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By Mark Zweig | Early career success comes from reliability, responsiveness, humility, and a willingness to work harder.

By Mark Zweig | In the AEC business, recruiting isn’t just about finding people; it’s about becoming the kind of firm people want to join.

By Mark Zweig | Winning big design projects requires strategy, preparation, credibility, and connecting authentically with decision-makers to secure long-term success.

Benchmarking the Future: AE Firm Performance Insights with Monograph and Zweig Group   “Whatever is the hardest path is probably the path we should be on. The hardest path is also the least traveled.” Robert...

By Mark Zweig | Practical career advice for new AEC graduates on landing a great job and accelerating early career success.

By Scott D. Butcher | To succeed in disruption, AEC firms must refine client focus, target markets, and go/no-go processes.

By Mark Zweig | AEC firms today still struggle with the same old organizational issues that undermine clarity, accountability, and leadership.

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 Mark Zweig | As a leader or manager, you are probably super busy and will get stuck if you cannot offload a lot of what you have to do.

By Mark Zweig | If you want the best people, you have to sell – the company, the role, and the location – and move fast when you get a good one!

By Mark Zweig | 2025 offers opportunities for AEC firms to thrive through responsiveness, strategic metrics, strong banking ties, and workplace honesty.

By Mark Zweig | Balancing growth and profitability is essential for long-term value creation and success in AEC firm valuation strategies.

By Mark Zweig | Flexible job descriptions with clear responsibilities, single reporting lines, and adaptable salary ranges foster employee satisfaction and avoid rigidity.

By Mark Zweig | Sparkplugs are the people in your business who make things happen – and they are essential if you want to grow beyond what you alone can ignite.

By Mark Zweig | Anyone who is a design professional and who wants to get ahead is probably going to have to learn to be a manager.

By Mark Zweig | Here are some ways your CEO could be even more helpful to your company than they already are.

By Kurtis John | Ignoring these areas of risk and their potential implications can have significant impacts on your success and your firm’s future.

By Mark Zweig | Leverage construction loans for AEC business real estate ownership, enhancing assets and financial health.

By Mark Zweig | These are some of the characteristics of people who bring out the best in us and steer us to the “right path” for business and personal success.

By Javier Suarez | Participating in more tradeshows is not necessarily the best course of action, and you probably aren’t getting the best bang for your buck if this is your strategy.

By Mark Zweig | These are the most important qualities that decide who gets to move up as firm leaders, managers, and future owners.

By Mark Zweig | To have extraordinary success, you need to make an extraordinary effort and have your full attention on the business.

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

By Gordon Greene | If you trust your staff and have hired people with integrity, you will never need to tell someone you want them 90 percent utilized.

By Mark Zweig | As a business owner, people problems will probably be at the top of your “problems/opportunities” list.

By Phil Keil | It’s time to start building a strategy for how you will compete and stay relevant in this rapidly evolving environment.

By Javier Suarez | SOQs that are assembled without any direction just end up in the delete folder or the wastebasket. There’s a better way.

By Mark Zweig | Helping other people develop and be successful could be one of the most rewarding aspects of your career.

By Randy Wilburn | Podcasting is one of the best ways you can tell the story of your brand.

By Will Anderson | A few reasons this is one of the safest and most rewarding industries to be in.

By Tom Godin | It’s up to leadership to recognize entropic degradation in their firms and respond energetically to restore order.

By Malory Atkinson | If your logo no longer corresponds with your brand image and values, it’s time for a change.

By Mark Zweig | Where are you now in terms of billable work versus business stuff? Are you happy with the mix?

By Mark Zweig | There are so many positive aspects of this industry, and it’s important that we keep reminding ourselves and our people why this is such a great business.

By Mark Zweig | Business ownership can be one of the most rewarding things for any person to participate in.

By Mark Zweig | Just because you hear other firm leaders are pushing for something, that doesn’t mean it’s right for your firm.

By Mark Zweig | Seven good reasons to look at implementing a market sector-based organization structure in your firm.

By Mark Zweig | If you truly want “best practices” for your firm, you need to look for real innovation versus following the pack.

By Mark Zweig | You’ll never be able to eliminate uncertainty, but there are some things you can be sure of. Keeping these in mind will help you be ready for what lies ahead.

