Change Management

6 Steps to Find the Lost Dollars in Your A&E Firm

In my book Find the Lost Dollars: 6 Steps to Increase Profits in Architecture, Engineering, and Environmental Firms, I conclude with a final chapter that outlines the six steps that can guide you towards increasing your firm’s profitability. This article will summarize that chapter, as well as give you some success principles for ensuring that desired changes and improvements do not lose their momentum and die before being implemented. Change is inevitable and necessary in all businesses. If you are not able to adapt to changes in the economy, marketing, technology, and availability of human resources, you will find your profits dwindling, and your ability to retain your most talented employees diminished. So then why do 70% or more of most change initiatives fail? I argue that the foremost reason that A&E firms fail to grow and improve business operations is lack of a detailed strategy and plan to improve. This article will summarize the six steps that can help you start to identify and implement business improvement initiatives to help you find and recover the lost dollars in your business. 1. Calculate your metrics … Continued

Top Ten Reasons Change Initiatives Fail

    Over and over again I have seen major change initiatives fail. In fact, studies show that over 70% of most internal initiatives fail to meet stakeholder expectations. Whether it is implementing a new system, a merger or acquisition, business process improvement, opening a new office or pursuing a new direction, these major internal projects meant to help the company grow, improve, and thrive are derailed due to issues that could have been planned for, but weren’t. The cost of these failed initiatives, beyond the obvious inability of the business to grow and flourish, is hard dollars and time invested and lost. Hard costs include outright purchases of software, products, travel and outside services. There is also investment of time of employees and leadership wasted or misused. But there are also many “soft” costs such as lost confidence in leadership, missed opportunities or loss of competitive advantage. These costs can ultimately far exceed the tangible measurable expenses. In working with clients through the six steps to increase profitability outlined in my blog and detailed in my book, Find the Lost Dollars: 6 Steps to … Continued

10 Ways to Prosper in the Uncertainty of 2017

Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future. – John F. Kennedy If there is one thing we all know about 2017 it’s that we have no idea what is going to happen. This will be a year of change and possibly, more surprises. Many of us will be nervous and even fearful of making decisions and investing in growing our businesses as the uncertainty of what lies ahead can be paralyzing. My whole career has been based on helping A&E firms implement change, deal with resistance and determine next steps when uncertainty exists. In fact, I would argue that this is what architecture and engineering are all about – progress, innovation and change. Yet when faced with figuring out how the new world order will impact our companies, many executives play it safe. But is “playing it safe” really safe? The firms that are embracing the new technology focused environment we live in may have an advantage. While the cost can be high, getting ahead of the curve can be … Continued

10 Tips to Survive the Next Recession

Another recession is coming. It is inevitable. Based on past history, it should be next year. But these things are hard to predict, so all I will commit to at this point is that another dip is coming. And we don’t know how bad it will be. What I do know for sure is that a lot of our clients are not thinking about it too much right now. The Architecture and Engineering industry is doing very well. Our clients are growing and hiring and profitability is up for the first time in many years. But it feels like a bubble to me and that is why I am worried that our clients are not doing everything possible to prepare for the eventual downturn. So what can you do to prepare for the next recession? I believe there are at least 10 strategies that you can focus on that will make your company financially and operationally stronger, and enable you to survive possible tough economic times ahead – regardless of whether that is next year or five years from now. Enabling a number of these … Continued

Gannett Fleming Launches “Change is Good” to Spur Increased Growth

  I was fortunate to get the opportunity to sit down with Gannett Fleming President Bob Scaer to discuss the January 1st launch of their major reorganization which he has endearingly named “Change is Good.” As bad a connotation that change has in the A&E industry, Bob has managed to successfully pull off a major re-engineering of the firm’s reporting structure and process, and garnered buy-in at all levels of the organization. This was an 18-month effort that included a large number of Gannett employees, and largely driven by strategic initiatives to grow the firm over the next 10 years. It is easy to instantly get excited when talking with Bob about this huge initiative. Bob has been the major force behind “Change is Good,” and staked the future of the firm’s success on its adoption. His passion for successfully leading this enormous project is contagious – making what is obviously a very complex venture seem optimistically doable. This success would not have been possible without the total buy-in, commitment, and tireless hours by key leadership in the firm to help shape and drive this initiative. This massive reorganization involved realigning all of the … Continued

Hillmann Consulting Finds Lost Dollars with Innovative Business Management Training Program

