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

By Michael DiOrio | Modern AEC firms win by connecting specialized systems intelligently, choosing APIs or stored procedures based on performance, scalability, and integration needs.

By Janki DePalma | A manager’s guide to building a culture where recovery is respected, contribution is sustainable, and being seen doesn’t require shattering.

By Mark Zweig | If you want people to work harder, hire the ambitious, lead by example, and reward real performance.

Zweig Group is excited to join the 2025 ACEC Fall Conference as a Patron Sponsor, bringing leading-edge insights, research, and practical strategies directly to the engineering community. Held October 5-8 at the Marriott Marquis San Diego...

By Brandon Pinkerton | Power struggles are an inevitable part of leadership, so expect challengers and be ready to defend your seat at the table.

By Tracey Eaves & Will Swearingen | The first quarter of 2025 saw big moves, bold strategies, and a clear shift toward specialization.

By Mailena Urso | The path toward success is shaped by your courage, curiosity, and resilience.

By Mark Zweig | These qualities will be essential for entrepreneurial leaders in the AEC business to have in the coming months and years ahead.

By Mark Zweig | Success in AEC hinges on guiding clients toward actions that align with their best interests.

By Matt Verderamo | By controlling three key moments in every sales meeting, you can launch yourself from amateur to professional and close more work.

By Liisa Andreassen | President of Pierce Engineers, Inc. (Milwaukee, WI), a structural engineering firm based in the Midwest, working with clients across the nation.

By Sara Parkman | Compensation trends reveal critical strategies to boost employee retention and satisfaction.

By Sarah R. Adams-Slominski | Team leaders can more effectively manage employees of all ages through strategic communication practices.

By Mailena Urso | Zweig Group’s Marketing Excellence Awards showcase top creative campaigns that elevate AEC industry branding.

By Ezequiel Tovar | Firm owners need to first be intentional, vulnerable, and transparent in order to make their transition a success.

By Mark Zweig | Negative employees in AEC firms can undermine management, leading to declining morale, productivity, and company performance.

By Will Swearingen | The latest data highlights key trends in AEC policies, emphasizing pay, remote work, and transparency for growth.

By Matt Verderamo | When your clients treat you like a partner, you run better projects, win negotiated work, and have happier people.

By Mark Zweig | Effective outside directors provide expertise and valuable relationships, enhancing AEC firm success with strategic guidance and forward-focused leadership.

By Ezequiel Tovar | Deciding what you will do with your firm, whether you decide to sell internally or externally, will be life-changing.

By Katelyn Dover | This cybersecurity strategy ensures you’ll never miss important emails.

By Matt Verderamo | Three simple but impactful strategies to shift your mindset from needing more to getting rest.

By Kevin Brown | Five resume red flags to help AEC firm recruiters identify and set apart the best applicants from the rest.

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

By Donnie Gladfelter | In the AEC industry today, the most innovative organizations will not be those with the greatest capacity to learn but those with the greatest capacity to unlearn.

By Ezequiel Tovar | In turbulent times, strategic capital allocation is crucial for firm survival.

By Stuart McLendon | Facing a talent shortage exacerbated by baby boomers’ exodus from the workforce, AEC firms must innovate to succeed.

By Tom Godin | Making utilization a target in your firm could result in some undesirable behaviors.

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

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

By Mark Zweig | There are a number of strategies one can employ to make lots of money in this business.

By Matt Verderamo | The way you handle yourself as an employee directly correlates to the level of success you can reach in your organization.

By Travis White | If you want your firm to be an early adopter, you must be aware of this new technology and be willing to adapt.

By Kyle Ahern | A look at some of the trends from this year’s Best Firms To Work For award program.

Zweig Group client McCoy Collaborative Preservation Architecture has joined TreanorHL’s Historic Preservation studio.

By Janki DePalma | It’s hard to shake off the feeling of being lazy, but it’s critical that we redefine our work-rest balance to enhance well-being and productivity.

