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Trends & Predictions for Professional Services Firms in 2022 (From a CEO)

January 17, 2022 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Leanna Michniuk from BigTime Software

Whether we can believe it or not, 2022 is here. What does this mean for people and firms in the professional services industry? If it’s anything like the past two years, we can expect … well, the unexpected.

Using what he’s learned and experienced firsthand throughout his career and leading a company through a pandemic, Brian Saunders, CEO of BigTime Software, sat down to share his predictions for the new year with one key theme in mind — preparation.

Keep on reading to get an inside look into what Brian foresees in the upcoming year and his advice for making it a successful one.

Why 90-Day Goals Are More Practical Than Annual Goals

January 10, 2022 By EMI

It’s that time of year. In January, you’ll typically find a lot of content being published about goal setting. Blog posts and podcasts urging you to set goals for the new year. Believe me, there is no bigger proponent of goal setting than myself. In fact, at EMI, we work with engineering companies to help them ensure their leaders are focused on the right goals. That being said, I have found that most professionals who set goals will spend less than one hour in late December or early January creating a list of goals for the year, only to file their list of goals away and rarely look at it again for the remainder of that calendar year.

Try Setting 90-Day Goals Too

If you are one of those professionals who set lofty goals on or about January 1st, but then get buried in your projects and neglect them, try setting shorter-term goals in addition to your larger goals. I recommend 90-day goals, also known as quarterly goals. At EMI, we have strategic initiatives from our strategic plan from which we reduce strategic actions, which get further reduced down to quarterly goals for each team member.

Let’s be honest: one year is a very long time, especially when you get dealt curveballs like a global pandemic. To think that your goal at the end of the year will still be the same as it was 365 days ago isn’t very realistic and doesn’t allow for flexibility.

Goal Setting: The Meaning of Failure and Success

January 3, 2022 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Gina Covarrubias

Why should we set goals — to obtain success, achievement, or happiness? And how are we supposed to manage failure when our goals fall short? In this post, you will discover newfound insights to help you answer these questions!

The 8 Best Leadership Books You Need to Read

December 27, 2021 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Emily Henry

In any industry, leadership is a real skill. That goes double for anyone in the engineering field. If you have recently moved to a management position, or have your eye on one in the future, you should check out these leadership books right now.
[Read more…] about The 8 Best Leadership Books You Need to Read

Leaders, Help Staff Understand You

December 20, 2021 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Pamela A. Scott

Here’s a data point that will NOT make your day if you are a leader in your firm.

“Seventy-four percent of employees feel they are missing out on company information and news.” It happens all the time.

Nadine, owner of a midsize professional services firm, describes her situation: “Every January, I give a state of the company address to the troops. The usual stuff: how we did last year, where we’re going this year, how excited/optimistic/cautious I am about the future, and so on. And for the next 12 months, every year, managers and staff ask me where we’re going, how we’re doing, etc.

“What am I doing wrong? I keep telling them what they want to know, but nobody seems to get it.”

No One Truly Gets It

Nadine’s story shows why communicating effectively is so tough. Consider the following.

Nobody — and I mean nobody — has the same perspective as the CEO. The CEO sees how myriad pieces come together.
Managers have been told what’s going on, but often they don’t effectively pass the information along to staffers. They are focused on taking care of their own operations.
The general staff know what they do — make calls, take care of projects, do good work. But they lose sight of the company’s strategic goals and plans.

What to Do So They Get It

Effective Strategies in a World of Remote Work

December 13, 2021 By EMI

This is a guest post by Jeff Perry, MBA

I’ve always been a pretty big fan of flexible work options and remote work. It’s been nice to have the ability to do it when I’ve been sick, traveling, or taking care of other business. While not possible for all job roles, remote work can have a lot of benefits.

With the coronavirus and its many effects on the working world, we will need to adapt to increased and accelerated remote work. Some people love it, others don’t.

No matter your personal feelings, embracing the advantages of remote work and learning how to effectively communicate in remote settings will become increasingly important for career success.

Benefits of Going Remote

How to Succeed with Your Strategic Plans and Initiatives

December 9, 2021 By EMI

This is a guest post by Peter C. Atherton, P.E.

There’s no question that strategic planning is essential for individual, team, and organizational success. Yet despite this, the vast majority of strategic plans and major strategic initiatives fail or fail to be fully or successfully implemented.

Why is this the case and, more importantly, what can we do to ensure that we, our teams, and our organizations are on the winning side?

From my perspective as both a strategic planning participant at manager, principal, and firm owner levels and now as a strategic planning facilitator and execution consultant, here are the top 10 reasons most strategic plans and major strategic initiatives either languish or fail:

3 Essential Skills for Engineers to Become Proficient at Selling

December 6, 2021 By EMI

This is a guest post by Tiffani Teachey

Many engineers are incredibly smart, skilled people who can figure out how things work and fix them when they break down. A well-spoken engineer can sell their products or services like nobody’s business. It doesn’t matter if they are pitching an idea or defending the work they’ve done on behalf of their company in front of clients and investors. Unfortunately, not all engineers know how to sell themselves or their ideas well enough for them to succeed in business today. I want to help change that with these three essential sales skills engineers should have if they want their product/idea/service bought by consumers today and to become proficient at selling.

3 Tips for Selling Yourself So You Can Sell Anything Well

November 29, 2021 By EMI

This is a guest post by Nader Mowlaee

Some people are great at speaking about themselves. They’re the ones that have a story to tell about every situation. They’re comfortable going from one topic to another effortlessly, and they seem to know somebody wherever they go. They’re smooth talkers, and somehow, they seem to have an endless amount of charisma and an extensive network of friends. Engineers often are not among this group.

I know you don’t want to hear this, but you might need to become a little more like those who are comfortable and confident talking about who they are and what value they have to offer. It is where you’ve got to put your selfish ego aside and lean forward to learn about selling yourself. Don’t worry. I am not suggesting you become someone you’re not, though in many cases, such as during a job interview, you need to learn how to effectively present yourself so that you can convince an employer to invest in you and your capabilities. Here are some soft skills to know when selling yourself:

5 Pieces of Advice Every Engineering Professional Should Know

November 22, 2021 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Leanna Michniuk from BigTime Software

Advice from people who’ve walked in your shoes is invaluable. This year, we set out with a goal to help build a community for industry leaders on how to successfully scale their business. We were fortunate to partner with EMI, and specifically its The Civil Engineering Podcast, to bring listeners a new series — The Civil Engineering Entrepreneurs . The host and founder of EMI, Anthony Fasano, sat down with experienced and skillful engineering leaders to have compelling conversations about what it takes to build and grow a firm.

As the series comes to a close, we’ve gathered five of our favorite tidbits of advice straight from guests of the podcast. Keep reading to learn more about growing a successful engineering business from pros who have been there, done that.