With all of the architecture and engineering industry-related content published on this blog in August, 2019, it's easy to let some important articles slip through the cracks, and get lost in the clutter. In an effort to keep you up-to-date on the hottest topics, PSMJ has compiled a list of our top ten most-viewed blog posts from last month.
10. Latest A/E/C Mergers and Acquisitions Making Headlines – Here’s a recap of some of the latest A/E/C mergers and acquisitions that have been announced in recent weeks.
9. 20 Ways to Overcome Project Problems – No matter how carefully you plan your project and protect yourself against the possibilities of trouble, problems will arise. You will fall behind schedule, or you will run over budget.
8. PSMJ Resources Announces the Top-Performing Architecture and Engineering Firms for 2019 – PSMJ Resources, Inc. has announced the members of the 2019 Circle of Excellence. Seventy-two exceptional architecture and engineering firms made it onto the exclusive list this year.
7. Ten Characteristics of A Good Schedule – Is it really critical that an architecture or engineering project manager have a project schedule? Most clients and design firms will probably answer the question with “You must be kidding! Of course, you need a schedule, and a good one at that.
6. Are Write Ups on Lumps Sum Projects Really Ethical?– If you follow PSMJ, you know that we’re passionate proponents of pricing services based on value delivered, and not on the cost of delivery, and we always advise A/E/C firm leaders to look more to fixed fee, lump sum pricing opportunities and less to selling hours. Inevitably this leads to a question of fairness concerning write-ups. The project is done, we’re below budget, and there’s a windfall of extra fee. Is this OK … is it ethical?
5. Managing Overhead: Utilization versus Chargeability– Utilization—hours or payroll dollars—which one tells the story when it comes to managing labor-based overhead (time spent on non-project related activities)? A primary approach used by managers to monitor chargeability is reviewing time sheets or time reports for time put to projects. But what if you don’t look at time sheets but you do review the income statements for the firm, the business unit or the team—can you monitor chargeability as well using information on the income statement?
4. Rethink: Is Utilization the Best Way to Profitability?– Utilization is a matter of simple math for professional services firms—billable hours equal revenue earned. It’s also one of the most commonly and closely tracked metrics used to gauge financial performance in the design industry, and can be a borderline obsession for some architecture and engineering firm leaders.
3. Five Common Mistakes of Small Firm Sellers – The A/E space is a highly fragmented industry and, as a result, it is composed of a great number of small firms with fewer than ten or fifteen employees. Many of these firms grew from a one-person operation to the profitable and successful operations that they are today.
2. Intellectual Property Rights: What Architects Need to Know – Architectural ideas are intellectual property just as much as a novel is the intellectual property of its author. In fact, one of Congress’s most important responsibilities is “to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries,” as stated in Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution.
1. 10 Ways Your Firm Can Benefit from a Strategic Alliance– Forming a strategic alliance isn’t a walk in the park, but when it’s planned correctly and the parties commit the right level of leadership and resources, you can win work that was previously out of reach.
Thank you contributing to the growth of the PSMJ A/E/C Pulse blog in August 2019! For an archived list of our past blog posts, click HERE. We look forward to continuing to bring you powerful tips and top news from the A/E/C industry.
Thank you for reading!
Now its your turn: We invite you to submit a blog post on any hot topic related to the A/E/C industry.