By Mark Zweig | If you feel your like you’re losing control and you don’t know how you can accomplish all you want to, you could benefit from establishing a routine.

By Mark Zweig | We create much of our own good luck – and a lot of that comes down to understanding probabilities and doing things that increase our odds for success.

By Lindsay Young | Making mistakes is an essential part of running a successful firm, so stop waiting around and start taking action.

By Stephen Lucy | Actively work to shape your own legacy, otherwise it will be defined by others and probably not as positive as you would want.

By Mark Zweig | An experienced and competent financial manager could make a huge difference in your company’s and your personal financial well-being.

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 Mark Zweig | Don’t underestimate the importance of getting everyone involved in the business planning process and then sharing that plan with all.

By Liisa Andreassen | COO of CEC Corporation (Oklahoma City, OK), a multidiscipline firm with a focus on eliminating aging infrastructure and driving community growth through innovative design.

Focus on getting stuff done and moving forward by fitting the tasks on your to-do list to either the time slot or energy you have available.

Contract disclaimers reflect the reality that estimating is an art, not a science – and that design professionals cannot guarantee or warrant the actual costs of construction.

When you underestimate the proposal and fail to invest in its development, you risk losing money and wasting business development resources.

By Mark Zweig | These are some of the common elements that are often present in the most successful leadership transitions.

By Mark Zweig | There are 10 things practically every firm in this business should do but won’t. If you try these things, your firm will be more successful.

Managing partner at Method Architecture (Houston, TX), a firm that practices ego-free architecture, creatively solves problems, and provides unparalleled customer service.

Current world events are changing the way we value everything. This pandemic highlights the need for collaborative and equitable decision-making between leadership and staff.

By Chad Coldiron | Having a set strategy for when the internet is down will prove you are the leader you are striving to be.

Taking a break and letting your mind wander can bring a fresh perspective and the extra boost you need to make it through the day a happier, healthier you.

By Mark Zweig | None of these is a panacea. All of these things do, however, have the potential to bring you new clients, opportunities, and projects.

By Mark Zweig | For many A/E firms, it is going to take a lot of tough decisions, hard work, mental intensity, and help from everyone in the firm to get through this situation intact.

By Mark Zweig | “Profound changes are coming to our industry. As is always the case when the external market makes huge shifts, those companies that can adapt will do well.”

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.”

Take time each day to do things that rest your mind and body. This will help you be more creative, more productive, and a better leader.

Don’t be afraid to charge what you’re worth. You want clients who value your relationship and appreciate your talent.

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

“If you approach feedback from the standpoint that you are trying to help your people – even if it is negative – most will appreciate you.”

It’s not easy to do, but if you want lifelong clients who are also friends, you have to commit yourself to the long haul.

Branding and growing a diverse firm while staying true to your roots is possible, but you have to know why you’re in business.

“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.”

By Phil Keil | Have a purpose and commit to mastery and excellence and you will find happiness both personally and professionally.

The best way to do it is one bite at a time. The same can be said of your marketing plan.

When your best junior associate ‘unexpectedly’ leaves, the decision was probably in the works for a long time, you just never saw it coming.

“It’s a debate that’s been ongoing for years in our industry, thanks in no small part to the popularity of Good to Great, an academic study of huge, publicly-traded corporations and other organizations.”

On the surface everything might appear to be fine, but back at their office, the consulting engineers might be telling the (painful) truth.

“Even if you don’t apply it to your business, knowing probabilities of success will at least keep you from buying scratch tickets or blowing your cash in a slot machine at a casino somewhere!”

“One of the things they teach you about entrepreneurship in business school is that you should have your exit strategy in mind as you start and grow your company.” One of the things they teach...

“It’s crucial that the individual manager work hard to gain acceptance. Not doing so will almost inevitably lead to getting shot in the back.” While it’s best if you can promote from within, there are...

“We get our greatest satisfaction from accomplishing things – yet we seem hell bent on getting to a position where we don’t DO anything that would give us that satisfaction.” I don’t know what’s wrong...

Pre-project analysis is critical if you want strong business development through profitable projects and happy clients. And yes, it’s a process. The Gateway Engineers, Inc. is a full-service civil engineering firm with a diverse group...

“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...

The new generation brings a lot to the table, much of it good, so lighten up, be honest, and enjoy yourself as you roll up your sleeves and work. By 2020, nearly half (46 percent)...

