perception is reality. Do you know how clients...

Breaking into new markets isn’t easy, but it can be done if you have a long-term, coordinated plan of attack. Following 30 years as an Army Engineer officer, I went to work as a market...

By Kyle Ahern | When I think about the people our society considers stars, I think of actors and athletes, not architects and engineers. That needs to change.

  The AEC industry is known for its inward-looking professionals. When it comes to marketing your firm to the outside world, that’s not a good thing. I’m sure everyone has heard the old joke: How...

Randy sits down with Chad Clinehens, Zweig Group's president and CEO, to talk about Chad's first year as president and CEO, Zweig Group's new mission to elevate the industry, and some of Zweig Group's upcoming...

By Christina Zweig Niehues | AEC credentials are necessary for the work of designing and building, but that’s not the case regarding firm management and ownership.

Marketing text has to be what the project owner needs to see. If you can standardize to accommodate an array of proposal types, great. If not, develop new recipes. Standardizing marketing text seems like a...

Sharing something personal about your history is a great way to connect with a selection panel – and, of course, to win work. Making a strong first impression and connecting with the selection panel are...

The well-being of your staff cannot be sacrificed for other priorities such as production, profitability, and convenience. As the director of health and safety for an AEC firm, I often find myself asking, “What is...

Tribes provide compelling places for support, validation, and direction, but tribalism cannot be allowed to thwart a firm’s success. I chose psychology as a major in college because I thought it would help me understand...

An acquired firm can double your size, elevate your design reputation, and give you a foothold in a new market – if the cultures fit. Editor’s note: Design Organization was acquired by Shive-Hattery in 2012....

While clients want to be in the hands of an expert, they also want that expert to care deeply about the success of their project. A best practice in business development/project initiation that you can...

“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...

The confidential information memorandum will save you a lot of hassles when and if you want to sell your firm, so have one crafted. A confidential information memorandum, also referred to as the “deal book,”...

"Client satisfaction surveys" or "client perception studies" in the architecture, engineering, planning, and environmental consulting industry are about a lot more than putting a quick happiness rating on a client. When conducted correctly, these surveys...

If you want entrepreneurship in the DNA of your firm’s culture, a top-down commitment to innovation and risk is essential. How important is culture? Since it’s the amorphous, intangible, and mysterious thing that drives your...

How you dress and how you work send a powerful statement to everyone around you – just make sure it’s the right one. A company has a brand, and so do you. It’s called your...

Serving others before serving yourself sounds noble, but if you are low on your own priority list, it’ll show in poor performance. If you’re a fellow frequent traveler, you’ve probably heard the safety announcement that...

By Phil Keil | Strategic planning is the roadmap to your firm’s success. Without it, you might get knocked down and never get back up.

Strategic planning is the roadmap to your firm’s success. Without it, you might get knocked down and never get back up. I have a lot on my mind this week, so get ready, buckle up,...

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...

Should you buy a firm or sell yours? That’s the question, and regardless of the answer, there’s a lot that goes into a successful merger or acquisition. In the ever-evolving AEC industry, both large and...

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...

This year’s event, as in previous years, featured a full slate of breakout sessions with dynamic speakers. Here’s what they had to say about the 2016 conference. “As our industry heats up, good people are...

Your entire staff can sell the firm, and don’t forget, there’s no such thing as a completely internal role that doesn’t affect the brand. When it comes to business development, professional service firms typically have...

Firms like to talk about growth, but fear of risk, and even laziness, contribute to lackluster marketing and timid strategic plans. If asked to offer words that describe your firm, would you use ordinary, average,...

The marketing of ‘quality’ is ubiquitous in the A/E industry, but oftentimes, the difference between perception and reality can undermine a firm’s brand equity. Many firms are dealing with record high workloads. That translates into...

Letting go is hard to do, so when the time comes for a changing of the guard, it helps if the second tier is groomed, confident, and empowered. Much of our recent work has been...

If you’re one of those people who still thinks “word of mouth” is the way to go when it comes to marketing, my guess is you have a very small firm that will remain a...

Firm leaders often think they know what the company needs, but in reality, are looking for answers in the wrong places. I receive a lot of phone calls from firms inquiring about many of Zweig...

My husband and I had dinner one evening last week at one of our favorite local restaurants, an upscale place with a gracious staff and fantastic fare. Or, at least, we went to the restaurant...

By Jamie Claire Kiser, Director of M&A Services As experts in finding buyers and sellers for architecture, engineering, and environmental consulting firms, Zweig Group’s M&A team generally speaks with business owners at the inception of...

Good communication includes good writing. Everyone sort of scoffs at the English Lit majors in college – questioning the validity of such a general degree and wondering what sort of jobs those graduates land upon...

By Mark C. Zweig CEO, ZweigWhite Some could argue that human resources management has taken a blow in the past three or four years with such a soft economy. Many employers have probably felt they...

Bob Cunningham was the 57-year-old CEO of C-6 Architects and Engineers in Seattle, Washington. He became CEO of the company in 1992. Cunningham took great pride in witnessing the firm’s growth from 30 people when...

I just got back from ZweigWhite’s 2007 A/E Marketing Now Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was our biggest and best-attended marketing conference ever! My task was to open the show with a short talk...

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...

Let’s face it, the motivation of any A/E or environmental firm’s leaders is, in many ways, more important than the motivation of the staff. Because if the leaders aren’t fired up, how can anyone else...

I was at a management seminar recently where I am convinced that fully 15 or 20% of the attendees were there only because their firms told them to go. And my guess is that a...

Last week I was on the phone ordering a part for an old British motorcycle. It vibrates so much that every time I ride it something either breaks off or falls off. In any event,...

Robert stompeas felt good. he felt really good. There was a heck of a lot of satisfaction that came from having a great year when so many other firms were having a lousy one. Nautso-Lethargi...

Schweitzer, Rosenblatt, Tunick, and McBlarsky had just ended one heck of a run. The 250-person E/A firm had grown from 40 people to 250 over the past five years. And while it was undeniably exciting,...

I just got back from a 1,720-mile motorcycle trip with my wife on our new Kawasaki ZG1000 sport touring bike. It was fantastic! We went up the coast of Maine from Kennebunkport to Bar Harbor....

I have always been interested in design and construction. When I was as young as seven years old, I was drawing up floor plans for houses on graph paper and building them with my Legos....

The longer I am involved with this industry the more aware I am of how critical the collective and individual morale of a firm’s employees is to its continued ability to function successfully. Let’s face...

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...

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...

Oops.....I just used a four-letter word. Excuse me. But unfortunately, I don’t know a better term to describe people who constantly push the limits and question the status quo. In fact, I think having one...

I gave a talk last week at a meeting one of our clients had for all their market sector leaders. This is a successful company that we do quite a bit of work for, and...

From all we see and hear through our “catbird seat” at ZW&A, it seems to me that many of the professionals out there in our industry have forgotten what their role is in the building...

Ask any president, CEO, managing principal, or managing partner if they really care about their A/E/P or environmental consulting firm, and they’d probably guffaw and come back with some sarcastic comment that might make you...

A lot of firms in our business are going through some serious introspection. And if they aren’t, they probably should be. Change is occurring at an accelerating pace. Yesterday’s hot firm may be a dog...

It has been said that the only thing an A/E/P or environmental firm can do in a presentation is “not lose the job”— meaning that the selection decisions are made before presentation time, and can...

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...