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By Tom Godin | Innovation in AEC must create measurable value for owners through smarter, more sustainable solutions.

By Mark Zweig | Stop procrastinating on this issue and start searching in earnest for some outside directors to help you be more successful.

By Mark Zweig | It’s time to take a serious look at this stuff in your strategic plan and instead of fluff, focus on coming up with some substantive actions.

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

By Sarah R. Adams-Slominski | Step back and check in on how your employees are doing, learn what they care about, and discover what helps them stay engaged in their work.

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 Tom Godin | Evaluating team dynamics is crucial for transforming organizational strategy into measurable results.

By Kraig C. Kern | Corporate giving today should be about about creating meaningful opportunities for employees to make a difference while developing professionally.

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

By Elizabeth Preston | Grammar rules are useful tools, but writers should prioritize clarity and reader engagement over strict adherence to them.

Kristin Kautz delves into the evolving landscape of AI, emphasizing its transformative potential in business and daily activities. Highlighting tools such as ChatGPT, Microsoft's Copilot, and Unanet's CRM integration, she illustrates how AI can enhance...

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

By Janki DePalma | Small, consistent habits and incremental improvements create sustainable long-term success and personal growth.

By Elizabeth Preston | Managers can unintentionally hinder their team’s writing by not providing clear standards, dedicated time, and constructive feedback.

By Mark Zweig | Are your expectations for your people high enough, or are you letting everyone off the hook?

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

By Elizabeth Preston | How do AEC industry businesses use artificial intelligence effectively and responsibly for writing?

By Kristin Kautz | AI assistants empower personalized and effective support that will save time and money, and enhance creativity and quality.

By Mark Zweig | Unspoken thoughts about business coaching, writing skills, phone disconnection, and more.

“I’m very excited for the future of where the AEC industry is heading." Luke Carothers About the Show Luke Carothers is the Senior Content Manager for Zweig Group and also serves as the Editor-in-Chief of...

By Mark Zweig | We all need new challenges, variety in our daily routines, and to see tangible results from our efforts to be fulfilled.

By Dan Houf | Nothing prepares you for the challenges of managing a firm like putting your feet to the fire and learning from everyday experiences.

By Mark Zweig | Anything that requires human intelligence to deal with different complex human behavioral issues isn’t going to be replaced by AI any time soon, if ever.

By Mercedez Thompson | Proposals have adapted to a new way of reading, emphasizing concise, compelling headings to convey complex solutions and deliver winning messages.

By Luke Carothers | Our industry must look to places like Cairo as an example of how ambition can shape the built environment.

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 Mark Zweig | A lack of willingness to confront these things honestly has caused way too much frustration and unhappiness in the individuals who work in our organizations.

By Javier Suarez | Successful newsletters are relevant and valuable to readers, easy to consume, actionable, and loyal to your brand.

By Kraig Kern | If you stay disciplined, empathize with your team, and commit to excellence you can meet your deadlines and ultimately win more projects.

By Tyler Suomala | LinkedIn is an underutilized tool for building relationships, expanding opportunities, and attracting high-quality clients.

By Mark Zweig | The majority of AEC companies are doing well, but that could be in spite of how they are being managed.

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

By Mark Zweig | Don’t forget that the real purpose of this exercise is to have something meaningful that everyone in the business can get behind.

By Mark Zweig | If you don’t want your people or yourself to be judged unfairly, there are a few common problems that must always be avoided.

Zweig Group is proud to announce it has won six Hermes Creative Awards for its Civil + Structural Engineer magazine and for a video collection that was created for the 2022 ElevateAEC Conference & Awards Gala.

By Mark Zweig | Companies in this industry could be more successful if they spent more time on writing better fee proposals.

By Mark Zweig | Doing so will help you organize your thinking, present and preserve your work, and give you more credibility with your client base.

By Liisa Andreassen | Principal at JQ (Dallas, TX), a team of professionals providing structural and civil engineering, geospatial, and facility performance services within a diverse group of markets.

