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By Heather Applegate | Strong change management turns disruption into momentum by aligning leadership, reducing uncertainty, and helping people stay oriented through transition.

By Nam Douglass | Operational lessons and compliance priorities for AEC firms in 2026.

By Nam Douglass | Businesses across the U.S. face increased federal scrutiny, making proactive workforce compliance essential to mitigate risk and avoid costly penalties.

By Mark Zweig | Embracing curiosity, open-mindedness, and positive thinking leads to personal growth, stronger connections, and greater success in life and business.

By Josh Hersel | The integrated project delivery method fosters early collaboration, minimizing surprises and enhancing efficiency at the core of your business.

By Mark Zweig | If you take an honest look at people who are really good project managers, you’ll find they have some specific personality traits and abilities that lead to their success.

By Mark Zweig | Those who read your emails, letters, reports, social media posts, and resumes are all deciding how intelligent you are in large part from your writing.

By Lauren Martin | Avoid confusion with your client (and with potential fact finders) by defining your role on the project from the very outset.

By Jim Bushong | What happens when decades of consistency and cost expectations in the building trades are suddenly changing in real time, based on market forces that are completely out of control?

By Matt Verderamo | Defining your mission, vision, and values is key for uniting, motivating, and differentiating your firm.

By Lauren Martin | It’s important for design firms to understand the potential peril to all parties involved should there be a third-party beneficiary clause in any contract.

By Liisa Andreassen | President of Living Stone (Black Mountain, NC), a design-build firm that has been crafting luxury, award-winning custom homes for more than 25 years.

By Lauren Rhodes Martin | Besides placing an undue and inappropriate burden on architects and engineers, warranties are expressly excluded in their professional liability insurance policies.

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

By Liisa Andreassen | Co-founder of Juniper Design+Build, where award-winning design and advanced construction ensures beautiful and environmentally responsible projects.

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

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

By Phil Keil | Systems, value creation, simplicity, and granting authority to the most local level.

By Keyan Zandy | The positive changes we’ve made will stay with us long after the days of the pandemic are over.

By Brian Rice | These three core strategic planning areas have unique opportunities for value depending largely on the culture of your organization.

Principal and CEO of Enovate, a WBE/DBE/SBE firm that serves as a prime contractor as well as a subcontractor on city, state, and federal public agency and private projects.

By Christina Zweig Niehues | Good communication shows compassion to your client – something that’s likely to be returned back to you.

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

Lean methodologies can truly move the needle in an industry beleaguered by workforce shortages and increasingly pressed for our most valuable commodity – time.

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.

“[These tactics] can help you keep control of your business while creating a culture that leads to continued growth and success.”

Good contracts can help, but timely and thorough reviews of shop drawings are, perhaps, the best defense.

There’s a push for architects and engineers to consider the safety of construction and maintenance workers when designing new structures.

If you’re a firm owner or design professional, don’t leave contractors guessing. Using plain language, make your intent clear to avoid disputes, change orders, and claims.

CEO of SSOE Group (Hot Firm #44 for 2018), a global project delivery firm for architecture, engineering, and construction management based in Toledo, Ohio. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “All key positions within the company are...

“If we know recruiting and retention are the biggest challenges and our employees are telling us that training and development are the solution, isn’t the investment in a training program at your firm worth it?”...

AEC firms must be diligent during design and construction to avoid becoming ‘responsible’ for worksite injuries or death. Although site safety generally is the responsibility of construction contractors and subcontractors, when injuries or deaths occur...

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

President of Long Engineering, Inc. (Hot Firm # 24 for 2017), a 90-person land surveying and civil engineering firm based in Atlanta, Georgia. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Begin to identify internally if you have potential...

The first steps in taking control of your firm’s financial success should center around the billing cycle, timesheets and, most importantly, the backlog. December 28, 2015, was the beginning of my new path as the...

If you don’t want scope creep and unforeseen expenses to ruin your profit margins, try improving your estimating process. You planned for your project to make 14 percent, but you end up with 8 percent....

In states that adhere to the ELD, design professionals have a strong defense against third-party claims for economic damages. Know the law in your project state. Law books are full of various “doctrines” that have...

Albuquerque, N.M. – Tenants of a new, build-to-suit building – Souder, Miller & Associates (SMA), one of Albuquerque’s largest engineering, environmental, and surveying firms; along with New Life City Church, a growing Albuquerque church –...

The acronym is PDB, not to be confused with PBR, the beer, or PBR, professional bull riding. Bone up on the latest method of project delivery. By some statistics, design-build accounts for some 40 percent...

Due to the absence of a comprehensive, federal Good Samaritan law, A/E professionals are hesitant to lend a helping hand after an emergency. We have all heard someone in a perilous condition say, “Don’t just...

As designers, it’s time to redefine the world and make it better, and that starts with preserving our resources. As I read the various architecture, interior design, and engineering journals, I see many people, firms,...

Get the word out to your people that any form of illegal conduct – bribery and racketeering among them – will be grounds for immediate termination. Last week, attorney G. William Quatman, FAIA, Esq. wrote...

A Q&A might be just what the doctor ordered if you want to shed new light on your career and the choices you’ve made along the way. A start-up company I’m mentoring here in Reno...

Today’s workforce is multigenerational, so those with experience and seniority must learn to understand, and teach, younger colleagues. I was born in 1944, a couple of years before the Baby Boom. But my values and...

It doesn’t look good right now, but in a changing world, architects will always be needed. There’s a lot of discussion about the future of architecture. It’s happening in the media, it’s occurring in the...

Listen to your staff, have an appealing culture, hire selectively and keep your employees for the long-term. I’m hearing more and more about the market firming up and people being in demand. So, I think...

These are the two core words that define how and what people lead. I’ve spent a great deal of time thinking and learning about leadership. Endless books have been written about leadership and I’ve pursued...

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...

I’m often asked two questions about leadership: 1. Are leaders born or made? 2. How did you become a leader? I believe everyone has the potential become a leader. Despite endless debate on the subject...

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...

By Ed Friedrichs There is no “right” or “wrong” about where work gets done today. Work and ideas flow freely across the planet. The marketplace will buy from the source that provides the right service...

By Ed Friedrichs What, you may ask, is this all about? A few days ago I began a blog dialogue (I feel like I’m finally entering the 21st century when I participate in a blog...

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...

Economic crisis or not, there’s a lot of it going on these days— firms in our “industry” buying other companies— for a variety of reasons. And while there is lots of information out there on...

One decision I made recently in my redevelopment business was to start running it more like a “real” business. This may seem strange coming from me— we always tried very hard to practice what we...

When I passed the baton to Dick Ryan as our CEO three years ago, it allowed me to move on and do some other things I have always wanted to do. One of those activities...

Here’s something I have observed in many different A/E and environmental firms around the country— certain employees who act as if they don’t understand how critical it is for them to be responsive. This one...

I have never been big on “business is a game” analogies. The people I have met over the years who’ve used this analogy never seemed to exemplify the kind of values that I think you...

Although I don’t consider myself a member (honorary or otherwise) of the morality police, the latest presidential scandal got me thinking about morality and ethics. I’ll limit my political commentary to one statement: I think...

At our new “Managing a Growing Firm” seminar series, which kicked off last week in Boston, a hard-driving CEO from a local area firm took exception to one of our recommendations on how to improve...

One of the principals of a firm I have been acquainted with for a couple of years called the other day to tell me he had just left a board of directors’ meeting where they...