Business Development

TCEP 099: The Business of Engineering for Sustainability – Global Sustainability Series Episode #2

September 26, 2018 By Christian Knutson, PE, PgMP, PMP

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In episode 99 of The Civil Engineering Podcast, I talk with Dr. Marlene Kanga, who is the current President of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) about the business of engineering for sustainability. This is the second episode in a 3-part special global sustainability series that will both introduce you to and focus on the Global Engineering Congress 2018, taking place October 22nd through 26th in London at the Institution of Civil Engineering’s (ICE) Headquarters.

Here are some of the questions I ask Dr. Kanga in this global sustainability episode:

This is the Federation’s 50th anniversary — what does this mean to you both professionally and personally?
What was it that drew you to WFEO and has kept you so actively involved over the years?
As WFEO encourages national and international members to collaborate in their contributions to solving global problems, what role do you see diversity playing in this effort?
Why is the WFEO event important to the civil engineering profession, and what do you think should be one of the main takeaways from this event?
What do you feel requires the immediate attention of the engineering profession’s resources to attack and to solve?
Who are the typical attendees at one of these Global Engineering Congress events? What advice can you provide on how a participant should best prepare to come ready to actively participate in the event?
We’ve been talking about the sustainable development goals, what other roles does WFEO play on behalf of the engineering profession?
How do you keep your professional diary straight and know where to focus your mental energies?

Engineering Quotes:

Here are some key points discussed in this global sustainability episode:

TCEP 095: Office Layout and How It Impacts Productivity and Culture

August 29, 2018 By Anthony Fasano

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In episode 095 of The Civil Engineering Podcast, I am bringing you with me to the offices of Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers (MRCE) to sit down with Senior Partner Peter Deming and myself. We will be talking about the importance of your physical office layout and how it impacts productivity and culture. This is a topic you might not consider as important until you hear Peter discuss it.

Here are some of the questions I ask Peter Deming:

How did you decide how to setup the people throughout your office?
Can you talk about the importance of the library and the locker room that you have at your offices?
What comes to mind when I say the word “culture”?
How did you get to the point where you wanted to drive change in your career?

Engineering Quotes:

Here are some key points discussed in this episode on the impact of office layout and culture:

TCEP 092: Business Development Skill Building for Civil Engineers

August 1, 2018 By Anthony Fasano

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In episode 92 of The Civil Engineering Podcast, I am taking you with me to visit T&M Associates headquarters in Middletown NJ, where we are going to sit down with Ihsan Al-Fayyomi to talk about business development skill building for civil engineers.

Here are some of the questions I ask Ihsan:

Can you talk about how you became involved in expanding your company geographically?
What was your mindset like when you started growing the company?
Is smart decision making something you personally focus on?
What is your overall philosophy on building relationships?
How do you build trust?
Tell us about having difficult conversations.
What is your management style?

Engineering Quotes:

Here are some key points discussed on business development skill building:

TCEP 088: Growing a Civil Engineering Company from the Ground up with Stephen Morse

June 20, 2018 By Anthony Fasano

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In episode 88 of The Civil Engineering Podcast, I talk with Stephen Morse, PE, LEED AP from Grant Engineering about growing a civil engineering company from the ground up. Stephen talks about the process he went through in growing his company from starting out in his apartment to now having a growing office in New York City.

Here are some of the questions I ask Stephen:

What made you decide to start your own civil engineering company?
Tell us about your experience of hiring your first employee.
What types of projects are you currently working on, and what is your involvement in those projects?
How many employees does Grant Engineering have?
Can you explain what the organization: “Engineers Without Borders” is?
What would you say to a civil engineer that might consider starting their own civil engineering company?

Engineering Quotes:

Here are some key points discussed on growing a civil engineering company:

TCEP 078: A Deep Conversation on the Philosophy behind building a Civil Engineering Firm

February 28, 2018 By Anthony Fasano

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In episode 078 of The Civil Engineering Podcast, I talk with Robert Mora, PE, PLS, ENV SP about the philosophy that he and his partner are operating under in building Batture Engineers + Land Surveyors, a unique civil engineering firm based in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Here are some of the questions I ask on building a Civil Engineering Firm:

Tell us about your experience with land surveying and how that has helped in growing your firm.
When did you realize that you might want to start your own business?
What did you do to prepare for starting your own business?
Tell us more about networking and personal relationships and how it has affected your career?
What was your goal in creating a local mastermind group?
Take us through the first year you started your business.
At what point did you decide that you want to seek out a partner?