By Miles Gullingsrud | When leaders take the time to invest in the development ambition of staff, they can create a system that supports people’s personal and professional sustainability.

By Eddie Wade | If you take time to breathe, rally your troops, get team buy-in, and consider your options, you’ll be on your way to making this a positive change.

By Mark Zweig | Your CRM should be a major asset for your firm, but you have to make sure your people are using and updating it.

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

By Kyle Ahern | Gathering data on your employees’ experience is the first step, then you have to create action items to effect positive change.

By Justin Smith | Explore uncharted territory for the opportunity to access a more resilient future.

By Tim Spence | With a clear purpose, empowered professionals, and a drive for ongoing development, design firms can motivate all of their employees to row together.

By Christina Zweig Niehues | Zweig Group’s 2022 Marketing Excellence Award Winners have created some outstanding marketing campaigns, displaying incredible imagination and creativity.

By Sara Parkman | This year’s cohort has picked up where previous groups left off – taking on creative ideas to solve both historic and emerging challenges.

By Mark Zweig | It’s time to turn your firm’s HR upside down and make some big changes to your policies and practices.

By Rick Cloutier & Kart Vaith | By formalizing a few key integration strategies, you could effectively leverage the synergy of each new acquisition leading to sales, operations, and delivery benefits.

By Will Swearingen | Succession planning requires owners and leaders to wake up and get out of their own way.

By Mark Zweig | If you are a leader in an AEC firm, it’s crucial that you stay positive in spite of all the bad news we’re seeing these days.

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.

Nathelyne Kennedy, President and CEO of Nathelyne A. Kennedy & Associates, Inc., has been announced as the recipient of the 2021 Jerry Allen Courage in Leadership Award, an award recognizing outstanding leaders in the AEC industry....

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

Zweig Group, a full-service AEC management advisory firm, announced its client Edwards-Pitman Environmental, Inc. was acquired by Braun Intertec Corporation. Jamie Claire Kiser, Zweig Group’s managing principal, served as Edwards-Pitman’s lead advisor on the engagement,...

Fayetteville, Arkansas (November 1, 2021) - Zweig Group’s ElevateHER™ program has opened applications for the class of 2022, a group that will work on initiatives to combat recruitment and retention issues while ensuring equal opportunities...

By Christina Zweig Niehues | Firms need to devote resources toward business development and ensuring a steady stream of work for the future.

By Mark Zweig | You need to be identifying your successor and preparing the road for them so they can be successful.

By Liisa Andreassen | CEO of Parkhill (Lubbock, TX), a multidisciplinary firm that is building community by creating inventive, relevant built environments together.

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 Mark Zweig | An enduring firm will be worth much more – through an internal or external sale – than one where some of these issues are not addressed.

By Dave Martin | To be an effective leader, you have to be authentic, acknowledge what you don’t know, and be willing to make mistakes.

Fayetteville, Arkansas (November 18, 2020) –Zweig Group’s ElevateHER™ program has opened applications for the class of 2021, a group that will work on initiatives to combat recruitment and retention issues while ensuring equal opportunities for...

President and CEO of Payette (Boston, MA), a firm that values the close relationships it builds with its collaborators on the journey from design to reality.

By Mark Zweig | Entrepreneurs and small business owners have fundamentally different views on the opportunity each has in front of them.

Firms are discovering new ways of operating that will allow them to be more effective and efficient throughout the rest of the pandemic and after.

Zweig Group’s ElevateHER™ program launches new website dedicated to providing solutions to combat recruitment and retention issues while ensuring equal opportunities for everyone in the AEC industry. In addition to providing information about the ElevateHER™...

By Mark Zweig | These six traits are most likely to lead to success and are absolute “musts” for whomever is the CEO of the firm.

President and senior principal of ICON Architecture (Boston, MA), a women-owned, SOMBDA certified firm that’s staffed over 50 percent by women.

By Jamie Claire Kiser & Christina Zweig Niehues | ElevateHer has been a call to action to work together, and the reaction to this inclusive approach has been powerful.