By Mark Zweig | When it comes to leadership, things are rarely black and white – but there are some things leaders just shouldn’t ever do.

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 Julie Smith | Podcasting is a unique way to share the story of your company, and it should be part of your marketing strategy.

By Mark Zweig | There’s still time to get your head on straight and do a few things to make the most of the new year.

By Brock Hoskins | Express gratitude to those people who are important to you, and find ways to make that a regular practice in your life and throughout your company.

By Kraig Kern | The next time you have a proposal or presentation kickoff, trust and empower your marketing team to do what they do best.

By Mark | If your project managers did these six things consistently, your projects and your firm would be more successful.

By Mark Zweig | Improving this will not only help you attract and keep good people, but it will also bring in new clients.

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

By Alexis Eades | You can work to improve retention by promoting a positive culture, giving employees autonomy and empowerment, and actively showing appreciation.

By Christina Zweig Niehues | The words you use have the power to influence your audience: choose them carefully.

By Lindsay Young | Best practices for AEC firms will continue to evolve, but firms that take steps to innovate will be the ones that succeed.

By Mark Zweig | These are “the good old days,” so don’t take anything for granted and find something to enjoy in even the most mundane aspects of life.

Zweig Group is proud to announce it has won six Hermes Creative Awards for its publications, conference, and website redesign. Hermes Creative Awards is an international competition for creative professionals involved in the concept, writing, and...

By Justin Smith | Write your project goals in ink and your plan in pencil, because you’ll likely need to make some changes and adapt your plan as your project unfolds.

By Julia DeFrances | With the right tools and some best practices, anyone can create a persuasive and compelling proposal.

By RLG Consulting Engineers | Principal at RLG Consulting Engineers (Dallas, TX), a firm that specializes in civil, structural, survey, and forensic engineering.

By Liisa Andreassen | Owner of Croft, Inc. (Acworth, GA), a full-service architecture and engineering firm that serves clients nationally in many diverse markets of the public and private sectors.

By Josh Rubero | This should reflect your core values, be your higher calling at work, and sustain your motivation to not only keep going, but to keep improving.

By Mark Zweig | While there are no doubt some costs associated with making a brand for your firm, a lot of it just boils down to a little work and some discipline.

By Lindsay Young | Investing a small amount of time and money to train employees on presentation skills could lead to millions of dollars of work for your firm.

By Jane Lawler Smith | When interviewing your co-workers, peers, and clients, take a walk and harness the power of storytelling together.

By Corey Fenwick & Andrew Chakmakjian | Networking is a key part of any business – no matter the industry – because it can lead to a new job, experience, or business for your firm.

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

By Mark Zweig | As design professionals and business managers, this is your only real path to business sustainability and personal freedom.

Develop a muscle memory around follow through and follow up to get ahead in the business development game.

By Mark Zweig | Remote workers are not going to go away as soon as this pandemic is over. Make sure they still feel connected to your firm.

By Katie Crawford | Look beyond the project scope and consider how the client or even the community will be impacted by the improvements your team is making.

By Kyle Ahern | A good, standardized parental leave policy is a major benefit that can set your firm apart.

By Mercedez Thompson | Create client-focused cover letters that build trust, provide clear client benefits, and connect to your client’s broader goals or vision.

By Mark Zweig | If you’re trying to buy or thinking about buying another company in this business, here are a few things that may be helpful to you.

By Kim Fowler | If you chip away at your organization goals one task at a time, you will begin to see the benefits.

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.

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

Make a great first impression, showcase your experience and expertise, and stand out as a top architect in your market.

Grow your firm and bolster future success by training and mentoring technical staff to participate in your firm’s sales and marketing efforts.

There are countless ways to develop business without being a business developer, and you are most likely doing some of these things already.

In our current digital and remote work environment, the basic task of note taking has become enormously important.

By Mark Zweig | What your firm becomes should be the result of a plan, of deliberate efforts. You can and should “design” your design firm.

In the current economic environment, avoid costly payment disputes and counterclaims by choosing clients carefully and staying on top of your receivables and collections.