If you lead an AEC firm, you have a lot of tough questions to ask yourself, and the answers aren’t always pretty. But ask and answer you must. In a romanticized view of the business...

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...

Client management is something anyone who owns an AEC firm should be concerned about. After all, if you don’t do it effectively, not only will your projects probably turn out poorly, but your firm won’t...

As hot as merger and acquisition activity in the A/E industry is – and it is hot (we probably get two or three calls/inquiries/RFPs a day now) – internal transition – selling from employees/owners to...

One of the most frustrating aspects of being a business owner is when two or more employees – or worse – two or more work groups – both productive ones – don’t get along. One...

Things have gotten better in the last 10 years – probably due to the popularity of texting and emailing – but architects and engineers still have a big problem with bad writing. An old friend...

Evaluate where you are, how you can improve, rank yourself and your team, and then work through every way you want to perform better. Between wrapping up business and preparing for family time most of...

When it comes to our projects, we need to know as much as we can to ensure we stay on track for our firm and our clients. There’s a fine line between what we know...

Listen, read between the lines, communicate, understand your style, and don’t forget to set the tone, solve the crisis, and do the right thing. There is a difference between being a manager versus being a...

The last few weeks have been pretty rough. A nice young fellow who cleaned my antique cars was killed in a New Year’s Eve altercation with a gun-wielding criminal. Several of my friends and acquaintances,...

There’s always something nice about a new year. It’s a fresh start. It’s time for a new plan. The accounting starts all over at zero. Let’s get going! Here are my thoughts: Org structure. Do...

Keeping up with the latest and greatest in marketing is tough, but it’s easy to see what techniques need to be left behind. If you’re still doing the same kind of marketing you were doing...

Branding, education, a low barrier to entry, and the creation of fans are all part of it, so what are you waiting for? I rejoined Zweig Group more than three years ago after an almost...

It’s not about what emotions we experience, but how we harness and direct our emotions that will impact our success or failure. In the AEC industry, each constituent group has a stereotypical emotional profile. Engineers...

We’re seeing more and more multi-office A/E/P and environmental firms wrestle with this issue: should branch offices be profit centers or not? Or should some other organization units be the place where we measure profitts...

Value really, truly is in the eye of the beholder. If you can find someone who sees value in what your firm does, the clients you serve, your expertise, the markets you know, your leadership...

As a coach, your choices can impact the fate of your team members, so take pains to put the right people in the right places. I didn’t grow up in a very sports-centric family. We...

Someone turns in their notice. They were either close to being fired or should have been. They let you down. Or, they are going to work for a competitor. Do you refuse to say “goodbye”...

It’s hard to find outstanding people to work in your AEC firm. It’s also hard to keep them working for you these days when they have so many other options. What are some things you...

In this episode of the podcast, Randy Wilburn and Sanjay Jenkins discuss the rise of AI in the job application process, referencing the Wall Street Journal article “In Unilever’s Radical Hiring Experiment, Resumes Are Out,...

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...

Zweig Group recently released the 2017 Recruitment & Retention Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning and Environmental Consulting Firms. The survey found that the average firm is spending a significant amount on new hires, even at...

Zweig Group recently released the 2017 Recruitment & Retention Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning and Environmental Consulting Firms. The survey found that the average firm is spending a significant amount on new hires, even at...

The average 200-person A/E Firm is spending $200,000 on hiring, and not budgeting at all. Zweig Group recently released the 2017 Recruitment & Retention Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning and Environmental Consulting Firms. The survey...

If you make it that far in the interview process, don’t forget to show the potential client your best asset – your ability to make a human connection. A few weeks ago, your A/E team...

99 is a lot of problems, how about 9 common problems and some solutions. 1) Difficulty making a decision. Engineers too often really struggle with this one. There’s never enough information. Therefore, it is deemed...

The thought occurred to me that some of our readers could benefit from a few of the lessons I have learned over the years – both on my own and from observing/working with a lot...

The thought occurred to me that some of our readers could benefit from a few of the lessons I have learned over the years – both on my own and from observing/working with a lot...

As a matter of personal “policy” and business philosophy, I don’t get into politics in these pages or any of the other publications or social media outlets used by me or my businesses. Just seems...