COVID-19 has pushed leaders in the design industry and beyond to develop new strategies to manage an increasingly untethered workforce.

President and CEO Ulteig (Fargo, ND), an employee-owned engineering consulting firm with locations in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Colorado, Montana, and Iowa.

By Mark Zweig | With new cases of COVID-19 on the rise, now is not the time for complacency. Instead, it is a time for self-reflection and new action.

LaShawn Stewart-Baylor, founder of Integrated CM Solutions, talks about how she got her first project within days of starting the business, the challenges faced by minority AEC firms, the importance of relationships, and more.

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 Chad Coldiron | Prioritize the tasks on your to-do list in order of importance and how long they will take to maximize efficiency.

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.

By Jamie Claire Kiser | Though the immediate impact of COVID-19 is bleak for many in our industry, there is reason to see the foundation forming for a different type of AEC firm.

By Will Swearingen | When considering a deferred compensation strategy for your ownership transition, keep these pros and cons in mind.

It's more important than ever to have good data to guide your business practices. In order to produce the data your firm needs to benchmark and make important management decisions, we need your help and...

“Getting on the phone and staying on the phone for a few days every week for the next couple months will be good for you.”

By Jamie Claire Kiser | What differentiates us now as leaders is our ability to roll with the punches and make sharp, sober decisions.

“It will take everything we have as leaders to get our firms and ourselves through this.”

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.

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.

President of Schaefer Engineering, Inc. (Wentzville, MO), a firm founded on integrity with a commitment to provide quality professional forensic consulting services nationwide.

By Christina Zweig Niehues | Their characteristics, differences from their male counterparts, and how to create an environment that fosters women leaders.

President and CEO of Westwood (Minneapolis, MN), a firm that’s been focused on enhancing communities with smart engineering for almost 50 years.

“You would be surprised how quickly your employees get in the bandwagon when they can be part of the solution.”

Good client service is not complicated; it’s just not always easy to maintain. However the benefits we reap are well worth the effort.

“There’s no magic in these six steps. But there will be ‘magic’ in your results if you can consistently apply them!”

Zweig Group recently released the 2019 Incentive Compensation Report of AEC Firms. The report covers eleven different types of incentive compensation. AEC firms responded to a survey throughout 2019, providing both opinions and numeric values...

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

To maximize outputs and outcomes, leaders need to become great managers of managers and together create “great jobs.”

CEO of Ardurra Group (Tampa, FL), an engineering consulting firm with a focus on the positive.

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.

“When directly confronted with a difficult or painful question and you aren’t honest with people – they’ll figure that out. And you can forget them ever trusting you again.”

“This was the fourth or fifth time since 1997 that Zweig Group has done one of these events coupled with a racing school. They always get me thinking.”

“Why do people lose interest in their own businesses and, perhaps more importantly, what can you do to keep this from happening?”

By John Bray | It’s easy to send texts and emails, but to make a great and lasting impression, frequent phone calls throughout your network are essential.

“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...

By Kyle Ahern | Do you want to lead a firm where people come and stay, and where employees are always striving for improvement?

When you look at principals of firms in this business who are really happy and successful – who have growing, profitable companies – you’ll see certain common traits that emerge. Here are a few of...

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...

I have said it before. I am worn out from all the talk about leadership versus management, Level 5 leadership, servant-leader leadership, and the rest of it. The “L” word – leadership – sure is...

When creating your strategic plan, don’t forget that transformative ideas might be buried deep within your organization, so be inclusive with your staff. I recently overheard a CEO of a large AEC firm say, “We...

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...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (May 23, 2018) –Zweig Group is proud to announce the release of the 2018 Best Firms To Work For Awards, a prestigious list honoring the creation of outstanding workplaces at architecture, engineering, and...

Social media isn’t nuclear physics, but you have to have the right voice for the right channel, otherwise you’re speaking Spanish in China. Would you walk up to someone at a cocktail party and say,...

