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CONFERENCE CALL, from page 7

management policies for your project teams? Is it differ- ent for different clients? GD: To manage our time more efficiently, we’ve been more proactive with upfront planning and preparation, standard- izing procedures, and delegation of resources. If everyone is on the same page, that allows us to share resources. TZL: Measuring the effectiveness of marketing is diffi- cult to do using hard metrics for ROI. How do you evalu- ate the success/failure of your firm’s marketing efforts when results could take months, or even years, to mate- rialize? Do you track any metrics to guide your market- ing plan? GD: Generally, yes. We track opportunity win/loss; gather statistics from digital marketing; determine cost of sales versus project cost with overhead numbers; and monitor hit rates on proposals. Our practice business plans have spe- cific, targeted growth and are tied to key metrics – staffing, geographies, etc. Our structure is so that operations manag- ers and practice leaders work together. It ties back to seller- doer versus traditional BD strategy. If we can better define marketing efforts, it will relate to overhead rates and grow business. TZL: The last few years have been good for the A/E indus- try. Is there a downturn in the forecast, and if so, when and to what severity? GD: We’ve seen a great deal of growth in the past few years, but I don’t see a real downturn – perhaps more of a leveling off. A lot of our personal growth can be attributed to recov- ery efforts in the New Jersey region due to storms such as Irene and Sandy. Sustainability/resiliency are still high on the priority list, but it’s plateauing. TZL: They say failure is a great teacher. What’s the big- gest lesson you’ve had to learn the hard way? GD: Go with your gut. Trust yourself when deciding on busi- ness partners or the direction of the company. Finding the right leadership for the company needs to align on many levels and the culture needs to align with strategic goals. TZL: While M&A is always an option, there’s something to be said about organic growth. What are your thoughts on why and how to grow a firm? GD: Our greatest success has been with strategic hires. For us, it’s the best market builder. We acquire an individual with a small team, provide assets to grow and they build the business. For example, in the Midwest region, we hired a lo- cal super star who brought in five people to start up our Co- lumbus, Ohio office. That office has now grown to more than 50 people with seven satellite offices. We have a healthy bal- ance of M&A and organic growth. TZL: What’s your prediction for 2018? GD: Modest growth in our core services and existing geog- raphies and improved performance over last year. We will continue to attract and retain key leadership talent, keep succession and transition in focus, and bring in high prior- ity succession planning.

services/clients. For example, energy services are both a new market for us and also a service we can offer to many existing clients. TZL: The list of responsibilities for project managers is seemingly endless. How do you keep your PMs from burning out? And if they crash, how do you get them back out on the road, so to speak? GD: The project manager is the most critical position – it determines success – and since projects are the lifeblood of our business, the job carries a lot of responsibility. To pre- vent burnout, growing into the role takes time and commit- ment and our Career Progression Paths help lead project managers down that chosen tract. Assembling the right team from the start and effective team collaboration is critical. From client management and op- portunity tracking to technical input and project closeouts, the project manager is only one person on the project team. Regular communication, a clear project work plan, project review meetings, early identification of risks and potential problems, and swift problem-solving and corrective action are essentials for every team. Project managers pull support from the operations managers, practice leaders as well as technical folks. “Go with your gut. Trust yourself when deciding on business partners or the direction of the company. Finding the right leadership for the company needs to align on many levels and the culture needs to align with strategic goals.” TZL: What is the role of entrepreneurship in your firm? GD: Entrepreneurship plays a key role. It’s evidenced in our growth over the past 50-plus years. In 1966, T&M employed seven people and served the municipal sector. Now, we have 350 employees who service a variety of clients. Our entre- preneurship/intrapreneurship got us there. Innovation is all around us. We need to do everything possible to keep the new ideas, strategies, and technologies flowing. Our dis- tribution of profits is designed to reward those innovators who have contributed toward our success. TZL: In the next couple of years, what A/E segments will heat up, and which ones will cool down? GD: Hot segments are urban redevelopment, infrastruc- ture (water, sewer, transportation), and environmental. I don’t see any segment so much cooling as changing. There are segments that are cyclical or rely on funding opportuni- ties (e.g., real estate or transportation), and what allows us to weather these changes in demand is our adaptive ability. Our talent is diverse and their training has allowed them to morph to the changing landscape. TZL: With overhead rates declining over the last five years and utilization rates slowly climbing back up to pre-recession levels, how do you deal with time

THE ZWEIG LETTER May 7, 2018, ISSUE 1247

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