Sometimes you have to fire an employee, but in plenty of cases, a mistake is a mistake, and an employee with a second chance is loyal. It’s a position that no boss wants to be...

If you think there’s too much recruiting, then you probably don’t realize there is no ‘season,’ but an unending grind. There is no preseason or final game for recruiting. A/E firms that don’t understand the...

Bond issues, Trump spending could spell good year for AEC By Richard Massey Managing Editor While a three-person panel hosted by Engineering News-Record did not offer an outright prediction that construction would boom next year,...

By Mark Zweig | Those who are called “principal” should be cognizant of several important aspects of their roles. Here are a few of them.

It’s time for a quick review of what firm leaders should – and should not – be doing. There are a lot of people with the “principal” title in A/E of environmental firms. But I...

Collaboration between centralized and decentralized resources is the ultimate secret weapon effecting success in any organization. To centralize or not to centralize. Is that the question? For years, leadership groups and marketing professionals across the...

Lonnie Laffen, CEO of JLG Architects, is a Bison who likes burgers and fries, a big motor bike, but not politics. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent Twenty-seven years ago, Lonnie Laffen, president and CEO of JLG...

As with most things in life, there is a point of diminishing returns when it comes to going after new work in the AEC industry. This is especially true when times are good, as they...

Your ability to sell work is probably the most crucial skill you can have IF you really want to maximize your opportunities in the AEC world we all live in. Here are a few pointers...

We’ve all been there because every A/E firm in existence seems to have one. I’m talking about the person in the room who is completely, utterly negative. You’re in a meeting. Changes are being proposed....

As the bumper sticker says, "Shit Happens." Unfortunately, it rarely occurs at the ideal time. Problems crop up that you didn't anticipate – health problems, a parent dies, a key employee quits, divorce, IRS audits...

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...

Mistakes happen, and to minimize them without demotivating your people, a measured response is critical. We had a situation this week – a headline had been added to my recent article on millennials in the...

Here are a few tips on ensuring that potential employees accept your job offer, and have a back-up in case they don’t. It’s a big problem today. You go through a long search process, interviewing...

In work and in life, our past experiences, relationships, and the information we consume contribute to our outcomes. You know – in life, or in business – things pretty much happen as you expect them...

More so than the everyday small business, organizations that aim to grow must employ specific types of people. Not every A/E or environmental firm is an entrepreneurial firm. But, if you’re reading this, odds are...

There are probably many reasons why people have trouble completing tasks; here are some ways to solve the problem. It seems to me, a common problem we all encounter these days – either with ourselves...

Taking the time to get these 8 items in order might make all the difference when seeking a buyer for your business. A lot of us don’t want to plan for it. We don’t even...

Take the last few months of 2015 to assess your clients and marketing. Although 2015 won’t be over until the last day of December, September always feels like the start of something new. With the...

Being human, we all have opportunities to learn (and re-learn) valuable truths for dealing with others. You’re never too old to learn, if you keep your mind open to it. I have found over the...

Here's a small excerpt from the A/E Board of Director's Manual.... In short, some do and some don’t....Since a majority of firms in the industry—most of which are small—have boards, it would seem that boards...

Take an honest look at your client relationship and ask yourself if it’s still mutually beneficial; if it’s not, it is time to do the hard thing. In addition to working at Zweig Group, I...

Four suggestions from Mark Zweig that will result in more work than you can handle. It’s interesting to me to see how many architects, engineers, planners and environmental consultants really don’t understand marketing. Many either...

As hiring picks up in 2015, make sure you are taking all factors into consideration, Mark Zweig writes. Some years ago, I got a call from a good client and friend of mine. He ran...

It’s lonely at the top and hard to find someone who will listen and provide useful advice, Mark Zweig writes. It’s been said before that it’s lonely at the top. There’s a lot of truth...

Mark Zweig expresses frustration about the mishandling of the sales process at design firms. It is a hard to manage the business development (BD) effort in the A/E and environmental consulting industry. To start with,...

Search outside the firm or groom from within? To this author, the answer is obvious. I wrote last month about a position description for an office leader. But where do you look for the talent...

Four additional suggestions from Mark Zweig because the time is now. It’s here – the New Year. They keep coming faster and faster. It’s kind of funny to see the past futurists’ ideas about what...