Are all your processes in place in the event your firm is waylaid by a wildfire, earthquake, hurricane or flood? Things were pretty much business as usual in early December with sunny skies and strong...

The highest performing teams across all organizations have identifiable characteristics – great role clarity, tough love, and solid performance standards. Just like the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles, great teams do not happen...

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...

All of us in the A/E/P business are consultants. Sure, we are either engineers or architects or planners or surveyors or designers – but we are also consultants. I have been studying consulting firms and...

Will Swearingen Director of Research Zweig Group recently released the 2018 Salary Survey of Engineering Firms. This survey is published as three different regional collections: Northeast and South Atlantic, Central, and Mountain Pacific. Go West,...

The meet and greet is great, but making long-term friendships is even better. Come to the Hot Firm conference in Dallas this year (Sept. 20-21), and bond with your peers. The 2017 Hot Firm and...

President and CEO of BKF Engineers (Hot Firm #44 for 2016), a 415-person engineering firm based in Redwood City, California, with 13 offices primarily in Northern California. “It’s easy to get a job, but more...

While I am a big believer in promoting from within – it’s essential, really, if you want to have any kind of cultural consistency over time, not to mention that it’s more economical – it’s...

Depending on why they left – and what they did while they were gone – it might be a good idea to welcome them back into the fold. It’s not uncommon when sorting through a...

 The concept of a work family is nice. The problem is, you’re stuck with family, good or bad. With a team, you can pick and choose. On many occasions, we’ve heard office culture described as...

With the environment we are living in – crazy political stuff – potential nuclear war – mass shootings by maniacs – it would be easy to let it all get to you. But you can’t....

Voice activation is coming to customer relationship management, and if you adopt it, you’ll save time and succeed. We spend a lot of time talking to our gadgets these days. Whether we’re seeking directions from...

Participate in the Policies, Procedures, and Benefits Survey and save $320! The 2018 Policies, Procedures & Benefits Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning & Environmental Consulting Firms provides you with industry norms on policies and procedures,...

Architects and engineers – well, anyone for that matter – who own their own business are bound to get unsolicited (or requested!) advice from time-to-time. While some of that advice may be good, a lot...

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”...

Every so often I have a number of disconnected thoughts for our readers, none of which merits all of my allotted space, but each of which could prove valuable. This is one of those weeks....

CEO of Coffman Engineers (#62 Hot Firm for 2016), a 400-person virtual, multi-discipline firm with offices across the West Coast, Alaska, Hawaii, and Guam. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Outside members can act like guests at...

There’s a critical set of benchmarks you need to measure so you’ll know what works, what doesn’t, and how to be more effective. Zweig Group’s 2016 Marketing Survey found that 27 percent of A/E/P and...

I’ve written and said it many times. AEC firms have many different paths to success. There is no ONE single formula that always works better. Nor is there one magic bullet – a single thing...

Business planning in an AEC firm is such a critical function. It really is one of the key roles of the CEO. Yet we seem to struggle with it. Here are some of the ways...

Succession planning is tough, but if you put a plan in place and are careful to re-evaluate as circumstances change, you can succeed. Every privately-held/family-owned business can bank on a change in ownership and a...

Zweig Group’s research data shows us that fast growth/high profit firms have a higher number of hours in their average work week. It makes sense – more hours put in by salaried people equates to...

Are you a “can do” person or a “can’t do” person? I’m sure that virtually all of you readers of The Zweig Letter – 95 percent of which work in privately-held A/E or environmental consulting...

Should a hardworking mom be able to ring the bell at work but also pick the kids up from daycare? You bet! Our company culture at Affinis Corp. (Best Firm #15 Civil for 2016) is...

2016 was quite a year for the AEC industry and for Zweig Group as well. Merger and acquisition activity, and interest in the subject, has never been higher than it is right now. Our firm...

Press Contact: Christina Zweig czweig@zweiggroup.com www.zweiggroup.com FAYETTEVILLE, AR. – Zweig Group, a global leader in products and services to the architecture, engineering and professional services consulting industry, announced today that Chad Clinehens has been named...

