PSMJ Podcasts Presents

This is great opportunity to learn how A/E’s top firms earn profits of more than 40 percent. The author of “Maximizing Engineering Firm Profits—Profit Fundamentals” takes audience questions about 2019’s secrets to achieving profitability that is better than 90 percent of firms. Brian invites you to ask about ways to improve operating efficiencies, how to make existing work more profitable, what is SUM metrics, and more. Join us as Brian talks candidly and open your mind to grasp ways to grow revenue and profits. About Your Presenter: Brian Flynn, P.E., BCEE has spent more than 40 years in the engineering and environmental industry. He was one of the founding partners of global environmental consulting firm ERM Group and the President of ERM-Southwest in Houston, TX. As a management consultant, Brian is frequently sought out by A/E firm leaders to improve their profitability, facilitate mergers and acquisitions, and lead project and financial management training programs.

Over the past three decades A/E firms have faced tremendous changes in the make-up of their workforces, the structure of their workplaces, the markets they serve, and the technology they use. And the tempo for change is accelerating. Over the past 10 years alone, we have seen a great recession packed with long hours for surviving staff, followed by a great boom producing more work than people. At the same time, progress has erased many traditional forms of practice and staff are more proactive and informed than ever before. Join Peter Atherton, P.E., author of Reversing Burnout, How to Immediately Engage Top Talent and Grow! A Blueprint for Professionals and Business Owners, for this 60-minute podcast and learn: - If the rumors of widespread burnout and disengagement are true - How our ability to recruit and retain top talent and profit as an organization are affected by staff and leaders who are not fully or properly engaged - The key takeaways that leaders and leadership teams need to know to successfully navigate the change and inspire greater long-term commitment and growth - When to step in and take action to prevent and reverse burnout while increasing both engagement and performance in you and your firm About Your Presenter: Peter Atherton, P.E., is an A/E industry insider having spent more than 24 years as a successful professional, principal, major owner, and member of the board of directors for a high-achieving engineering consulting firm. Pete is now the President and Founder of ActionsProve, LLC (www.actionsprove.com), author and creator of the I.M.P.A.C.T. process. Pete works with A/E firms to grow and advance their success through strategic planning implementation, executive coaching, performance-based employee engagement, and corporate impact design.

U.S. and Canadian GDP has been growing steadily since the recession. But is the recovery running out of steam. What will that mean for North American A/E firms? Since 2003, PSMJ has asked A/E firm leaders every three months about their outlook and proposal activity in over 50 A/E markets and submarkets. Join your colleagues and PSMJ’s Dave Burstein for this 60-minute live podcast and learn: - More about what PSMJ’s most recent Quarterly Market Forecast tells us about proposal activity and backlog trends in various sectors and geographic regions in North America. - Is business remaining brisk or are there pockets of weakness beginning to appear? - Why the housing market is the best early indicator of what will happen in most other A/E market sectors. - How to be part of the PSMJ’s Quarterly Market Forecast. About the Presenter: Dave Burstein, P.E. AECPM, is a Director and Senior Consultant with PSMJ. He provides consulting and training on a wide range of management and leadership topics. Prior to joining PSMJ, Dave worked for 26 years at Parsons Corporation, one of the world’s largest and most respected engineering-construction firms. During his tenure at Parsons, Dave held a variety of positions including President of Parsons’ 1,600-person, environmental subsidiary and President of Parsons’ 120-person, planning subsidiary.

This is unique opportunity to learn more about what the future holds for A/E and ask the author of IMPACT 2030—Disruptions in The Design Industry for The Next 10 Years what he thinks is in store for design firms over the next decade. About Your Presenter: In addition to being the Founder and CEO of PSMJ Resources, Inc., Frank Stasiowski is an advisor to CEOs and other leaders at many of the world’s top architecture and engineering firms. Additionally, he actively serves as an outside director for architectural and engineering firms around the globe, and Frank’s experience includes serving as a director for a publicly-traded, 4,000-person engineering firm. Frank helps his clients by challenging them to excel and to think differently about their constraints and obstacles. He sees his role as one of guiding firm leaders through a perspective that may not come naturally to them. He views success ultimately as clients not simply following his recommendation, but rather making their own decisions guided by his insight. Frank brings a special understanding and sensitivity to the issues facing design firm executives shaped by more than 40 years he has dedicated to helping design firms succeed. He is a licensed architect with degrees from the RI School of Design and a master’s degree in business administration from Bryant University with honors.