Mark Zweig offers five steps to keep your expanded departments happy and productive. When I started working in the A/E/P and environmental consulting industry in 1980, most companies in the business did NOT have a...

Stop holding so many of them and get back to work, Mark Zweig writes. We’ve got a HUGE problem in the A/E/P and environmental business. And it’s one we can solve easily. I’m talking about...

Editorial: By Mark C. Zweig It seems to me that many – if not most – companies in our business today have given up on the idea that they can grow in this economy. Instead,...

By Ed Friedrichs In a fascinating recent book, Fred Reichheld asks The Ultimate Question (also the title of the book), “On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to refer __________ (fill...

Mark Zweig doesn’t mind working with guts. Indeed, he prefers it. Zweig, a Fayetteville businessman perhaps best known as the founder of the firm that bears his name, has drawn attention lately for his work...

By Mark C. Zweig It’s funny how firms in our business— many of which have been around for 20, 30, 40 or more years— can get to a certain level and then start to let...

You know, when it comes down to it, there are really only a few different money-making models for A/E/P and environmental firms that seem to work over time. By “work,” I mean provide enough growth...

With the consolidation wave just starting to gain momentum in the A/E/P and environmental industry, it seemed appropriate to get into a subject that many firms in our business seem to have an ongoing problem...

If you aren’t worried about your banking relationship right now, you are deluding yourself. Besides the fact that we have already had firms in our business— large firms— put out of business by their banks,...

Many A/E/P and environmental firms are planning on entering new markets this year. The reasons for doing so are pretty obvious— first among them being that so many markets firms are already in are down....

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....

Project management training tends to emphasize the legal and liability aspects of what we do, along with scheduling and budgeting techniques. But, there is so much more to it beyond the science of project management....

As the year starts to wrap up, most A/E and environmental firms begin to rethink their incentive compensation plans: “Is our plan right for our company?”; “Does it reward the behavior we want to reward?”;...

While I have probably written about business planning in the pages of The Zweig Letter a dozen or more times over the years, it seems necessary to do so again. As you read this, A/E/P...

Short term marketing fixes? There aren’t any. You can hold a lot of meetings, make some calls, and get out and aggressively try to sell some new projects, but it probably won’t make any real...

Getting new people productive sooner is something that everyone who owns an A/E/P or environmental firm should be concerned about. This is NOT a topic that only H.R. managers should worry about. Principals and line...

Many firms in the A/E/P or environmental business today have some sort of designated market leaders. Usually, there’s a new business plan and part of it requires a “realignment” to a more market-driven structure. Then,...

My desk is in such disarray these days that my former co-workers at ZweigWhite would surely think I’d lost my mind if they saw it. I have always been an “everything in its place” kind...

Right now, a record number of senior owners of architecture, engineering, planning, and environmental firms are facing a serious question. Should they sell their firm— or not? It’s a question every entrepreneurial small business owner...

As the economy gets worse, and panic sets in amongst the management of too many A/E/P and environmental firms, mistakes will be made that are difficult to recover from. I’m referring to decisions such as...

One of the many things I have learned over the years about architects and engineers is that they are can-do, independent people. As such, they like to do everything that they can do themselves. Yet,...

There’s no question in my mind that using personal letters is one of the best-kept marketing secrets for architects, engineers, and environmental consultants. Newsletters are overused. Every firm has one. And if the firm is...

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...

What you stand for is a little more subjective but not hard to figure out, either. Look at the heritage and culture of the firm. New ventures should be consistent with that. And again, go...

The other day, I was standing in the front yard of a house I am redoing in Fayetteville. A woman from down the street came walking up to me, saying, “Mark, Mark— I have a...

I had a lengthy conversation the other day with someone who is currently in the throes of helping his company design a new incentive compensation plan. This fellow is a smart guy. He had done...

After doing business plans for more than 20 years, the truth has finally sunk into me: You cannot please everyone with one strategic plan. In other words, the strategic plan for internal purposes is probably...

A recent article in The Zweig Letter where various A/E and environmental firm principals were asked about the best interview questions to ask prospective employees got me thinking. It got me thinking about what I...

There’s an interesting article in the latest issue of Inc Magazine on PR firms that get paid only when they get results for their clients— results being a press mention in the local paper, a...

