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Firms’ project website systems T R E N D L I N E S
10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%
Wanted – two kinds of people Inspiration is necessary for technical/design professionals and those who manage projects to be successful.
0% 5%
Zweig Group’s 2015 Information Technology Survey of A/E/P & Environmental Consulting Firms shows the two most commonly used project website systems are Sharepoint (47 percent) and Project Center (42 percent). Building a custom system in-house was also popular at 32 percent, followed by ProjectWise (21 percent) and Buzzsaw (11 percent). Percentages total more than 100 because respondents were asked to check all answers that applied. — Vivian Cummings, research analyst assistant F I R M I N D E X AECOM .............................................................. 12 Ann Beha Architects ............................................ 7 Bill Faber Construction ........................................ 9 Cathexes .............................................................. 3 CBI . .................................................................... 12 Chen Moore and Associates ............................... 6 Ecology and Environment .................................. 12 EMCOR Group .................................................... 12 Epic Piping ......................................................... 12 Fluor ............................................................... 8, 12 Fluor S.A. ............................................................. 8 Gensler. ................................................................ 7 Hight-Jackson Associates PA .............................. 9 Hill International ................................................ 12 Industrial Services Americas ............................. 12 Jacobs . .............................................................. 12 KBR .................................................................... 12 KBR Builder Group ............................................. 12 Lavallee Bresinger Achitects ............................. 12 Rental Guys . ........................................................ 5 SacyrFluor ............................................................ 8 Sacyr Industrial SLU ............................................ 8 Stantec . ............................................................. 12 Tetra Tech . ......................................................... 12 VI Engineering . .................................................. 12 Willdan Group . .................................................. 12 W. R. MEADOWS ................................................ 2
I ’ve been saying for years that having two tracks – one for managerial and sales people, and one for design and technical people – is largely a myth in this business. My conclusion was based largely on money and supply-and-demand. There are less people who can sell and manage, and they are worth more than someone who only does project-related worth. Now, I’m going to backpedal a little on that. I’ve always known that we need those technical and design people – particularly leaders – who turn out outstanding projects. It goes wrong when we don’t do a good job of communicating exactly what that standard is. It’s high. What we need in these outstanding technical/design people and in those who manage projects is inspiration . They need to be able to inspire everyone else on the team to ever-greater performance. I define that performance from the client’s point of view: The project has to exceed their expectations. They should be calling and writing letters and emails to you expressing how great a job the firm and your people did for them. And the workers who report to these people should be coming to you on their own to express their admiration and appreciation for the outstanding leadership that has been provided to them. See, the problem is, we act like project- related work isn’t important and, instead,
“See, the problem is, we act like project- related work isn’t important and, instead, only achieving certain
Mark Zweig
business goals is.”
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xz FROMTHE CHAIRMAN: A fresh look at employee evaluations. Page 3
PLUS xz SEPTEMBER 2015 CALENDAR Page 11 xz ZG INDEX: Page 12
See MARK ZWEIG, page 2
Art in a structure Page 9
Project options
Pages 6, 7
T H E V O I C E O F R E A S O N F O R A / E / P & E N V I R O N M E N TA L C O N S U LT I N G F I R M S
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A LOOK AHEAD
BUSINESS NEWS AIR BARRIER ASSOCIATION EVALUATES W.R. MEADOWS’ AIR-SHIELD W. R. MEADOWS announced that AIR- SHIELD, one of its air/vapor and liquid barrier products, has been evaluated by the Air Bar- rier Association of America and listed on its website. ABAA is the national voice of the air barrier industry in America and is dedicated to the education of all parties involved in building construction. It also provides the industry with premier training to both designers and contractors, as well as providing a listing of materials and assemblies fully evaluated by the association. Having become increas- ingly looked upon as the credible leader, the ABAA ensures products’ standards and requirements are up to code as guidelines continue to change. AIR-SHIELD is part of W. R. MEADOWS building envelope system. It’s a roll-type product that is nominally 40 mils thick. Its self-adhesive membrane is strong and durable, yet remains flexible when surface mounted. It provides excellent protection that won’t shrink, sag, dry out, crack, or rot, and it resists punctures during installation. More BUSINESS NEWS, page 4
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MARK ZWEIG , from page 1
only achieving certain business goals is. If you know anything about the best, most passionate, and creative architects, engineers, and planners, you know that only talking business with them is alienating to them. They want and need to know that what they are doing is important, worthwhile, and appreciated. Their heroic efforts cannot be consistently ignored if you expect them to be repeated. They do not just want to drive business results; they want to do projects and have relationships with clients that they can be proud of. We need project leaders and discipline experts who demonstrate that they want to keep learning. We need project leaders and discipline experts who don’t act like they are superior to everyone else on their team and help others learn. We need project leaders and discipline experts who are responsive to questions and engaged and who know how to treat other people they work with. We also need project leaders and discipline experts who work hard and don’t act like unionized blue-collar workers. The expectations are high – even if you aren’t a big seller of work or manager of people and “just” a project person. So, in this business, we desperately need good, inspired, passionate, and committed architects and engineers, who take tremendous pride in their work. We have to make sure we don’t only talk about business but also devote airtime to their project accomplishments, both inside and outside of the firm. We need hard-working leaders who love their work so much they have to be pried away from it. When we have people like this in design posts and project leadership roles, they will inspire others – Gen-X, Gen-Y, and Millennials – to work harder and longer and be better at what they do. That will produce even better projects and more accolades you can share and one more of the “virtuous cycles” of this business is established. This pattern will create a culture that leads to BUSINESS SUCCESS as well; it is the outcome of it. The $50,000 question is: “Are you creating high enough expectations for all of your project staff?” If not, start now. And are you really touting their accomplishments? If not, start that now. You will be more successful if you do. Don’t let the design and technical track be a dumping ground for people who not only aren’t good managers or business developers, but also aren’t effective inspiration project leaders and team members.
