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Before issuing job numbers ... T R E N D L I N E S W W W . T H E Z W E I G L E T T E R . C O M MA R K E T I N G S U P P L E M E N T Pages 5-10 N o v e m b e r 3 0 , 2 0 1 5 , I s s u e 1 1 2 9
Fostering new ideas Having fun and encouraging creativity can lead to the generation of fresh, new business ideas.
I have long felt one of the problems with the A/E/P and environmental consulting business is that we have so few new ideas – really new ideas – to fuel the success of our businesses. So many firms seem to be plodding along – with owners who are doing the same thing as the other owners of firms in this business – all hoping the economy holds up and they can sock away a few bucks so they can make it through the next recession. That’s sad. Because I KNOW that most of us could do a whole lot more with the resources we have if we just came up with some new ideas and then actually implemented them! We have smart people. We have smart clients. We have design and technical abilities. We have offices. We have cash flow. We have cash and borrowing capacity. But we aren’t using all of this very well. If we were, we’d all be a helluva lot more successful. The process of firm (and life) transformation has to start with some new ideas. Where will they come from? Here are some thoughts: 1)Start reading Inc. Magazine and other similar publications. Why? Because they are focused on privately-held, growing companies and will get you outside of this industry! Learn from people outside of this business. The most recent issue has so many articles. One on a fellow who took his fashion company from public to private. Another on a restaurant de- sign firm where all owners are equal owners
“We have smart people. We have smart clients. We have design and technical abilities. We have offices. We have cash flow. We have cash and borrowing capacity. But we aren’t using all of this very well. If we were, we’d all be a helluva lot more successful.”
Respondents to Zweig Group’s 2015 Project Management Survey report that firms most commonly establish a project budget (52 percent) before issuing a job number. Another 44 percent establish complete billing information , 39 percent obtain a signed contract , and 37 percent receive a formal notice to proceed . Only 16 percent establish a project schedule . Answers sum to more than 100 percent because choices were not mutually exclusive. — Vivian Cummins, research analyst assistant. F I R M I N D E X Affinis Corp. .............................................................. 10 AMEC Foster Wheeler ............................................... 12 A. Morton Thomas & Associates Inc. . ........................ 10 Balfour Beatty . ............................................................ 8 Boro Construction ....................................................... 8 Brasfield & Gorrie ........................................................ 8 CB&I . ....................................................................... 12 CB&I Stone & Webster .............................................. 12 Coffey International Limited ........................................ 12 Davis Architects Inc. .................................................... 8 EMCOR .................................................................... 12 Exponent .................................................................. 12 Fluor ......................................................................... 12 Georgia Power .......................................................... 12 Golden Construction ................................................... 3 Hensel Phelps Construction Co. .................................. 8 HLB Lighting Design .................................................... 6 Jacobs Engineering ................................................... 12 KBR . ........................................................................ 12 Michaels Energy .......................................................... 9 Queen City Railroad Construction Inc. .......................... 8 Schrader Group Architecture LLC . ............................... 8 Southern Company ................................................... 12 Specialized Real Estate Group ..................................... 3 Stantec ..................................................................... 12 TerraTherm . .............................................................. 10 Tetra Tech ................................................................. 12 Tindall Corporation ...................................................... 8 Toshiba ..................................................................... 12 TRC Companies ....................................................... 12 Trumbull Corporation ................................................... 8 Westinghouse ........................................................... 12 Willbros Group .......................................................... 12
Mark Zweig
MORE COLUMNS xz BRAND BUILDING: Buzzword mania Page 5 xz DEAR CHRISTY: Your management questions, answered Page 11
See MARK ZWEIG, page 2
Blogging is good business Page 9 Uptown livin’ Page 5
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 L T I N G F I R M S
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MARK ZWEIG, from page 1 and work together with undefined roles and it actually works. Another article on a guy who decided to pay each of his employees at least $70,000 a year. Another on someone who was considering selling their company for as much as $4 million but then real- ized they’d be taking a huge pay cut they couldn’t afford and may have other options to work less but keep it. One on someone who outsourced his operations to the Phil- lipines and pays his workers $4 an hour and he and they feel great about it. I could go on but I strongly recommend getting out our industry and learning about some others! 2)Force your managers to come up with new ideas. Try having all them do their busi- ness plans this year with more than their typical sales, revenue, and labor expense fore- casts. How about asking each unit to come up with three new things to sell and three new ways to market? Then make them present their concise plans in an entertaining format. Give out prizes for the best ideas and presentations. 3)Make your office environment a lot more fun. Maybe you need to have a free lunch for no reason. Let your people teach a class on anything they want to teach it on. Have lots of sugary snacks. Get an office sound system and try out a “DJ for a day”from your employee group. Go on a field trip to an interesting new business or somewhere fun. Mix it up. 4)Be open to new ideas. Never say “never” when someone makes a suggestion. Let it age. Ask questions. Try small experiments to see if it works. Test it on other people. Don’t be quick to say “no.” 5)Mix up the roles. Tinker with your organization structure and roles. Just because “Sally” has always been the bill collector doesn’t mean she has that job for life. Just because “Joe” is in charge of I.T. doesn’t mean he’s right for the job today. Inject some young people and new grads. I hate to tell you but youth and naïveté may actually lead to more creative thinking some times. Hopefully if you do these things you’ll be energized yourself and maybe you’ll be more inclined to come up with some new ideas. Your next challenge will be implementation. Ideas by themselves are worthless without action. But more on that another time! MARK ZWEIG is Zweig Group’s founder and CEO. Contact him at [email protected]. BUSINESS NEWS U.S. CONSTRUCTION STARTS FALL BELOW EXPECTATIONS IN Q3 U.S. construction starts came in slightly below expectations during the third quarter, with stronger activity in the civil engineering sector being more than offset by weaker growth in the residential and non-residential segments. Residential starts continued to post a healthy pace of annual growth, and the apparent weakness in the non-residential segment may be overstated because of upward revisions in historical >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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