SESSION 1: MOVE FROM TACTICAL TO STRATEGIC THINKING
Adopt "Big Picture " Traits Shared by the Most Successful A/E/C Principals

 

What You Learn:

What You Get:

• Adopting "Big Picture" vision used by the most successful A/E/C Principals
• What’s the best strategy for your niche services,  your commodity services, or if you provide both?
• 7 hurdles you must overcome to achieve sustainable growth.
• Why rapid growth can put a huge cash demand onto your firm.
• The 3 dimensions of A/E/C markets.
• Pros and cons of expanding into new markets.
• How to prioritize, plan and monitor strategic expansions.
• Why most A/E firms’ strategic plans are a total waste of time 
• How the most successful A/E firms do strategic planning.
• Developing an action-oriented strategic plan that doesn’t just gather dust.

• Business Plan Template: A simple but effective annual business plan that you can complete in less than 2 hours
• New Hire Cash Flow Template:  How to estimate the cash flow impact of hiring new talent
• PSMJ’s best-selling research report: “Best Practices for Strategic Planning in A/E Firms,” (a $297 value)
• PSMJ’s checklist for successful strategic planning (including preparation, the retreat, and follow-up)

SESSION 2: BACKLOG BOOSTING MARKETING AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT TACTICS OF THE BEST PRINCIPALS
Post-COVID Strategies for Landing New Projects 

What You Learn:

What You Get:

How to get up-to-date market research on 55 different A/E/C markets…for free.
• Which markets offer high profitability? Which markets tend to have low profitability?
• How to get written, independent feedback from 100 of your most important clients for under $2,500.
• How to pre-qualify good clients and cull out the bad ones.
• How to deal gracefully with clients who aren’t up to your standards
• How to submit fewer proposals and get more work.
• How to turn your current clients into marketers who will help you get new clients.
• Cross-selling and up-selling to your best clients.

• PSMJ’s 3-D model of the A/E marketplace
• Video: Why client feedback is essential – especially when it’s negative
• PSMJ’s most recent “Quarterly Market Forecast” on the 55 largest A/E market sectors (a $297 value)
• Video: What kinds of clients are NOT worthy of your marketing/proposal investments
• The latest PSMJ survey data on the relative profitability of various A/E markets
• Spreadsheet  template to define which clients are “Strategic,” which are “Quality” and which are “Base”
• PSMJ’s proprietary Go/No Go app for deciding which projects to pursue and increase the odds of winning those you do pursue

SESSION 3: DESIGNING A STRUCTURE FOR YOUR SUCCESS
Rethink Your Firm's Org  Chart  and Put the Right People in the Right Roles

 

What You Learn:

What You Get:

The 5 most common organizational structures in A/E firms
• What is a “market-based organizational structure” and why is it important to your firm?
• What is the best organizational structure for your firm?
• How to move to a new organizational structure without drama and trauma
• How to get your offices to work together as a single company.
• Why profit centers are passé, and what’s a better way to organize.
• How to get real value from your Board of Directors.
13 project management tactics employed by the most successful A/E firms 
• How to evaluate the performance of your PMs in an objective and constructive way
• 4 steps to turn your PMs into superstars
• Why the Estimate-to-Complete method for controlling budgets won’t work for many PMs
• 5 ways to effectively control scope creep
• How to stay on top of your PMs’ projects without micromanaging them
• Assuring that you have enough PMs for your current and future workload

• Organizational report card calculator
• Org Options Pros & Cons Analysis Tool
• The best position descriptions we’ve seen for CEO and COO
• Format for an effective Authority Matrix
• Tool for objectively determining the level of cooperation for each business unit
• Survey: Which of the 13 most important project management tactics do your PMs do?
• Diagram: The best (and simplest) method we’ve ever seen for evaluating PM performance
• 1-year license for PlanTrax, PSMJ’s easy-to-use Excel-based method of controlling budgets and schedules (a $297 value)
• Checklist: The 10 things you must know about your PMs’ projects
• Checklist: Ground rules for conducting effective project review
• Excel Spreadsheet: How many PMs does your firm need?

