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By Scott Butcher | Most AEC strategic plans fail not from bad ideas, but from misalignment, weak accountability, ignored culture, and lack of execution discipline.

By Matt Verderamo | Success in leadership comes from embracing change with courage, staying flexible, communicating openly, and continuously moving forward.

By Mark Zweig | Pick and choose what you will say “yes” or “no” to wisely – and do it early and guilt-free – if you want to maintain your sanity.

By Mark Zweig | Non-responsiveness in professional settings can stem from various reasons but addressing it directly can improve communication.

By Katherine Wilczek & Ceclia Martin-Smith | While it can be helpful to use generational trends to inform your management practices, it is most important to get to know your employees as individuals. 

By Matthew Miller | By understanding and addressing the factors that contribute to scope creep, project managers can mitigate its impact.

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 | Are you going to do anything different with HR or just follow the same tired practices of all the other firms you have worked for or compete with?

By Stephen Dominguez | AEC firms struggle to retrieve all of the revenue they bill out, however there are some solutions firms can use to counteract commonplace issues.

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 Matt Johnson | Client managers face new challenges post-pandemic, requiring increased client contact, realistic budgeting, and managing expectations for success.

By Jane Lawler Smith | AEC marketers must uphold communication standards, ensuring precision in language for clear, consistent, and defensible messaging.

By Mark Zweig | Open-book management is about sharing financial performance data with employees to foster trust, educate, and improve the firm’s overall performance.

By Matt Hoying | When mistakes happen, it can be difficult to look for the silver lining, but doing so and making the most of it will help your business now and in the future.

By Mark Zweig | You can learn something from every new experience, so don’t lose the sense of curiosity and wonder you had as a kid.

By Mark Zweig | None of us knows how much time we have, so don’t put off making the changes you need to make in your life.

By Mark Zweig | You are in control of your business, and its success depends on your ability to keep a level head and keep making things happen.

By Mark Zweig | Older folks bring perspective, patience, and gratitude to your firm, so think twice before you run them off from your company.

By Mark Zweig | Here’s what you really need to do to get more job candidates for any opening you have, increase your job offer acceptance rate, and speed up the hiring process.

By Mark Zweig | Use these tactics to respond to the things that trigger you emotionally and contribute to you losing your temper.

By Mark Zweig | Things are real messy right now, but we can all get safely to our destinations if we keep our cool.

By Mark Zweig | When people are demotivated they become negative and cynical, and can pollute the attitudes of their co-workers. And if they’re really demotivated, they may quit.

By Mark Zweig | Are you doing what you really should be for your business right now? Or are you just floating along on a sea of uncertainty, afraid to move or you’ll turn over your...

By Mark Zweig | No matter how you feel personally about anything happening in the country or world as a whole, it’s your job to do your job.

“People who show any signs of a lack of character must be confronted and dealt with immediately.”

Should the US Women’s National Team have let up on Thailand during the World Cup? Of course not, and let that be a lesson to you.

The blunt honesty typically associated with the old gray hairs is something that should be embraced by the younger generation.

Help your organization commit to framing diversity and inclusion in a positive light. Examine your own biases and try to be accountable. When I was in middle school, I was relentlessly bullied by a girl...

Approximately 10,000 baby boomers will retire every day over the next decade. By 2030, millennials will comprise three-quarters of the U.S. workforce. A common blood sport at leadership team meetings these days begins with, “WHAT...

CEO of Woodard & Curran (Hot Firm #69 for 2018), a 1,000-person integrated engineering, science, and operations company based in Portland, ME. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Give them that opportunity and watch them soar,” McKeown...

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...

The Spearin Doctrine: Public owners do not shed all design risk by contracting for design-build if there are specified criteria upon which the design-builder is to rely. On government projects you may sometimes hear a...

The true character of any firm can be determined by how it responds to adversity, and that character is usually embodied in the troubleshooter. The troubleshooter. Every A/E and environmental services firm has at least...

In dealing with my workers on a quality problem in my other business – Mark Zweig, Inc., a design/build/contracting/development company – I had an epiphany: Everything we do is either excellent OR it’s something else....

I'm concerned we have a quality issue at my company, but I don't know how to adress it. What's the best way to encourage people to do their best work? Mark Zweig, Founder & Chairman...

When you have an AEC or environmental firm – or any business, for that matter – there is always a question about how strict your policies can or should be. Generally speaking, I am not...

There are four ways AEC project managers can shine in team interviews. Try them all and win more work. Juggler. Cat herder. Diplomat. They go by many names, but project managers have one of the...

It happens to all of us at some point. Maybe we have even done it ourselves. What I am talking about‎ is when a key person quits unexpectedly – they jump ship. It could be...

Even proponents of ‘never say never’ will likely agree that these gaffes should never be committed. Though one of my favorite sayings is “never say never,” the fact is, if you work in an A/E...

Some insights for those planning to relocate or revamp their digs, because we just went through the process. We just moved into a new office space a couple weeks ago. It’s a big step up...