Size doesn’t matter. And for many A/E/C firms, there are much better options than the Big Dogs. When laying the foundation for an external firm sale, it’s tempting to focus only on the biggest fish, or the firms with the deepest pockets. But that’s a mistake. In this candid discussion with a seasoned M&A consultant serving both buyers and sellers in A/E/C firm transactions, you’ll learn how to discard common myths that limit your options and unnecessarily extend the search process. And how to make more confident decisions about when and with whom you’ll walk down the aisle. You’ll get proven strategies – based on actual transactions and negotiations – for: - Appealing to non-traditional buyers, such as mid-level partners, similar-sized firms, and private equity firms building a platform company - Making smart decisions based on the very latest data – not on the myths that lead to poor M&A outcomes. - Determining at the very beginning of negotiations if cultural differences will doom the sale of your firm, using a handy assessment tool - Sidestepping the common blunders that derail early-stage acquisition discussions - Achieving alignment when not every equity partner is on board with the proposed suitor and discussions are stalled. Plus, you’ll gain valuable insights into the current M&A landscape, including what’s hot (markets, specialties, and services), why the size of a potential buyer no longer has a bearing on whether or not the transaction will close, and how to create a “persona” of your ideal buyer. About the Speaker: Dion Kenney is a senior consultant in PSMJ’s mergers and acquisitions, valuation, and ownership transition practices. His approach is defined by recognizing the value of an organization aside from calculating its physical assets and multiples of revenues/profitability metrics.

How do you grow your firm beyond repeat business and referrals? Today you need smart, effective marketing and a culture of business development success to attract a steady stream of clients and grow in an increasingly competitive world. Join your colleagues and professional services marketing guru Mike Schultz, author of Professional Services Marketing—How the Best Firms Build Premier Brands, Thriving Lead Generation Engines, and Cultures of Business Development Success for this 60-minute live podcast and learn the basics of a research-based marketing and sales approach. Mike reveals marketing strategies and tactics already used by thriving, high-growth firms. He’ll discuss–using practical steps and examples—how firm leadership can move from lackluster efforts to brilliant performance. You’ll learn: - The basics of a A/E marketing strategy - Mining data to create goals and milestones - How to take a disciplined approach to better sales - The best way to create a strong, steady flow of new clients About the Presenter: Mike Schultz is a bestselling author of Professional Services Marketing, Rainmaking Conversations and Insight Selling, Director of the RAIN Group Center for Sales Research, and President of RAIN Group, a global sales training and performance improvement company. He and RAIN Group have helped hundreds of thousands of salespeople, managers, and professionals in more than 73 countries transform their sales results and unleash their sales potential.

Last year’s top Circle of Excellence firms enjoyed profits of more than 40 percent. The worse performers stumble by with less than five. So what separates the stellar from the cellar? Tune into PSMJ performance improvement guru Brian Flynn, P.E., BCEE, author of Maximizing Engineering Firm Profits—Profit Fundamentals for this 60-minute podcast and learn 2019’s secrets to achieving profitability that is better than 90 percent of firms. Brian will reveal how to use the SUM (salary-to-expense, utilization, multiplier) metrics as a comprehensive management tool, price work competitively, and grow revenue and profit. He’ll discuss–using practical steps and examples—how firm leadership can move from lackluster profits to brilliant performance. You’ll learn: - Ways to improve operating efficiencies - Why you don’t have to accept paltry profits - How to take a disciplined approach to better performance - The best way to make existing work profitable About The Speaker: Brian Flynn, P.E., BCEE has spent more than 40 years in the engineering and environmental industry. He was one of the founding partners of global environmental consulting firm ERM Group and the President of ERM-Southwest in Houston, TX. As a management consultant, Brian is frequently sought out by A/E firm leaders to improve their profitability, facilitate mergers and acquisitions, and lead project and financial management training programs.