“We are making Finding Lost Dollars part of our culture now. That’s the way we want it, that was the whole idea of choosing the Find the Lost Dollars training. We have systems in place. We have processes. We have happy clients and are more profitable.” – Michael Gerasimenko, Controller     Hillmann Consulting, LLC is a successful Environmental and Engineering consulting firm. After all, they have been in business since 1985 and have been recognized by Zweig Group as one of the fastest-growing firms in the industry for the past 3 years. Your Property. Our Priority is their mission. Their commitment to service is clear and has proven to be one of the major cornerstones of their success. They build long lasting relationships with their clients, offering them the peace of mind they need when environmental concerns arise or the unthinkable occurs. This dedication to their clients was part of their culture, yet certain business practices regarding keeping clients happy as well as some inefficient business practices came at a high price. They were not as profitable as they desired – like many other firms … Continued

The Elusive “Right” Conversations A&E Firms Frequently Miss Getting Right

Conversations fuel A&E firms’ success. Conversations are taking place all day long at A&E firms, yet 75% are the wrong conversations. Most conversations in your company are killing productivity, utilization rates and ultimately profits. Did you realize there are only four types of conversations you and your personnel can possibly engage? That’s absolutely true. Whether the conversations are between a team member and a prospective client, a team member and a current client, two staff members, a partner and a staff member, a manager and their direct report, there are still only four possible conversations. And, it’s vital you and your staff understand that three of those four conversations are the “wrong” conversation. By “wrong” I mean it is not a conversation that drives a desired outcome or brings to resolution an issue that needs resolving. The Four Conversations is a workplace communication model created in the midst of facilitating a workshop for a client in 2013. The four conversations are: The wrong conversation with the wrong person The wrong conversation with the right person The right conversation with the wrong person The right conversation … Continued

6 Keys to Building a Profitable Culture

Increased competition in the Architecture and Engineering (A&E) industry is driving down fees and making it feel like a buyer’s market. This is putting a squeeze on A&E firm profits, and forcing many firms to re-evaluate their strategy including how they go to market, what services they offer and how they can run more efficiently. I am seeing an evident trend for firms to look at their business management practices, and how they can increase project profit margins, with a strong emphasis on project management success. The old ways of doing business are being challenged, and along with it, the long established practices stemming from the firm’s entrenched culture. So what does it mean to build a profitable culture? I have developed the following definition which can require a radical shift in thinking and behavior, and could be a game changer for those organizations willing to take a critical look at all of the long-held beliefs and practices that work against the firm maximizing its profitability. While the business school definition of corporate culture is “Patterns of accepted behavior, and the beliefs and values that … Continued

Too Busy to Work ON Your Business?

Too Busy to Work ON Your Business? 3 Steps to Ensure Important Change is Happening   Many of you have probably read or heard of Michael Gerber’s best-seller The E-Myth which introduced the concept of working ON your business not in your business. This how-to guide for entrepreneurs popularized the recommendation that successful business owners need to focus on running and improving their business operations rather than doing the work themselves. This is a common problem in the A&E industry where most business owners are technicians and often love doing the work themselves more than managing their business. As I work with A&E firms to help them improve profitability, the number one challenge with firms achieving their goals is that they are not getting the important but non-urgent initiatives completed. These are the types of internal projects such as business process re-engineering, improving the use of systems, establishing new performance management / accountability processes, developing better project management practices and skillsets, and focusing on higher quality client engagement. While these initiatives have been deemed critical by the leadership and maybe even mandated by a board of directors, the execution of these projects often fail because the … Continued

Change is the New Status Quo

Change in life and business is inevitable, and harder for some business owners than others. But the pace of change is faster now more than ever, and those who are weak and unwilling to adapt run the risk of being left in the dust. While this might sound like a cliché, it is a concept worth embracing and considering. Ensuring that your organization is nimble and ready to meet new challenges and take advantage of sudden opportunities will ensure your survival, and possibly increase your chances for success. Most people look at change from the standpoint of being good or bad. From this viewpoint, it is possible to make poor decisions, and misalign your next steps. By realizing that it is necessary for the world we live in to constantly be in a state of adjustment, growth, and sometimes, shock, you can come to a different conclusion about your potential options, and discover an opportunity that you otherwise would miss. This requires a more open-minded approach to life, and a new paradigm in which to base your expectations. By expecting change, and running your business with … Continued