Set Up Your AI Command Center for Engineering Efficiency
Most professionals I train start with AI tools the same way. They open the tool, type a quick question the way they’d type a search into Google, get a generic answer, and quietly decide the hype is overblown. I understand the reaction, however it’s almost always a setup problem rather than a tool problem. Across […]
Leading Through AEC Conflict Management and Negotiation
You’ve been there before. A scheduled crew is arriving late. The materials shipped to a job site are wrong. The client is requesting faster, better or different approaches after work has already begun. Or perhaps team members are getting frustrated with miscommunication. When you are a niche leader, a project manager or a principal, you […]
Future Focused Municipal GIS Project Management for Real Results
Walk into any municipal public works office and ask what they need from their GIS program. You will rarely hear, “I need a better geodatabase schema.” What you will hear is: That distinction between the questions clients ask and the technology we use to answer them is the heart of good municipal GIS project management. […]
The Framework Behind Every Successful AEC Project: PMI’s Five Process Groups
Most project managers in AEC firms learn project management the hard way. They get handed a job. They figure it out. Some do well. Some don’t. And the hope is that whatever lessons were learned last time somehow carry over to the next project. For a lot of engineers who become PMs, that’s just how […]
Project Planning and Prioritization: How to Get More Done Before the Work Starts
Some of my earliest lessons in project planning and prioritization didn’t come from engineering school or a project management course. They came from working for my dad. My dad was an electrician, and by the time I was six or seven years old, my summers were already spoken for. I spent them wiring houses and […]
The Mentorship Loop: How Engineering Mentorship Builds Future Leaders
I still remember the exact moment I stopped being just an engineer and started becoming a leader. It wasn’t during a performance review or a management training seminar. It was standing in a workshop, watching a student’s third attempt at soldering a circuit board finally work, and realizing my heart was racing faster than hers. […]
Business Leadership Lessons from The West Wing: The TV series, NOT the Office
As a longtime fan of the TV Series “The West Wing,” I often go back and watch reruns of it when they appear on one streaming service or another. Recently, the series was being replayed from episode one, and I figured, “What better way to endure the 8-degree weather currently plaguing Pennsylvania?” As I watched […]
From Field Data to Strategic Planning: How Aerial Analytics Helps Engineering Managers Make Smarter Decisions
Introduction A couple of years ago, in Houston, an inspection of an entire roof perfectly exemplified why aerial analytics for engineers is such a potent tool in the AEC industry. The task was to check a large business premises following a significant storm. Conventionally, this would have implied ladders, safety belts, and days of hand […]
5 Steps for Strategic Goal Setting That Supports Career Balance
Balancing career growth with life outside of work isn’t just a challenge, it’s an ongoing experiment. As a father of five, I like to say having a kid is like treading water. You get good at it, then someone tosses you a baby! Suddenly, you’re learning how to swim all over again while holding a […]
Closing Project Management Skill Gaps for Faster Delivery
In the AEC industry, project management skill gaps and people skills deficiencies are a significant driver of operational delays, as project success depends on effective communication, coordination, and control across complex, multi-stakeholder environments. Weak leadership, stakeholder communication, and conflict resolution slow decision-making, increase misunderstandings between designers, contractors, and clients, and delay issue resolution on site. […]