In a world where the POTUS and Mega Millions jackpots are larger than life and equally unpredictable, being able to forecast the immediate future seems outrageous. So sitting down to predict how the A/E industry and the professionals in it will grow and change over the next decade? Tougher still — but crucial. Listen as PSMJ Founder and CEO Frank A. Stasiowski, FAIA, author of IMPACT 2030—Disruptions in The Design Industry for The Next 10 Years, examines where the A/E/C industry is headed and details changes to a design profession where … - Clients visit buildings not yet constructed - Mistake-free designs reduces liability to zero - Structures collapse and are thrown away—on purpose - And more… Frank explains how demographics, globalization, government expansion, and dramatic technological changes will benefit firms that plan — or seriously challenge firms that fail to map out their futures. You learn how in the A/E/C industry of the future: - Client relationships with their buildings will begin with the RFP - Integrated project delivery will include project and data management - New disciplines like coast engineering and other climate-integrated specialties will emerge as essential - Teams of professionals talk via blockchain - And so much more Frank made bold predictions in the ‘80s, ‘90s, and ‘00s. Nearly all have come true. Stretching the mind to grasp your inevitable future is a scary proposition, but holding onto the past results in certain failure. About Frank: In addition to founding and leading PSMJ Resources, the leading global provider of practice management and performance improvement information for the A/E/C industry, Frank Stasiowski is an adviser to CEOs and other leaders at many of the world’s top architecture and engineering firms. He actively serves as a director for A/E organizations around the globe, including a publicly-traded, 4,000-person engineering firm. Frank helps his clients by challenging them to excel and to think differently about their constraints and obstacles.

No matter how much success a firm has achieved there is always some process that it can improve, deliverables people can make better, and enhance services to clients to make them more in line with their needs and desires. Charles Nelson, LFRAIA, AIA, AECPM, author of Managing Quality in Architecture, Second Edition. Integrating BIM, Risk, & Design Process offers firm leaders practical reasons to embrace quality management as a way to managing frustrating situations: - Services treated increasingly as a price-based commodity - Rework and scope creep not measured and impacting the bottom line - Providing great services and not winning more work In this one-hour podcast, Nelson offers–through lessons learned, pet peeves, case studies, and more—the straight forward answers to the questions that leaders in professional services firms ask regarding quality: - Why adopt a more rigorous, consistent, and open methodology to manage project quality - How to use risk analysis to improve market position and competitive advantage - When to build a new and better focus on clients—moving toward improved client communication About the Presenter: With more than 50 years of A/E industry experience, Charles Nelson has become a go-to expert on a wide range of management matters for A/E firm leaders. He leads PSMJ’s consulting and training in the Australia/New Zealand market. Charles’s hands-on experience includes a decade as the owner/manager of a Boston-based design/build firm. Using this hands-on experience, Charles has provided Project, Design, Quality, and Risk Management training since 1989. He has facilitated more than 300 workshops across three continents including programs at 10 American Institute of Architects national conventions. Charles has a bachelor’s degree in architecture and psychology, and studied Land Use Law & Legislation and Law of Construction Contracts at Harvard University.

There are very few places where young professionals can go today to find out what it takes to hit the ground running and succeed within a large consulting firm. It’s difficult to learn the ropes while you are executing tasks and meeting deadlines. Larry Cahill, author of “Can I Borrow Your Watch? A Beginner’s Guide to Succeeding in a Professional Consulting Organization”, offers young millennial engineers and scientists practical, how-tos covering how our business works and ways to navigate typical on-the-job challenges: - How do I “do” sales if I need to be 100% billable? - Run a project? Where do you learn to do that? - Why do I have to worry about financing, our firm is making money? In this one-hour podcast, Cahill offers–through lessons learned, pet peeves, case studies, and more—the straight forward answers to the questions that young engineers and other consultants in professional services firms ask. Young professionals and the leaders who must guide them will learn: - How billability is king and client sales is queen. Cahill talks how to navigate utilization targets and still exceed sales goals. - Project management survival. Cahill offers how to get work done, be profitable, and successfully reach the end where clients tell you how happy they are with the outcome delivered. - Realistic career expectation. “Sell the work, do the work, repeat the process”—Cahill covers fundamentals anyone can use to succeed. - Where consultants stumble when it comes to financial management—managing billing, collection, and more. About the Presenter: Larry Cahill, CPEA, has over 40 years of professional consulting experience including working with Booz, Allen & Hamilton and Exxon Research and Engineering. His roles have included junior consultant, project manager, technical director, managing principal, vice president, and chief operating officer. Cahill has authored several books and has written over 80 journal publications.