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 finishing. By all means, teaching is a great profession and the subject matter no less important than any other, including [...]
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 away poor performance and plan to make it up later in the year. At some point, there isn’t enough “year” [...]
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 them with a keen interest. I can spend all day talking about leadership – in fact I did exactly that [...]
Mark Zweig lists seven concerns, so it’s time to act. With the construction economy roaring back, it’s interesting to me to see some A/E and environmental firms cashing in on it and others that still aren’t. The ones that aren’t keep hoping for a return to the past, when you could hire anyone who had [...]
Don’t we all want to be part of an organization that we are thrilled to be a part of; that makes us proud? I often get chills when I think back on my early career with Gensler, particularly the frequent nightmares I would have about being fired. And why, you may ask, would such vivid [...]
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 marketing department or anything even close to it. If a firm had any dedicated marketing people, they fit into one [...]
But let’s just be clear – no one really enjoys working in a maddening environment. I was working with an engineering firm two weeks ago and we were discussing ways to improve operations. They had a spurt of growth recently, were projecting continued success, but weren’t equipped internally to handle that pace. One of our [...]
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 meetings. Meetings are one of the biggest time-wasting activities people working in A/E firms engage in. It seems to me [...]
While the loss of a beloved BlackBerry device is a traumatic experience for Mark Zweig, change is inevitable. The last week brought a lot of change into my world. That included moving to a new Windows operating system (I don’t even know which one) on my ZweigWhite laptop AND having to get a new phone. [...]
Several things happen when a new person joins your firm. Don’t scare them away. This term seems to have come into popular usage among HR folks lately, referring to how a firm brings a person into the fold – bringing them “on board,” so to speak. Sounds too much like water-boarding to me – may [...]
Mark Zweig provides six directions on where the market is heading. Here’s a quick summary of where I see things going right now in the A/E business and the world at large: The housing recovery is well underway. In just about every market in the country the numbers are heading up in terms of volume [...]
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 more responsive. You know, in this crowded A/E field we all work in there are many variables we cannot control. [...]
This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 1001 Originally published 4/1/2013 Not all PMs are stars. Rattling their cage a bit may just help them rise. I was at our recent Principals Academy in Denver and having breakfast with a table of attendees. They were swapping stories about that “one” [...]
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 seminar a couple weeks ago for a really great planning and architecture firm on the East Coast. One of the [...]
This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 1000 Originally published 3/25/2013 Follow your passions, people – for a rich and successful life! It was an interesting week for me here in Fayetteville. This was the first time in months I didn’t have to travel – a real treat. But I [...]
This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 999 Originally published 3/18/2013 The pillars of a successful company can be distilled into two words. A client recently asked me to make a short presentation to his senior team about leadership. Since I had done a series of one-day programs for ZweigWhite [...]
This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 999 Originally published 3/18/2013 If you have rosy outlooks on profitability, marketing, proposals, and backlogs it’s time to clean up your numbers. A/E/P and environmental firms are usually owned and run by really nice people. Problem is, sometimes they tend to be overly [...]
This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 998 Originally published 3/11/2013 Three lessons the design industry can learn from a successful auto dealership. I feel fortunate to be a consultant to the design industry and entrepreneurship professor. I get to meet many cool people – and see success in places [...]
This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 997 Originally published 3/4/2013 HR, recruiting and hiring teams also need to take a critical look at their operations, so make use of the form below. Sometimes it helps to just STOP for a moment, don’t you think? Just sit down and start [...]
This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 997 Originally published 3/4/2013 More is within control than you think. Mark Zweig offers three ways to add to your ranks. As an observer and participant in the A/E/P and environmental industry for nearly 33 years, I have helped many companies with their [...]