We work a lot of hours and handle a lot of stress, so it’s important to take charge of life, both in and out of the office. How many hours do you work each week?...

1. 2017 is going to be a fantastic year for hair pieces, but pant suit sales will plummet. 2. We are already seeing firms in hot markets forget what the recession was like – people...

How we treat the environment is coming full circle, from the sustainability of the Native Americans, to the factory and dump era, and, finally, to remediation. We are in the midst of an environmental restoration...

If you want to drive traffic to your website and your brand, it helps – a lot – to be an expert in your given field. It’s true. The origin of your web traffic is...

Boards of directors, or BODs, in the typical A/E firm are pretty much a mess. They tend to suffer from the same maladies in so many companies. Some of these include: They have too many...

Did your interns live the dream? If so, great, but if not, it might be time to retool your program by taking these six simple steps. As a communications major with an interest in broadcast...

What did I learn about running an A/E/P firm from a 62-year old former British equestrian Olympian? Quite a lot, as it turns out. I recently had the opportunity to ride in a two-day clinic...

Dear Christy, I have a son who is in engineering school. I'd really like to have him join our firm and eventually succeed me in running this business. How do you suggest I make that...

A few weeks ago, I wrote a short article about how important it is for firm owners to understand the value of their business. The point of the piece was to address the real threat...

Without a doubt, there are some entrepreneurial firms in the A/E/P and environmental consulting business today. That said—and I’ve written it before in these pages—just because you are privately-held and a small business does NOT...

Though it has been around for a while, email isn’t going anywhere anytime soon; make sure you’re using it effectively. Email is not going away for those of us in the A/E business – even...

AC Martin Partners, Inc. (Los Angeles, CA), an 85-person architecture firm, is taking home fifth place in the Internal Marketing category of Zweig Group’s 2015 Marketing Excellence Awards for its New Employee Questionnaire. AC Martin...

There are a few basic traits that differentiate firms that make money from those that scrape by. Chad Clinehens and I were talking in the office yesterday about why some firms we work with make...

Don’t let the current market surge allow you to become too busy or lazy to effect needed changes, and don’t underestimate the time and resources this will require. ​Have you ever been at the controls...

A/E owners should consider whether their ‘average’ income is contributing to a culture of mediocrity. It’s interesting to me to see how the owners of A/E firms seem to fit into one of two categories:...

RTM’s CEO Tony Mirchandani has built his career pragmatically and encourages sustainable growth within his firm. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent Tony Mirchandani, CEO, RTM (South Barrington, IL), a 100-person engineering consulting firm, has expertise in...

Quantitative and qualitative data provide industry leaders with valuable information for making decisions. One of the distinctions of companies that do well over the long-haul, versus those who enjoy only a limited period of growth...

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...

Five things that differentiate entrepreneurs from the rest of the people in the world. I was watching a show on Netflix the other night with my eight-year-old daughter. It was all about humans with superhuman...

And since they are, follow these eight tips to improve their effectiveness. What is a job posting? C’mon, think about it. It’s simply an advertisement. Aren’t you advertising an opening that you want to fill?...

Give recruiting the attention it deserves. Create a recruiting budget and follow these three tips from Mark Zweig. I have always wondered why recruiting is not a more prominent function in the majority of A/E/P...

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...

This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 1002 Originally published 4/8/2013 There are many things you can’t control, but this one you can. Here are seven ways you can be...

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,...

Press Release: October 28, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (October 28, 2011) – To recognize philanthropic efforts and acknowledge those in the A/E industry who are making a difference for the greater good, ZweigWhite and Deltek, Inc....

By Ed Friedrichs Chairman, ZweigWhite As architects and engineers, we’re in a long-cycle business. That means we work on long duration assignments, often with extended start/stop cycles— waiting for a public hearing, an EIR to...

Press Release: August 18, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, AR (August 18, 2011) –Statistics from ZweigWhite’s 2011 Valuation Survey show a reduction in staff but a general holding of value for many sectors of the architecture, engineering, planning...

