Full Description

• Get advice on building your small firm’s strategic business plan
• Learn to improve your leadership qualities and the way you manage your people
• Hear strategies for creating a marketing program and getting the most bang for your buck
• Get tips on how to improve your finance and accounting practices
• Learn how to build and implement realistic firm budgets that fit your firm’s business
• Learn how to better manage your information technology resources
• Hear how to improve your project and client management skills
• Get advice on planning the future of your small A/E firm

With so many demands on your time and constant pressure to keep things running, it’s tough to do it all well. That’s why you need the A/E Small Firm Fitness Plan— the management guidebook written specifically for busy leaders of architecture, engineering, and environmental firms with fewer than 50 employees.

There are hundreds of books on management out there, but this is the only one designed for the unique challenges that small A/E and environmental consulting firms face. A/E Small Firm Fitness Plan combines all the knowledge of ZweigWhite’s expert management consultants in a single volume. Our consultants have helped hundreds of design firms just like yours, and now all their best ideas, tips, and warnings are available in clear, simple action plans that you can put to work in your own firm.

A/E Small Firm Fitness Plan starts with a complete assessment of where your firm’s management practices stand right now so that you can pinpoint your problem spots. You’ll be able to identify what’s working and what’s not. After completing the assessment, you can use the guide to get specific step-by-step action plans to fix what’s not working. And, in each chapter of A/E Small Firm Fitness Plan, you’ll get checklists, worksheets, and interactive testing that will help you implement these plans in your firm. The guide also includes a check-up so that you can monitor your firm’s progress in meeting your management challenges.

Improve your firm's performance, productivity, and profitability without spending the time and money required for generic management courses. It’s all here! All the management information you need in one place, and at one low, affordable price. Start the plan today and see real changes!

Contents

Foreword

Chapter 1: What is Your Current Small Firm Fitness?

• Building a strategic business plan
• Organizing strategic planning retreats

• Leading employees to a higher level
• Developing future leaders
• Becoming a thought leader

• Improving recruiting
• Improving hiring results
• Retaining good employees

• Developing your marketing strategy
• Marketing with direct mail and public relations

• Producing better proposals
• Delivering effective presentations

• Improving billing
• Improving collections
• Controlling costs
• Cutting labor costs
• Improving internal financial reporting
• Managing and reducing debt
• Enhancing your banking relationships

Chapter 8: Building an Annual Firm Budget

Chapter 9: Managing Information Technology

• Improving project initiation
• Managing project scope
• Managing the project schedule
• Managing project budgets
• Building accurate project budgets
• Making small projects profitable
• Improving project quality
• Improving project close-out

• Improving negotiation skills
• Managing the negotiation process
• Improving your contracts

Chapter 12: Improving Risk Management

• Improving leadership succession planning
• Improving ownership transition
• Implementing an ESOP
• Selling your firm

Chapter 14: Check-up: Reassessing Your Small Firm Fitness

Appendix A: The Complete A/E Small Firm Fitness Plan

Appendix B: Checklist: Strategic Business Planning Information

Appendix C: Questionnaire: Preparing Your Firm Vision Statement

Appendix D: Sample Strategic Business Plan

Appendix E: Sample Marketing Budget

Appendix F: Sample Marketing Plan

Appendix G: Sample Monthly Performance Report

Appendix H: Chapter Test Key

Appendix I: Additional Sources of Information