As the fall air turns crisp and cool here in Northwest Arkansas, many folks’ thoughts turn to football, leaf raking, and the upcoming holiday season. Owners and managers of A/E/P and environmental consulting firms, however,...

Even though he’d only worked at Associated Consultants for about three weeks, Bob Smearhoff was sick and tired of his co-worker, Bruce McJerquartd. “That guy is an idiot,” Smearhoff found himself thinking at least a...

Somewhere in the journalistic masterpiece known as USA Today during the week of July 17 is a small blurb about business ethics. It was one of their polls that they regularly take. Forgive me for...

I have been in business long enough to know that there’s one rule everyone should follow if they’re smart— “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” It always drives me mad when certain people...

After 26 years of immersion in A/E/P and environmental firms, it has come to my attention that one thing probably holds more firms back from achieving their potential more than anything else: the owners’ fear....

When you’ve had the benefit of more than 26 years of working with A/E/P and environmental firms like I have, some patterns about what makes one company more successful than others clearly emerge. One of...

I just got another of the many announcements that come through the ZweigWhite e-mail system today— one of our clients just bought/merged with/sold to another firm. We see so much of this that I barely...

We went to see my Mom and Dad in Kirkwood, Missouri, last weekend, for my Mom’s 85th birthday. While I was there, we had a lively discussion with my 85-year-old father, my 55- and 52-year-old...

Every year, after we announce the winners of The Zweig Letter Hot Firm List, we get contacted by other firms wondering why they are not on the list. It’s always one of two reasons: Either...

I recently accepted a more permanent position at The Walton College of Business, part of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. My role is teaching entrepreneurship classes to undergraduates, as well as promoting our entrepreneurship...

I’m no fan of most of the performance appraisal systems I see used in A/E/P and environmental consulting firms. The simple fact of the matter is they don’t work. They don’t motivate anyone to do...

A lot of design and environmental firm principals have been around a long time— they’re an average of 48 years old. That means that they have probably been doing this work for 20-25 years or...

This is a question that I see the majority of principals of A/E/P and environmental firms wrestling with. Should they sell their firm to a larger company, get liquid, and ready themselves for the next...

How many times have you seen it— one or more of the best people in either your firm or another local AEC firm quit their jobs and start a new company? By year’s end, word...

They’re making their lists. Nope— I am not talking about the Santa Clauses of the world. I am talking about your employees, and more specifically, your key employees. And the lists they are making don’t...

Hiring enough people— and the right ones— is where it’s at today. How well an A/E/P or environmental firm does this really is either an impediment (or stimulus) to growth. It impacts every area of...

I was surprised to see in our latest 2004 Principals, Partners & Owners Survey of A/E/P & Environmental Consulting Firms that the balancing of work and personal life issue was barely on the radar screen...

We all know it. If we cannot train a second generation of leaders who will be able to take over the firm and run it successfully after we are gone, we probably won’t see any...

Years ago, I coined a term called “supply-side human resources management.” The basic theory of supply-side human resources management goes something like this: If an A/E or environmental firm invests heavily in its recruitment function,...

Every so often, I have to remind our readers of the importance of their office environments. Our own recent office rehab here in Natick, along with a trip to New York and seeing some not-so-great...

My theory is that no firm is completely happy with how it handles project management. There are always problems. And one of the common complaints heard is, “We don’t have enough good project managers.” While...

When you are young, you do things just because you want to. “Fun” is an important part of your life. Too many people forget that when they get older, however. The responsibilities grow and grow,...

I recently agreed to serve as an outside member on the board of directors (BOD) for one of our client companies. This is not the first (nor probably the last) time I have done this....

It’s kind of funny. I was out visiting a firm the other day— a rapidly growing, multi-office, multi-service firm— that is apparently beating the pants off of its larger, more established competitors. I’ve seen it...

While I can’t be bound by convention and from this point forward be forced into matching my weekly missive with the focus of other articles in The Zweig Letter, this week’s issue got me thinking...

Last week, we held our first-ever conference on mergers and acquisitions, the 2003 AEC Mergers & Acquisitions Summit, at the Omni Parker House in Boston. It was a successful event with a wide range of...

Here’s one thing we can all agree on. No one likes a whiner. Complainers suck you down. They are depressing. And when they work in our firms in key roles, they are like a cancer....