By Mark C. Zweig CEO, ZweigWhite The tough times haven’t gotten any better. If you look at the American Institute of Architects’ billing index, it goes up a little and then falls back again. Money...

Press Release: August 9, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, AR (August 9, 2011) --Despite recent news about slow economic turnaround, a surprising number of A/E/P and environmental consulting firms report an acceptable or increasing backlog of work. An...

By Jeff Clark, Principal, Investment Banking I have been a Nevada resident and have seen it all, from boom to bust, over the past seven years since I moved here from California. “Viva Las Vegas,”...

Press Release: May 11, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, AR (May 11, 2011) — Design firms have been among the most affected by the recent recession, but new data shows that the carnage may soon be over. While...

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...

Press Release: May 10, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, AR (May 10, 2011) — Up one day, down the next. The volatile economy means many firms are no longer able to rely on a static budget. Almost 37%...

Press Release: March 16, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (March 16, 2011) — The design-bid-build delivery method may still rule the construction industry, but it is quickly loosing favor. In the March 14 issue of The Zweig...

By Christine Brack, PMP, ZweigWhite A CEC of Metropolitan Washington invited me to present a session on Effective Communication in February to their emerging leaders and other distinguished constituents. Good techniques and best practices are...

By: Mark C. Zweig On Feb. 16, ZweigWhite closed on the acquisition of the engineering media assets formerly owned by Stagnito Media. Some of these assets include the print and eMedia versions of Structural Engineering...

Press Release: February 22, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, AR (February 22, 2011) — Architects, engineers, project owners and others wishing to work collaboratively under a delivery method known as Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) may have a found...

Press Release: February 16, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, AR (February 16, 2011) — Management consulting, publishing and training firm ZweigWhite is pleased to announce the acquisition of Stagnito Media’s Engineering Group—its architectural and engineering resources—through a new...

With this kind of a statement, you might assume I am either stuck in a 90s time warp, or that I have finally lost my mind. But neither is true. Yes— I know times are...

While accounting is widely accepted as the “language of business,” the knowledge of it in a typical architect, engineer, planner, or environmental scientist does not even reach a rudimentary level. You have to know the...

Things aren’t looking real great out there for a lot of firms in this business. The stock market is in a free-fall, we’re in the midst of pre-election paralysis, banks are failing, housing is in...

More and more design and environmental firms are adding outsiders to their Boards of Directors. There are many reasons for doing so but that’s not the point of this article. Instead, what I want to...

Although it doesn’t happen to everyone who becomes a principal in an architecture, engineering, or planning firm, it happens to many of us. What I am speaking of is the dilemma one faces when you...

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,...

Architects, engineers, planners, and allied professionals by and large have a really hard time defining exactly who they want to sell their services to. The unfortunate truth is that most will sell their services to...

With this week’s special focus on information technology, I thought I would take the time to sound off on a number of different technology-related topics. BlackBerries: I still think they are the greatest. I am...

If you look at why most A/E firms just sort of muddle along, and yet a few are growing by leaps and bounds, you’ll find the “secret ingredient” in the growing firms’ recipe is often...

Human resources management has long been criticized and undervalued by top management in A/E/P and environmental firms. Evidence of this fact is pay. According to ZweigWhite’s 2007-2008 Management Compensation Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning &...

Being the leader of a Zweig Letter Hot Firm isn’t for everyone. Believe me, I know plenty of these characters personally (and they are “characters!”), and while they come from many different age groups, racial...

With this branch office special focus issue of The Zweig Letter, I thought I’d take the opportunity to answer some of the recurring questions I get on this topic. Tough questions and even tougher answers...

One trait that I have often observed in those design and environmental professionals who are known in their field is they aren’t afraid to stand out in a crowd. Whether it’s their bowtie, their red...

If you examine any business— a restaurant, a car dealership, or an A/E/P/environmental firm— they all seem to benefit from active leadership. Likewise, they all tend to suffer from a lack of it. I would...