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.

By Mark Zweig | If we care about the success of our people and our businesses, we cannot keep ignoring the importance of people skills.

By Mark Zweig | If we truly want to elevate our people and help them achieve all they can achieve, we must help them be better communicators.

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

Most of these ideas take very little money – just your time. Invest in yourself and your business and you’ll be stronger and better for it on the other side of this.

By Jamie Claire Kiser | Lessons learned from conversations with industry leaders about separation anxiety, empowerment, and calm confidence.

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

Learn the basics of leadership so you can decide if you’re up to the task. If you are, assess your skills and improve where you can.

“I used to be addicted to social media … So I stopped. Today, I still use social media, though only for business purposes.”

By Phil Keil | If you’re struggling to build a productive team, it might be time to take a long look in the mirror.

They count, so gather your leadership team, find the set of behaviors they admire, and make them part of your mission and vision.

There’s plenty of things, from the simple to the complex, that project managers can do to engage the important people in their database.

A successful sustainability plan should formalize your approach for continuous improvement and help you build on what you are already doing in three key areas.

Sadly, fewer and fewer of us are interested in developing writing, speaking, or other communication skills as a significant professional goal.

“Square peg for a round hole? No thanks! My first preference is square pegs in square holes!”

President of JBCI, a small, but venerable, repair and restoration firm based in Philadelphia.

In this era of recycle/reuse/renew, instead of discarding boilerplate information, we should embrace it.

A small investment of your time, energy, and creativity can yield a large return with your clients. Start gently and build your confidence.

“We need to collect our money sooner. With dragged out collection periods, most companies don’t have the working capital they need without borrowing.”

“There’s a lot to know about your people. And we have to keep updating this information because your people are constantly changing.”

If you want to run a successful firm, there are employees you just have to keep. But in other instances, turnover can be a good thing.

“You had better conquer those fears! Because the power of the information to inform, educate, and motivate your people is more powerful than any negative that could come from it.”

“Always be recruiting! That has to be the mantra for anyone who’s an owner or manager in an AEC firm today because finding people is crucial to your growth.”

We all know meetings are a necessary evil, but do we have to let them wreck our productivity? Did you know that a typical American professional attends more than 60 meetings per month? That is...

We’re all busy with our personal and professional lives, but that doesn’t mean we should stop educating ourselves. I have spent a good portion of the last eight months crisscrossing the country training professionals in...

By Edward Friedrichs | Things I could not have imagined just a few years ago are now coming to market, are affordable and practical, and are changing the world for the better.

By Edward Friedrichs | In a time of polarization and crass tribalism, don’t forget the founding norms of respect and civility. It’ll be good for you, your firm, and your clients. 

Would you like to write for the AEC industry’s leading management newsletter? The Zweig Letter is looking for contributors throughout the org chart, from CEOs to project managers, from those in technical roles to those...

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

A/E firms are fragile things. When things are going well, they grow and make decent profits. The people who work there generally feel good and the future seems bright. When things aren’t going well, morale...

They are everywhere, but they don’t have to win. Identify their behavior and rectify it, or risk losing your staff. Regrettably, we have all been there, regardless of the profession. Whether it’s real estate, marketing,...

The collective achievement of any given AEC firm is oftentimes shared only with prospective clients during the proposal process, and that’s a lost opportunity. Every few years, I find myself working closely with our corporate...

If you want to empower your millennial team members, you have to offer them choice, provide purpose, and safeguard the organizational trust. Millennials are part of the “prove it” generation, and their trust is made...

Even with the long lead times, the proposal process can be stressful. Marketers have to own the process and enforce the schedule. Some people describe the proposal process as a marathon while others consider it...

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

Here is your ZLearning Video: Writing better Texts, Emails, and Letters Click HERE to download your outline for this course. Please save the email that you receive from ZLearning as this will give you lifetime...

This week, Randy Wilburn spoke with Peter C. Atherton, PE, president and founder of Actions Prove, LLC. Peter is a successful professional engineer with more than 25 years of experience in public infrastructure projects. Peter...