38West Trenton Blvd., Suite 101 Fayetteville, AR 72701 Mark Zweig | Publisher [email protected] Andrea Bennett | Managing Editor [email protected] Christina Zweig | Contributing Editor [email protected] Sara Parkman | Editor [email protected] Megan Halbert | Design Assistant [email protected] Liisa Andreassen | Correspondent [email protected] Richard Massey | Correspondent [email protected]
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Online: www.thezweigletter.com Twitter: twitter.com/zweigletter Blog: blog.zweiggroup.com Published continuously since 1992 by Zweig Group, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA. ISSN 1068-1310. Issued weekly (48 issues/yr.). $475 for one-year subscription, $775 for two-year subscription. Article reprints: For high-quality reprints, including Eprints and NXTprints, please contact The YGS Group at 717-399-1900, ext. 139, or e-mail [email protected]. © Copyright 2015, Zweig Group. All rights reserved.
MARK ZWEIG is founder and CEO of Zweig Group. Contact him at [email protected].
© Copyright 2015. Zweig Group. All rights reserved.
THE ZWEIG LETTER AUGUST 24, 2015, ISSUE 1117
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I ’ve always been skeptical of the “performance review” style of evaluating. I believe in a strengths-based method of casting – placing people in roles that take best advantage of each person’s unique mix of talents. Preparing for and then delivering (or receiving) a performance review seems about as pleasant as having a root canal. A fresh look at employee evaluations Architectural colleague shares new scale for assessing employees’ impact on the firm, community, world in areas of attitude, capability, performance. O P I N I O N
Ed Friedrichs
I’ve been spending a great deal of time with Don Clark, who runs the Reno-based architectural firm Cathexes . The name of the firm is the plural of cathexis, which is an investment of mental or emotional energy in a person, object, or idea. And Don does exactly that in everything he undertakes and with everyone with whom he works. As we were talking the other day about people management, Don shared his employee evaluation form with me. My first response was skepticism, until he began to explain it. Don uses three general areas of review; each has a few subcategories along with examples of how successful performance is to be evaluated. His categories are very much an inventory of culture and values. They are not granular, nor are they work-assignment specific. Since I’ve covered many of these issues, I’ve added short-hand descriptors from some of my previous columns in italics. Attitude ❚ ❚ Assumes responsibility – set it and forget it; no need to check back ❚ ❚ Work relationships – plays well with others; courte- ous, friendly, sincere ❚ ❚ Professional outlook – takes responsibility to grow in the firm and profession ❚ ❚ Attendance – shows up and works with focus ❚ ❚ Image – maintains an orderly work area and projects a professional image and appearance Capability ❚ ❚ Analytical ability – is a self-starter in research, concise subcategories along with examples of how successful performance is to be evaluated.” “Don uses three general areas of review; each has a few
and thorough with recommendations ❚ ❚ Initiative – takes responsibility, recommends systemic improvements ❚ ❚ Mental alertness – listens carefully, responds well to changes ❚ ❚ Ability to represent firm – respectful toward clients, “lives” the firm culture, inspires confidence in the firm and team ❚ ❚ Supervisory ability – inspires team, develops team members, obtains measurable results ❚ ❚ Stability – projects calm in crisis, is consistent in per- formance, adapts to change ❚ ❚ Overall competence – possesses technical/design skills, adds to the skill base of the firm, is an “expert” in something valuable to others in the firm Performance ❚ ❚ Dependability – completes assignments thoroughly without being monitored ❚ ❚ Quantity of work – is consistent with skills and proj- ect needs ❚ ❚ Quality of work – is consistently organized, coordi- nated, and accurate ❚ ❚ Resourcefulness – seeks out best solutions, overcomes adversity ❚ ❚ Communication – speaks, listens, writes, and re- sponds clearly and thoroughly in a professional style You can imagine that everyone at Cathexes has a clear idea of what the culture of the firm is. When this is the case, it fosters consistent and predictable behavior and attitude. But here’s where Don adds a unique twist that is both humorous and serious. Using a point system from 0 to 10, each person is rated in each category as follows: 0) You died 1) You’re fired 2) Poor; need to relearn this concept
See ED FRIEDRICHS, page 4
THE ZWEIG LETTER AUGUST 24, 2015, ISSUE 1117
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BUSINESS NEWS FIRST HALF 2015 COMMERCIAL AND MULTIFAMILY CONSTRUCTION STARTS SHOW NEW YORK CITY METRO AREA LEADING THE NATION A ranking of the top U.S. metropolitan areas by the dollar amount of new commercial and multifamily construction starts reveals the New York City metropolitan area leading the nation during the first half of 2015, according to Dodge >Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12
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