Just about everyone in the A/E or environmental business thinks that they have strategies. I don’t think many really do because most people don’t even know what strategies are. “Strategies” are philosophies— your core philosophies...

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...

As most long-time readers of The Zweig Letter know, I can’t stand it when someone quotes the latest pop management book or article. The authors are always a little too smug in the universal applicability...

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...

Thank God for technology! If we didn’t have the technology that we have today, there’s no way most of us who travel could keep up with the demands of work and life. For example, I...

Every single A/E or environmental firm in this country needs more people who can sell work. These people feed the rest of the firm, allow the owners to sleep at night, and are generally the...

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...

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...

When I first got out of graduate school with my MBA back in 1980, I went to work for a consulting/recruiting firm in St. Louis that specialized in serving the construction and real estate development...

As the economy inches its way toward improvement, we are seeing A/E/P and environmental firms rekindling their interest in merger and acquisition activities. In fact, it’s almost a mini-boom of activity that’s occurring right now....

I was talking with a client of ours the other day— a very successful founder and CEO of a mid-sized engineering, planning, and surveying firm. I asked him the typical pleasantries such as, “How are...

Human resources people are big on job descriptions. I was never that fond of them because it seems that they can always be used against you somehow. Here are some examples: “I meet the requirements...

Air travel is at an all-time high for me. It’s always frustrating... so I couldn’t resist the opportunity to share some of my recent thoughts and observations: E-tickets. It always amazes me when I see...

It’s always distasteful to compare your employees to your children. I hear firm owners do it all of the time, and I see the non-owners cringing when they do! That said, I have noticed a...

Some principals in A/E/P and environmental firms have roles that don’t require much travel. Some practically NEVER have to stay overnight on business. Others are gone all of the time— in some cases 20 or...

We just ended our most successful Zweig Letter Hot Firm conference ever. It was successful from three points of view— attendance numbers, attendance quality, and speaker quality. I won’t bore you with the numbers but...

It seems to me that the mega management consultants have gotten their comeuppance recently. Read your local business pages or The Wall Street Journal. Many of these firms are hurting as evidenced by revenue reductions,...

If you ask me, one of the biggest factors contributing to poor financial performance, bad morale, and confusion about direction and purpose in A/E/P and environmental firms today is inaction from the company’s management. I’m...

Ask a CEO or managing partner of the typical A/E/P or environmental firm what keeps him or her up at night and you know what you’ll hear? It probably won’t be “selling work” or “getting...

Jose Piranha listened to his two partners, Stephanie Straighthair and Jason Loseria, discuss how to dole out the firm’s profits in the coming year. They were sitting at their favorite table at Hugo’s, the little...

Everyone wants to talk about project management as one of the keys to profitability. But based on some of what I have seen and heard lately, the problem may not be so much about how...

Right now, everyone seems to be interested in profits. 2001 shook owners and employees alike. And even though most firms had a decent year (but “decent” is not the same as “great”), most made about...

John Dilbertson left the Dilbertson & Terry board meeting shaking his head. How many times did they have to reconsider the issue of principal compensation, particularly base pay? It seemed like it never ended. One...

As I write this, I have just returned from The Zweig Letter Hot Firm 2001 Conference and Celebration in San Francisco. Some things never change. The airports and planes seemed just as crowded as ever,...

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....

Doug Pocketprotectus sat in the high-backed leather chair in the executive conference room and desperately tried to stay awake. It was hard to do. The meeting was so boring, and he was sleep deprived as...

Designers, by all rights, should be fantastic managers. They understand how important motivation is to creativity. They are tuned in to context and are good at seeking input from others. They know how sensitive people...

Paul Schipperknocket’s alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. After a quick workout in his basement gym, he turned on the coffee maker he’d gotten ready the night before, and then woke up the rest of...

It just doesn’t take that much to be so much better at serving clients than the rest of the firms that do what you do. And it’s so important! Do a lousy job (or just...