SESSION 4: FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SECRETS FOR CRUSHING YOUR PROFIT GOALS 

What You Learn:

What You Get:

• Why A/E is the least profitable professional services industry -- and how to change that
• A simple model that shows how the money moves through your A/E firm
• Why obsessing about chargeability won’t lead you to higher profits.
• The 2 factors that combine to drive your firm’s profitability.
• How some A/E firms use their Intellectual Property to consistently achieve a Direct Labor Multiplier of over 5.0
• Why your Intellectual Property is way more valuable to your clients than the hours charged by your people
• Case studies of how other A/E firms use “Value Pricing”; and how you can use it to boost your firm’s profitability
• How to set the optimum price for each of your major markets
• 9 ways to increase your pricing (and get away with it)
• What is “Net Revenue Deficit” and why is it so important to achieving high profitability
• How your firm’s financial performance compares with similar firms and top performing firms
• PSMJ’s latest data on the 3 factors that drive profitability
• Worksheet to identify your firm’s Intellectual Property and develop a strategy to take advantage of it
• PSMJ’s latest pricing data for the 9 largest A/E markets
• Excel template: PSMJ’s pricing model to optimize your profits in each major market that you serve
• Spreadsheet: How your firm stacks up on the 13 most important financial metrics

SESSION 5: MAXIMIZING THE VALUE AND PRODUCTIVITY OF YOUR TEAMS:

Hang onto Top Performers, Develop Them to Their Full Capabilities, and Recruit More Like Them 

What You Learn:

What You Get:

How the top performing A/E firms balance workload and resources
• Why employee turnover is increasing – and how you can buck this trend.
• Smart compensation strategies for not overpaying or underpaying your professional staff
• Why you should NOT adjust salaries based on cost of living in different locations (and how to use the “Wage Index” instead
• The 4 factors that affect how management positions from PM to CEO should be compensated
• How to employ flexible working arrangements to attract new talent, hang onto your current staff and cut overhead costs
• Developing a bonus program that works for your firm
• H.R. policies of the most profitable A/E firms
• Recruiting the best and brightest new grads.
• Recruiting Millennials that will fit into your firm’s culture.
• How to find mid-level and senior-level professionals
• How to recruit great talent in a virtual hiring environment
• How to make sure candidates accept your job offers
•  PSMJ’s model for managing utilization proactively (instead of reactively)
• PSMJ’s most recent data on employee turnover in the A/E industry
• The most recent data available on the effects of the Covid-19 crisis on employment and wages in the A/E industry
• Where to find the latest “wage index” data from the U.S. Department of Labor and Statistics Canada
• PSMJ’s latest data that allows you to benchmark the effectiveness of your firm’s bonus program
• PSMJ’s latest data comparing H.R. policies of the most profitable vs. least profitable A/E firms
• Video: the difference between a “reward bonus program” vs. an “incentive bonus program”
• Video: How Burns & McDonnell (a perennial “Fortune 100 Best Places to Work” award winner) successfully recruits Millennials

SESSION 6: OWNERSHIP & LEADERSHIP TRANSITION

Preparing For, and Managing Through, Inevitable Change

What You Learn:

What You Get:

• Why so many ownership transitions fail and why others succeed
• What to do when an employee says, “I want become an owner”
• Why ownership is different from leadership
• The 3 parties to every ownership transition – and which one must always take priority
• The built-in conflicts of interest between current owners and new owners – and how to overcome them
• 3 keys to successful first-generation ownership transitions.
• Why your valuation model must sync with your strategic growth goals
• Firm valuation strategies that stand up to scrutiny
• PSMJ’s proven 6-step ownership transition process that works for both buyers and sellers.
• How to use Share Appreciation Rights to start making younger employees feel like owners
• The 3 magic words that will make rising stars eager to buy stock in your firm.
• What are the best ways to finance your ownership transition?
• Identifying the 3 most important things you learned in this program
• What to do about your ideas for firm-wide improvement
• Recognizing – and overcoming – the 3 major barriers to achieving organizational change

• Template for producing the worst ownership prospectus we’ve ever seen (i.e., how NOT to do it)
• Sample of a Share Appreciation Rights agreement
• Checklist of 73 terms you must consider in your buy-sell agreement
• Top 3 Ideas Financial Improvement Impact Calculator 
• Online Master Class ROI Calculator
• 1-hour consultation with one of PSMJ’s instructors (a $500 value)

PLUS INTERACTIVE AND ENGAGING OFFLINE ACTIVITIES!

In addition to 12 hours of LIVE training in manageable 2 hour sessions, you have the option of adding offline activities that help you apply everything you've learned. Far from theoretical, "pie-in-the-sky" busy work, these are real-world tools that show you how your Master Class' most valuable formulas, processes, and proven strategies all fit together to craft the perfect strategic plan. Your Online Master Class instructors are always there to help you complete them, too.

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