Years of travel have led to some rules-of-thumb that firm leaders can implement while building their companies. In the “good ol’ days” I used to fly 150,000-200,000 miles each year. Now I am down to...

Glassdoor comments provide opportunity for reflection on leaders’ role in fostering positive employee attitudes. One of my clients was both frustrated and concerned about citations on his firm that he found on the glassdoor website...

Four pointers from Mark Zweig for firms stuck in a no-growth mode. One thing is for sure about the A/E/P and environmental consulting business: We’re all “stuck” if we can’t train people who work for...

Some common policies display no common-sense. Mark Zweig exposes four problems and offers solutions. It’s interesting to me how so many A/E firms seem to just follow the same unwritten rules about how to pay...

This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 987 Originally published 12/17/2012 See what more successful firms than yours are doing, straight from ZweigWhite’s surveys. We’re down to the end of...

By Mark C. Zweig We’ve all been through it. We have a good, old client; someone we have done a lot of business with over the years. The decision-maker with the client is someone we...

Everyone thinks they know why clients hire their A/E/P or environmental firm. Sometimes you DO know— but sometimes people make bad assumptions. Those bad assumptions will HURT your future selling efforts because you will be...

It’s pretty well accepted by most firm owners that if you want to be successful in the A/E/P or environmental business, you MUST keep the good clients you have. No one’s marketing is so good...

Steve Tomlinson was in shock. He always took great pride in the work output of his now 80-person environmental firm, Tomlinson Consultants. But the truth was, as they grew, their quality was getting worse and...

I was at Lowe’s the other day buying a Jacuzzi tub for a 1925 bungalow we are redoing from top to bottom to resell. While the plumbing guy ran off to get my tub, I...

How many times have you heard it? Someone turns in their notice to leave and the response of his or her immediate supervisor is: “We didn’t need Bob (or Sue), anyway,” or, “We were going...

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...

I know it sounds corny, but the fact is, a client is precious. They are hard to get and harder to keep happy. We need to treat them as if they are as valuable as...

I’ve said it before. The standards— what we expect— from people who are supposed to sell the work to keep our staffs busy in our A/E and environmental firms— are woefully low. Forty calls a...

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...

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...

Years ago, I maintained that I would never go to a party for an employee who’s leaving the firm. Sure, there could be exceptions. Someone’s spouse gets transferred, the employee retires, or the employee is...

It seems to me that I am running into a greater number of pissed off people working in client organizations as of late. Maybe it’s the winter blues. Or maybe it’s war threat induced economic...

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...

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...

Ever have one of those days where something hits you out of nowhere and it just knocks the wind out of you? It’s so demotivating. You feel like you got kicked in the stomach. 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...

With all of the employment-related pressures that firms face today, it’s getting harder and harder to figure out what you really need to pay somebody to do a given job. There are so many ways...

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...

Whenever I see people get all upset about some trivial detail in their lives or their work, I find it distressing. Life is so much easier if you spend appropriate amounts of mental and emotional...

One thing I know about smart people—they hate being treated like children. It’s insulting and demeaning. Unfortunately, we routinely see owners and managers of A/E/P and environmental firms who do just that to their employees....

At 11:01 a.m. a few weeks back, I got an e-mail message from our switchboard operator that said Ms. So-and-so, “a principal with local architectural firm X” called. She did not want to speak to...

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...

Most intelligent, ambitious people working in A/E/P and environmental consulting firms aspire to be a leader some day. Whether it’s the CEO, managing partner, director of operations, or office manager job they covet varies from...

I just came back from a management retreat with a client we first worked for a couple of years back. They are what I would call a mid-sized firm in a large metro area. And...

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...

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...

I spend more of my billable time helping A/E/P and environmental consulting firms with their business planning than anything else. Most firm owners want to do more with their businesses, to be more successful. But...

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...

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...

No doubt about it, all of us who are managers in an A/E/P or environmental firm have to face some tough situations from time to time. They aren’t usually “fun” decisions, or situations that give...

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...

Not much gets someone who works in an A/E/P or environmental firm more upset than unnecessary bureaucracy. I’m talking about stupid forms to fill out, channels to go through, or steps to take that don’t...

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....

Scott Adams, the creator of comic strip “Dilbert” and author of the best-seller “The Dilbert Principle,” is clearly familiar with the absurd, idiotic stuff some companies do in the name of “better management.” In fact,...

If you’re anything like me, you hate to fire people. It’s at the top of my “least desirable activities” list, above even performance appraisals, collection calls, cold calls, and dental extractions. Most halfway-decent folks feel...

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

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

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,...

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...

There is simply no excuse for rudeness— in the A/E/P business, or in any business for that matter. Rude people turn off, or even worse, visibly upset clients, contractors, vendors, consultants, and employees. I like...

Not a week goes by that someone doesn’t ask us for help with project management training. There is a huge demand for it. Nobody seems happy with the effectiveness of their project managers. But is...

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 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...

We just had the experience in the last few weeks of working with an architect. Business has been good, and we are committed to growth, so we decided to triple our office by moving to...