It’s popular to say that everyone in the firm needs to be able to sell the firm’s services. Heck, I’ve even said it myself at times. The problem is that not everyone can sell. It’s...

What a difference one year makes, huh? Things have gone from an employee-driven job market to an employer-driven one. Nevertheless, if you get out there and talk with the folks in the trenches, you may...

As the year winds down, it’s apparent that the majority of design and environmental firms are finishing up a year that wasn’t as good for them as 2001. Flattening out of growth coupled with a...

A couple weeks ago I was down at my alma mater for a College of Business Advisory Board meeting. While I was there, I was asked to sit on a panel on business ethics. I...

I was doing my usual deep thinking in the shower this morning, and I started wondering what I would do if I were on a flight that terrorists were hijacking. My first thoughts were about...

Best I can tell, the events of September 11 pushed a fragile economy over the cliff. It’s hard to make a bull like me into a bear, but I am there now. Companies everywhere are...

Exit stage left. If you are like most of our readers, you are probably a CEO, managing partner, president, chairperson, majority stockholder, or major shareholder in the A/E/P and environmental consulting firm you work in....

I’m bullish on this business. As a group of firms, we are doing better than ever. Revenue is up. Profits are up. And the projects are gratifying. It’s an ethical business. There are a lot...

I had a 56-year-old client say to me the other day that he just isn’t having any fun anymore. He wants to change his life, and he had decided to sell his firm so that...

I thank God every day that the business we serve (the A/E/P and environmental business) is, by and large, the most ethical “industry” you’ll find anywhere. I think most of us in this business assume...

We’ve talked about it for decades, but the labor shortage in the A/E/P and environmental industries is finally here. Our clients are telling us that it’s hard to hire just about anyone. Every job takes...

Let’s all hope it never happens. But as anyone with a few gray hairs can tell you, another recession can, and probably will, occur. So what are you going to do about it? Here are...

If you consider the truly successful people you know who own and manage A/E/P or environmental firms, I think you’ll find that they think differently from everybody else. They are irreverent. They defy logic. They...

Now’s the time of the year a lot of folks in the A/E/P business start to take a look at their business plan. Traditionally, there’s some discussion of what’s going on outside the firm that...

Every A/E/P or environmental firm finds it necessary to hire outside consultants at some point. Whether it’s simply to get tax advice or to plot out a new course for a growing firm, it’s inevitable....

“Process marketing” is a term you’ll see a lot of in The Zweig Letter. Heck, we even have a supplemental, stand-alone Process Marketing Advisor devoted entirely to the subject! The reason is that process marketing...

Here are some quick thoughts on a few issues: Pay or don’t buy. There have been a number of articles in the business press recently dealing with ethics issues. One that I read involved a...

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...

Every owner in an A/E/P or environmental firm knows you can make all the paper profits you want, but unless you turn those profits into bank deposits, you have nothing. I’ve written so much about...

Anyone who studies human behavior in business organizations can tell you that confidence is a critical quality for leaders to have. This certainly applies to A/E/P and environmental consulting firms. When the leader is confident,...

Most of us heard it from our parents at some point in our childhood: “You can grow up to be anything you want, but be the best at it you can be.” It’s a good...

Goodness, how times change. Can you imagine what your reaction would have been five, or even three years ago, if a management consultant advised you to get out of the environmental consulting business and move...

We went to Scottsdale, Arizona, on a family vacation last week. Of course, we did the usual tourist stuff. We visited Montezuma’s Castle near Sedona and rode the stagecoach at Rawhide, the quintessential tacky tourist...

We’re seeing more and more multi-office A/E/P and environmental firms wrestle with this issue: should branch offices be profit centers or not? Or should some other organization units be the place where we measure profits...

You’re all aware of it. The “circular theory,” otherwise known as “what goes around comes around.” It’s one of nature’s laws that seems to hold true as much as the laws of physics. If you’re...

I’ve received several calls asking me if I had seen a recent article that appeared in The Wall Street Journal (November 21, 1996) on performance appraisals. Evidently, it is causing quite an uproar in the...

I just got back from the annual principals’ retreat of a real successful firm, which was held at The Woodlands outside of Houston. One of the goals for the retreat, established by the firm’s board...

