PROJECT MANAGEMENT: Save the carving for the turkey, not your profit margins.
Carving a turkey requires focus and precision, just like a project scope. Scope creep is a profit margin killer, and it often starts with poorly-defined scopes and letting the client “just take one more small slice”. Establish a clear scope “fence” with quantifiable tasks, defend your scope during the project, and bake escalation clause language into your contracts.
STRATEGIC PLANNING: Stop serving everything on the menu.
Thanksgiving dinner gets messy when you try to make 19 side dishes…and so does your firm. Take a close look at your service mix, just like your pantry, to understand: What creates the most value? What makes the meal come together? What’s just taking up fridge space? Toss the low-margin, distraction-heavy services that don’t serve an ancillary benefit and double down on committing resources to high-value services that drive growth.
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: Don’t let your backlog become mashed potatoes
Your firm’s backlog should be firm and structured, not mushy or inflated. Conduct a review of your latest backlog report to see what truly is “hard” contracted backlog. If there is a lot of “mush” taking up space in there, it might be time to revisit your forecasting assumptions, go/no-go criteria, and pipeline management. A tight backlog report supports better hiring, pricing, and cash flow decisions.
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT: Invite the right people to the table.
Thanksgiving tables work best when everyone contributes something valuable. So does your leadership table. Is everyone on your Board of Directors truly adding value to the firm in that capacity? Are you inviting future leaders into strategic executive conversations to see what they’ve got? It might be time to go out with the old and in with the new for 2026.
TALENT OPTIMIZATION: Give thanks loudly and often.
Only sticking to formal or one-on-one appreciation doesn’t cut it anymore. Praise publicly and criticize privately. Make gratitude a routine and public habit. Use all-hands meetings to recognize a “play of the week” and thank everyone involved. Genuine and authentic gratitude reduces turnover, boosts engagement, and strengthens the firm’s culture far more than occasional pizza or parties.
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