Debating entering Zweig Group's 2015 Marketing Excellence Awards? Here's a few reasons why you should enter this year: 1) Double your marketing efforts. The Marketing Excellence Award winners get a lot of attention: The list...

Shared values among staff are certainly important, but if a good fit is all you’re looking for, your firm could go stale. Editor’s note: This post first appeared on the Perkins + Will blog at...

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...

10 things that will actually make you a better seller: 1. Stop thinking you need to be someone else. You need to be you. 2. Make people like you by asking them questions about themselves....

Do you need shoes on your feet, a roof over your head, and food on your plate? If you don’t have a plan, start working on one! More than one-fourth of firms in the AEC...

Whether it’s a monthly email campaign, promotional event, thought leadership piece, or blog post, firms need to give marketing the time it needs to evolve. “Do you want the job done right or done fast?”...

You’ll lose control of your office if you have no performance metrics, no accountability, and put employees in the wrong roles. The difference between leadership and management is quite substantial. Make no mistake, as a...

It can be harder than writing more, but oftentimes it’s necessary, so learn how to cut without gutting your message. When I started writing this column in 2004, the size limit was 800-850 words. Sometimes,...

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,...

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 taking control of proposals, squat down, get dirty, and just like a baseball catcher out on the diamond, manage your team. Johnny Bench, one of the greatest baseball catchers of all time, said: “The...

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

If that’s your justification for not having a marketing department, you’re either blessed with a super team of all-stars, or you’re kidding yourself. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had an architecture/engineering firm...

In this episode of the TZL Lifehacker Series, Randy Wilburn and Sanjay Jenkins discuss their morning routines, the importance of having a routine, and some steps A/E professionals can take to make the most of...

Assignments, attitudes, and acknowledgment – if you take care of the Big Three, your marketing people will do great things. I have been an A/E industry marketer since the early 1980s. In those 30-plus years,...

Subscribe to The Zweig Letter for free to receive business management advice from industry experts to your inbox every week! If your marketing people are writing proposals, then they’re selling, not marketing. You need to know there’s a...

Eroding profitability. Never good. Never fun. The result is less and less money to go around. I’m not going to talk about the obvious things such as labor costs that are too high, overly lavish...

The word “strategy” is kicked around a lot in the A/E industry when referring to the “business” of the business. But, like many other words, I find it widely misunderstood and subject to different interpretations....

Getting people to do what you want them to do. This is what leadership is really all about. And it is never easy. Especially today in the A/E industry, where finding a job is not...

In this episode of the podcast, Randy Wilburn talked to Richard Massey, Zweig Group’s director of newsletters. They talked about Massey’s role with TZL and how the newsletter has evolved over the years (you can...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (April 14, 2017) –Zweig Group recently released the 2017 Financial Performance Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning and Environmental Consulting Firms. This annual publication is based on a survey of industry firms, and is...

Marketers, what does your job really entail, and what should you be doing to move your company forward? Whether you are in an exclusively marketing related job or have a different title but actively participate...

Hiring good people isn’t easy, and hanging onto them is just as difficult. When you find the right person, offer an excellent benefits package. By Gale Associates Inc. Best Firm #4 Multidiscipline for 2016 Recruitment...

In our brand new podcast format, we interview Mark Zweig, CEO of Zweig Group about an article he recently wrote in The Zweig Letter about the role of HR in the Recruitment process ( "The...

From ex-girlfriends to meerkats, internet overload can put a serious dent in your productivity, even while it makes you feel good. I am a champion multitasker. I pride myself on my ability to write an...

Empty slogans and tired jargon don’t do the trick. To be a great leader you have to make a personal connection with members of your team. I’ve attended a lot of leadership courses over the...

Bells and whistles are nice, but when it comes time to write a winning proposal, a strong, focused message is still the way to go. In recent months I have seen a number of questions...