What is it with some people? We have all had the opportunity (or misfortune) to work with a man or woman who finds fault with everything and pours cold water on every hot idea. These...

I just got back from the Design Build Institute of America (DBIA) (Washington, DC) national convention in San Diego (held October 4-6). What a turnout! Their estimates were that they had somewhere between 1,400 and...

Sure, you can learn from a fool. But how much more can you learn from a smart person? That’s why we’re focusing this special edition of The Zweig Letter on hot firms— firms that have...

I just heard a story the other day about one of our clients from another clients (both large A/E firms). Evidently, the first firm had been called by a big client for help on a...

I hate to say it. I thought the past was behind us. But the fact is some architects are repeating history right now. They’re getting ready for another fall. They’re making the same mistakes they...

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...

One of the most interesting products we have put together is our new Fast-Growth Firm Survey, just released a couple weeks ago. It’s just fascinating when you look at the comparisons between A/E/P and environmental...

When you get to work with all of the different A/E/P and environmental firms that we do here at ZweigWhite & Associates, it is apparent that many firms are marching blindly ahead, doing things they...

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...

Every single firm we deal with at Zweig White & Associates, Inc. could benefit from working on their hiring process. Everyone in the A/E/P and environmental business agrees that it’s hard to hire. Well here...

Believe it or not, some people don’t like the term “human resources management.” They think it diminishes individuals in some way, and by referring to “human resources” we might as well be talking about “natural...

This week, you get three topics for the price of one. What makes for value? An article in the February 21 edition of The Boston Globe under the headline “Internet ad company stock gains 57%...

It’s hard to believe, but 1997 is almost over. It seems as if the year just started and now it’s nearly gone. I hope you had a great year, because very few companies ever make...

A common theme is emerging in our business right now, especially with large firms— but certainly not limited to them. Firms need to improve their profits. Volume is up, optimism is up, backlog is growing,...

I am not proud of my five airline frequent flyer program gold cards. All that means is that I spend too darn much time in the air, when I’d much rather be someplace else. But...

I CAN ADMIT IT. I haven’t always been entirely charitable to business development people in A/E/P and environmental firms. I’ve met too many of them who were too good on the golf course, too quick...

You know, it drives me crazy when I hear some whiner complaining that you can’t make any money in the A/E/P or environmental consulting business. Sure, most people aren’t all that successful. The average firm...

We’re in the throes of our annual business planning process here at ZWA. You know the routine— get everyone together, have an office party and a holiday dinner at a nice restaurant and spend a...

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:...

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...

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...

Let me tell you a little story about two managers. Both head divisions for the same large, international engineering and environmental company. By most any standard, one of the two, who we’ll call “Jed,” is...

Almost every motivated person working in an A/E/P or environmental firm is either already a manager, or wants to be one. That’s OK, but I’m not sure all of these people really understand what it...

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...

Some readers might think that a discussion of writing has no place in a management publication aimed at architects, engineers, and scientists. They couldn’t be further off the mark. Good writing skills are absolutely critical...

I watched a movie on T.V. the other night titled “Lean on Me,” starring one of my favorite contemporary actors, Morgan Freeman. Freeman played Joe Clark, the inner-city high school principal who had one year...

Road Warriors Square Off— One Monday a couple of weeks ago, I got up at 3:45 a.m. to catch a 6:00 flight from Boston’s Logan Airport, the start of a long week to come. After...

No matter what the self-appointed experts are telling you, right now is a great time to buy a firm or to be acquired by or merge with another firm. But, like most things, it’s not...

No small company— particularly an architecture, consulting engineering, or environmental consulting firm— can afford to ignore cash flow. Consider that a firm billing $5 million a year in fees can raise $137,000 in operating capital...

Several recent experiences with consulting engineering firms lead me to believe that it’s time all of us looked at our compensation schemes and put some incentive back into the business— especially for principals. The desire...

TQM (Total Quality Management) for A/E/P firms is nothing more than a fad. I’d be willing to bet right here and now that in two or three years, you won’t hear anything about it. TQM...