Here are my latest tips and tricks for improved AEC firm performance. See something that resonates? Make it happen at your firm! In so many cases, the difference between high performance and the rest of the crowd is simply a bias for doing and executing on good ideas...quickly!
See something here you want more info on or maybe even a tip that you just completely disagree with, let me know!
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: Stop chasing work and start building trust.
Most firms enter the project-pursuit game too late... at the RFP stage. By then, the winner is often already informally decided. Instead, build relationships before opportunities surface, understand client capital plans, pressures, and timelines early, and make “Why are we just hearing about this now?” a question your competitors get instead of you. Get more backlog-boosting tips in PSMJ's Simplified AEC Business Development Workshop
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT: "Garbage in, garbage out” may be your biggest financial risk.
Data integrity is the foundation of all financial reporting. If timesheets, expenses, or project coding are sloppy, every KPI becomes unreliable. Tighten timesheet discipline, project coding accuracy, and expense tracking rigor if you want numbers that you can really build strategy around.
TALENT OPTIMIZATION: If you don't develop junior staff now, you won't have senior staff later.
Your firm's Senior PMs, Principals, and firm leaders are not just “hired,” They are grown through years of development. If your rising stars today aren’t running small projects, exposed to clients, or learning financial metrics, then you'll feel the pain later through overpaying for lateral hires or promoting underprepared people. Learn more about building a high-performance team at PSMJ's AEC TalentMAX conference coming to Austin, TX on May 27-29, 2026. PSMJ's AEC TalentMAX conference coming to Austin, TX on May 27-29, 2026.
STRATEGY AND GROWTH: Overhead functions should serve the firm, not become it.
As firms grow over time, there is a risk that support and overhead functions can quietly consume overhead and gain influence without accountability. Any investment in overhead should have a clear pathway to ROI in the form of making money, saving money, or keeping the firm out of trouble. Regularly audit overhead roles. If they don’t directly contribute to one of these objectives, they’re diluting margins.
LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT: Knowing project management and teaching project management are two very different skills.
Thinking about using your top Project Managers to teach project management in the firm? It seems logical on the surface, but stop right there. A strong Project Manager knows how to deliver projects. A strong project management teacher has the ability to deconstruct that expertise into clear frameworks, repeatable processes, and digestible lessons. What feels intuitive to an experienced PM is often invisible to a junior one. Select instructors for their ability to teach, invest in curriculum design and delivery capability, and measure training outcomes with the same rigor as project KPIs.
PSMJ's AEC Project Management Bootcamp is delivered by proven experts who get it. Our instructors have an average of 23.7 years of actual real-world experience managing AEC projects and AEC Project Managers AND they know exactly what it takes to get training to "stick."
This is content from the PSMJ Journal, exclusive to PSMJ PRO Members. PSMJ PRO is the fastest-growing network of AEC firm leaders. Not a PRO Member? Try a 50-day trial (no credit card required). You can request a trial here: https://bit.ly/50dayLI