Much like a “perfect” farmer, marketing professionals must take charge of each step of the growing (submittal) process, or else risk disaster. Dedication, hard work, persistence, and pride are some of the most commonly used...

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...

Everyone wants better project management. That's why principals of AEC companies spend more time and money on PM training than any other type of business training. But I'm not here to talk about training. I...

Here are nine tips on how to be successful in the A/E/P business. Hint, most of these tips are not specific to the A/E/P business. I have the honor of being a guest lecturer once...

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...

Don’t just get a good lawyer. Get one who knows the M&A industry, and don’t let minor, personal stuff derail the transaction. I've been in this industry for 36 years now. That's a long time....

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...

You may have long-term “relationships” because of your company’s reputation with people you don’t even know. I've always been a long-term relationship kind of guy. I still have friends that I went to grade school...

How we approach the decision process is as important as the decision itself. We all make dozens of decisions each day. Some are relatively simple, such as which shirt to wear in the morning. Others...

The work and talents required of an A/E principal means that some traits associated with attention deficit can be useful. Experts have claimed that as much as 35-40 percent of the adult population has some...

Implementing these 8 easy changes can help your firm work smarter, not harder, and reap the monetary rewards. I have always felt that, if A/E and environmental consulting firms spent as much time on getting...

Inspiration is necessary for technical/design professionals and those who manage projects to be successful. ​I’ve been saying for years that having two tracks – one for managerial and sales people, and one for design and...

Harris & Associates (Concord, CA), a 200-person engineering and construction management firm, is taking home second place in the Online Marketing category of Zweig Group’s 2015 Marketing Excellence Awards for its new and improved website....

Great leaders know when to hold their tongues, take a step back, ask questions, and come to a better solution. Every day that goes by, the more convinced I am that our abilities to keep...

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

When it comes to generating opportunities for your firm, the more, the better. Entrepreneurial architects and engineers all do one thing well – they create lots and lots of possibilities. The more possibilities, the greater...

Flaws in current system can be overcome through strategic adjustments. Being a project manager in the typical A/E/P or environmental firm is rarely easy. Think about it: In most firms in this business, it is...

Becoming a Better Project Manager aims to provide new, aspiring PMs with a knowledge base and toolbox to be successful in design, facilities management firms. By Andrea Bennett Managing Editor On May 5, Zweig Group...

In an industry with constant news and needs, following a few simple tips can keep your messages efficient and effective. In today’s world, there’s an endless array of marketing that could or should be developed...

Debating entering Zweig Group's 2015 Marketing Excellence Awards? Here's a few reasons why you should enter this year: 1) Double your marketing efforts. The Marketing Excellence Award winners get a lot of attention: The list...

Results of long-running study show that those who wait for reward do better in the end, Mark Zweig writes. Back in the ’60s a Psych professor at Stanford, Walter Mischel, gave a famous test to...

Mark Zweig lists some things he has learned about the A/E/P and environmental business over three decades. The end of August marked 34 full years working in the A/E/P and environmental consulting business. I have...

Coach your staff on the small things that make all the difference and follow these four tips from Mark Zweig. So much of one’s success in the architecture, engineering, planning or environmental business has nothing...

They sell themselves into the job but do little else, Mark Zweig writes. We have a big problem in the A/E/P industry. As good as most of our people are, after 34 years of working...

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...

Look for ideas to simplify every single thing you do and the benefits will accrue, Mark Zweig writes. For those of you not aware of it, earlier this month ZweigWhite announced the combination of two...

Six traits that will make you and your team highly successful, Mark Zweig writes. There’s no doubt in my mind that most successful people in this business didn’t get there by accident. It’s because of...

The business is evolving faster than ever. Here are Mark Zweig’s eight steps for implementing change. I am convinced that both the world and the A/E/P and environmental business are changing at an accelerating pace....

There may be something missing in your firm after the recession, Mark Zweig writes. The recession of the last six- to 8 years has been hard on the A/E/P and environmental consulting business. Many companies...

Having it is one thing; using it is another. Over the years we’ve received several inquiries for off the shelf QA/QC (quality assurance and quality control) plans and manuals – typically prompted by requirements in...