To a lot of people in the A/E/P and environmental business, small projects are still something to be avoided. In fact, many business plans we read contain some sort of strategy statement that say the...

I’ve been thinking a lot about change lately, probably because I have been experiencing so much of it so fast. Moves are one type of change that most people find stressful. I know— I have...

There is a lot of merger and acquisition activity today. It seems like just about everybody is looking to buy or merge with someone else. We’ve never seen a higher level of interest in acquisitions....

Until the 69,000 firms who make up the A/E/P and environmental consulting industry wake up and start doing something different marketing-wise, we’re destined to remain a fragmented group of small firms owned by people who...

We often run into firms that need help turning things around. The scenario usually includes some combination of the following: Principals/top managers who aren’t billable. Excess debt caused by poor collection of accounts receivable. Owners...

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...

I get to see a lot of proposals and qualification documents from A/E/P and environmental consulting firms of all types and sizes. In most cases, there’s plenty of room for improvement. Consider the following: Length:...

Everything you read on psychology tells you that we, as individuals, should each have a healthy self-image. It’s only common sense. Without a healthy self-image, we won’t live up to our career potential; we won’t...

I thought about a headline for this week’s treatise along the lines of “Second guessers, naysayers, and negative thinkers,” or “No more excuses,” or “Let’s cut the crap.” But I decided that none of these...

The long anticipated, talked about, and dreaded shortage of qualified people is here. Ask principals in most firms, and they will tell you that it’s very difficult right now to find staff— particularly engineers, geologists,...

Most A/E/P and environmental firms spend a lot of money just for the opportunity to make a presentation to a client. You send your technical/professional staff chasing all over the countryside, hither and yon, looking...

This is the time of the year that the majority of firms in the A/E/P and environmental consulting industry decide who gets how much in the way of pay increases and/or bonuses— in other words,...

Most of us in A/E/P or environmental consulting firms who are at project manager level or higher must travel occasionally. The probability that you will have to travel increases the larger your firm is, the...

Several times in the last few months, I’ve been asked to speak on the topic of what keeps people in A/E/P and environmental firms happy and productive. The first thing I always tell folks is...

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,...

I visited one of my favorite client companies the other day. It’s a mid- to large-sized consulting engineering firm that has been around a while. The principals are entrepreneurial. The staff is pretty good, too,...

While 1994 was a truly great year for most architecture and engineering firms, and even for some environmental consulting firms, there were still firms in our industry that lost money. And it’s not unusual for...

If you listen to the “experts,” you could easily be convinced that it’s darn near impossible to successfully acquire a firm. By “successful,” I’m not just referring to getting the deal done. I’m talking about...

You would think that architects and engineers would pay better attention to the location of their own office space. For many firms, location analysis and site selection for office facilities is part of the work...

A/E/P and environmental consulting firms are really in the business of selling time— something there never seems to be enough of. That’s why it’s important that we all use our time wisely. Here are my...

One of the most important milestones in the development of an A/E/P or environmental firm is the first time the company turns down work. Knowing what work to take on and what work to refuse...

Because marketing really is “where it’s at” for firms in this business, it’s hard for me to keep from writing about it. You see, an A/E/P or environmental consulting firm can solve just about any...

This year’s Professional Services Management Association (PSMA) National Convention was held in St. Paul last week. (I keep wanting to say “Minneapolis,” but St. Paulians are sensitive about that). Ed Vick, president of PSMA (Charlotte,...

I have tremendous respect for any A/E/P or environmental firm that has learned to successfully manage a network of satellite or branch offices. It's not easy. There's no question that having multiple offices greatly complicates...

I don’t think anyone who knows me or reads my stuff is confused about where I stand on at least one subject— how many hours a professional in this business should work each week. There’s...

As someone with a business orientation and education who started competing at a young age, competition is something I’ve always been interested in. I take pride in being a pretty competitive guy— one who likes...

Twenty contacts per month! To know why we have a problem selling services in the A/E/P and environmental consulting business, look no further than the goals we lay out for our marketing and business development...

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...

This is the time of year many firms do their budgeting. Unfortunately, many of them make the budgeting process far more difficult than it has to be. Small firms may not know where to start...

After countless management consulting assignments involving turnarounds and strategic business planning for A/E and environmental consulting firms, it has only recently become clear to me why so many companies in this business don’t believe in...