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...

Mark Zweig lists five questions you need to ask before tackling your next opportunity. Attention all readers in the A/E/P business – you have got to make some BIG changes to the way you’re marketing...

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

The year is half over, so here’s eight things you can do now to improve performance, Mark Zweig writes. Time’s a-wastin’. The year is now approaching halfway (time flies, doesn’t it?). You cannot keep rationalizing...

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...

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...

This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 1001 Originally published 4/1/2013 The long love affair between design firm leaders and cars continues, Mark Zweig writes. We were doing an in-house...

This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 989 Originally published 1/7/2013 Novel pays homage to engineering profession and is a great airplane read, Mark Zweig writes. The week before Christmas,...

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 Mark C. Zweig Founder & CEO, ZweigWhite We are talking more and more about the importance of good project management in boardrooms these days. There isn’t much more you can do to increase your...

ZweigWhite knows… and can help you learn them. Architecture, engineering, planning and environmental firms often lament the amount of money spent on training. According to the ZweigWhite 2011 Proceedures, Policies and Benefits Survey, employee training...

Press Release: September 21, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (September 21, 2011) — It’s no big news that a rough economy has taken its toll on many architecture, engineering, planning and environmental firms, but this situation isn’t...

By Debbie Frederiksen Director of Marketing Consulting, ZweigWhite During my junior year of college I took an elective business course in market research. I don’t recall exactly why I chose this class, but more than...

Press Release: May 25, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (May 25, 2011) – Universities offering online master’s degrees in civil engineering are reporting record increases in enrollment, in large part because of technology improvements and the sluggish...

Press Release: May 18, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (May 18, 2011) — Sixty-five civil engineering firms were recognized for earning $100 million or more in revenue in the May issue of CE News, a ZweigWhite publication...

Ketan Chawla is a 22 year-old Financial Analyst who has been working at ZweigWhite in the Fayetteville office for nearly one year. In his time, Ketan has seen a lot of change. “I’ve seen change...

By Jeff Clark | Principal, Managing Director of Investment Banking, ZweigWhite Do you like CEOs who promote their business relentlessly? Do you think Steve Jobs did a good job with his public speaking over the...

By Debbie Frederiksen We all strive for it and talk about it in our marketing materials, but are we truly innovative or is it just fresh lipstick on the same old pig? It didn’t take...

By Mark C. Zweig Winter of 2011 in the A/E/P and environmental consulting business— it’s been a long one for many of us! And along with record cold temperatures and snowfalls in many places in...

You may think that I am crazy to write an article about recruiting when some estimates place unemployment among certain sectors of the design industry at more than three times the national average. But the...

With clients not in any hurry to pay their bills and banks clamping down on firms that are non-compliant with their loan covenants, now more than ever is the time to do what it takes...

2010 is here. And, it’s going to be a year like none before. If you aren’t particularly happy with your firm’s performance these last couple years, it’s a great time for change— radical change. Out...

I was talking with an old acquaintance recently— a principal in a very successful international planning and design firm— about how things were going for him and his firm. In spite of some rocky times...

It’s popular to say these days that “the world is flat” or we live in “one world.” While there is some truth to these statements (thanks largely to high-speed and high-bandwidth electronic communications), this kind...

We’re in the middle of some tough, turbulent times. It seems like every market served by A/E/P and environmental firms is full of uncertainty. No one knows whether or not tomorrow will be harder than...

There’s a popular book out right now in the education field entitled The Global Achievement Gap written by a fellow named Tony Wagner, the co-director of the Change Leadership Group at Harvard University. I picked...

I cannot recall any recent editorial in The Zweig Letter that drew the amount of inquiries my piece on open book management did (Issue 774, August 11, 2008). Because there is so much interest in...

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...

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...

We all seem to spend a lot of money on training. That’s a loosely applied term. Many things fall into the “training pot” in a typical A/E/P or environmental firm. My anecdotal understanding is that...

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...

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...

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...

Everyone who starts a company or ends up as its leader eventually starts thinking about how to get out. You may have the greatest job in the world, but life is short and most of...

It’s been said many times— you have to focus if you want to succeed. Yet focus is precisely what so many design and environmental professionals lack. My theory is that architects, engineers, planners, and scientists...

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...

It’s Sunday morning on Mother’s Day 2006. We have a lot to be thankful for in the Zweig household as my wife just bore our first, a baby girl, “Olive Josephine,” 15 days ago. As...

Thankfully, just about every A/E or environmental firm does a business plan these days. I no longer have to relentlessly beat my drum here in The Zweig Letter on all the reasons to do so!...

When you talk with those folks who have really “made it” in this business, i.e., successful principals in successful A/E and environmental firms, they will usually tell you that being able to write was critical...

Now that A/E/P and environmental consulting firms have been doing business plans regularly for the past 10 or 15 years, it may be time to beef them up a bit. The old platitudes, goals, and...

It’s been said before that success comes from 2% inspiration and 98% perspiration. That’s one reason why I never worried about who saw our strategic business plan. Knowing WHAT to do is the easy part....

Anyone who knows me or who has read my writings on management for architects and engineers over the years knows that I absolutely HATE buzzwords. They automatically raise the suspicions of the smart design, management,...

There’s something about the entire design and construction industry when it comes to doing projects— we just don’t spend enough time on communication. I think there are a number of reasons for this persistent state....

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...

For each of the past five years since we created The Zweig Letter Hot Firm List, there have always been readers out there who write in to ask why we are so obsessed with growth...

Last Saturday morning a friend of mine, Peter Sisk, called to see if he could stop by my house on his way out of town to visit his aging parents in Hartford. He had the...

Here I am...on a plane...once again. I’ve already read the Inc. Magazine I found in the magazine rack near the bathroom, the New England Motorcyclist’s Post that came in yesterday’s mail, and have started in...

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...

It’s the kind of question that plagues principals: Why, if their firm has spent more than $300,000 on an all-new web-based software program that is designed to integrate every single front office function, are they...

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...

Every month or two, I end up in an office where the owners or managers of the firm are telling me that their most critical need is to have formal job descriptions for each of...

When design or environmental firms face problems, the first course they usually pursue is one of cost cutting. Obviously, there’s merit to it. I have recommended cost cuts to clients many times over the years,...

Let’s face it. In business, as in life, things don’t always go the way you want. There will be problems that you can anticipate, and there will be problems that you never expected. Either way,...

While I have been and continue to be bullish on the A/E/P and environmental consulting business, I must say that we see some wacky things out there when it comes to how firms manage and...

At the car wash this past weekend I saw a 1969 Barracuda with a 440-cubic engine. It was hot pink (a factory color) with what Chrysler used to refer to as a “six-pack” (that’s three,...

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...

Here’s a collection of practical advice I think anyone in the A/E/P or environmental consulting business can use in response to questions that seem come up over and over again: Where can I find someone...

There may be truth to the old adage: “Ignorance is bliss.” Because the fact is, there are a lot of people, many of them at the highest levels in A/E/P and environmental firms, who are...

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...

The A/E/P and environmental consulting business is really pretty simple from a financial management standpoint. It shouldn’t be hard to track the numbers you need to run a firm, yet so many companies seem to...

The experts will say “You have to learn to delegate if you are going to be an effective manager.” On this point, conventional wisdom is actually right. Delegation is critical to your ability to get...

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:...

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...

When it’s time to hire, most A/E and environmental consulting firms do a pretty good job defining their needs in terms of education, registrations, experience, and so forth. But they don’t do a good job...

Ask anyone who has risen to the top of a consulting engineering, A/E, or environmental consulting firm where are the greatest weaknesses in their staff, and they will almost always say it’s in their “soft”...

In any number of surveys conducted over the years on what demotivates professionals in the workplace, “not feeling in on things” always ranks at or near the top. By “demotivation,” we are referring to what...

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...