Engineering Quotes

Here are some key points discussed and quotes from this episode:

I always thought about the bigger picture in my career and looked for roles that would benefit me in the future.
To a certain extent, I was not really focused on salary, it was more about mobility and opportunity. I would take less money to work someplace if it was going to give me the opportunity to do something that I wanted to get better at.
Part of what made things easier for me is that I’ve always enjoyed the process more than the results.
You become confident in certain things because when you are good at doing something, you are typically confident in it.
Overreacting to something is not going to change what is happening. It’s just going to change your perspective on it.
When building a civil engineering firm you might not immediately enjoy doing all of the different tasks, but through consistency, you can find enjoyment in it.
It’s important to build relationships and to listen to people in doing it, and help them, instead of immediately just trying to sell what you are doing when building a civil engineering firm.
Doing good work and being mission driven is more important than profits. You can’t do bad work and blame the price you gave the customer, for doing the bad work.
Don’t let money drive your decisions and what you do, but also don’t ignore it. As you grow in your business, you have to think differently about your company finances than your personal finances.

More details in this episode…

About Robert Mora, PE, PLS, ENV SP

Bob Mora, founder of Batture Engineers + Land Surveyors, has over 15 years of experience in land surveying and civil engineering, providing civil design services for both private developers and municipalities. He has successfully managed and completed projects for the Sewerage and Water Board, the Department of Public Works, the Regional Planning Commission, the Orleans Levee Board, and St. Bernard, Ascension, and Plaquemines Parishes. As a sub-consultant for the Army Corp of Engineers, Bob managed the construction of over $100 million of flood protection, earning a Certificate of Appreciation for Exceptional Achievement from the Hurricane & Storm Damage Risk Reduction System Mission. A native of New Orleans, Bob graduated from LSU with a degree in Civil Engineering and Land Surveying. He is the past president and an active member of the New Orleans Chapter of Engineers Without Borders, helping engineers identify pro bono opportunities both locally and around the globe.

Sources/References:

Batture
The Engineering Management Accelerator
Engineering Management Institute Training
Bob’s LinkedIn Page

This episode is brought to you by PPI, the leader of civil engineering FE or PE exam preparations. Use promo code TCE8 for a 20 % discount at ppi2pass.com/resources

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

Engineer Your Own Success

Art’s Principles: 50 years of hard-learned lessons in building a world-class professional services firm

Please leave your comments or questions in the section below on building a Civil Engineering Firm.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider downloading our free list of 33 Productivity Routines of Top Engineering Executives. Click the button below to download.

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To your success,

Anthony Fasano, PE, LEED AP
Engineering Mangement Institute
Author of Engineer Your Own Success

TCEP 065: How our Cities and Towns are going broke and How Civil Engineers can Help Long-Term

August 30, 2017 By Anthony Fasano

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In episode 065 of The Civil Engineering Podcast, I talk with Charles(Chuck) Marohn, a Professional Engineer (PE) licensed in the State of Minnesota and a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) about how our cities and towns are going broke and how civil engineers will play a role in developing strong towns in the future.

Here are some of the questions I ask Chuck:

Why are so many towns and cities across North America going broke?
What are some things that you’ve seen in your travels that don’t necessarily take thousands of dollars to implement, that have made stronger towns?
How can we as civil engineers help to build stronger towns?
What are some things that civil engineers can do to address this problem in civil engineering?

Engineering Quotes

Here are some key points discussed on how our cities and towns are going broke and how civil engineers can help long-term. Chuck says:

TCEP 060: The Bailey Bridge – A Civil Engineering Structural Icon

June 21, 2017 By Christian Knutson, PE, PgMP, PMP

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In episode 060 of The Civil Engineering Podcast, I talk with Martin Andrews, Military Sales Manager for Mabey Bridge Limited about the development of the Mabey Logistic Support Bridge from its origins in the Bailey Bridge.

Here are some of the questions I ask Martin on the Bailey Bridge:

Can you tell us a little bit about what the Bailey Bridge is and the history of the Bailey Bridge?
What made the design revolutionary at the time?
What makes this bridge so useful in comparison to say, a more traditional site-specific bridge design?
We’re decades on from World War II, so what types of design improvements have been made to the original design?
Do you rely on an in-house civil/structural engineer design capability to support clients, or do clients use their own civil engineers to design bridge applications?
What is the design service life for this type of bridge, and what is the longest in-service bridge that you’re aware of?
What maintenance is required on one of these types of bridges?
Say I’m a civil engineer and I want to source one of these bridges for a job, what do I need to know?
Can you share a couple of examples of more recent Mabey bridge applications?

Engineering Quotes

Here are some key points discussed in this episode:

TCEP 059: Using Direct Purchase Opportunities to Position Yourself for More Competitive Bidding in the AE Industry

June 7, 2017 By Anthony Fasano

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In episode 59 of The Civil Engineering Podcast, I interview Brendan Alan Barrett, a top sales producer in our industry, about using direct purchase opportunities to position yourself for more competitive bidding and project partnerships.

Here are some of the questions I ask Brendan:

What is direct purchasing?
Who uses direct purchasing?
What are the benefits of direct purchasing
What are the long-term opportunities for civil engineers with respect to direct purchasing?
How do you go about finding direct purchase opportunities?

Engineering Quotes

Here are some key points discussed in this episode on direct purchase opportunities:

TCEP 057: A Discussion with the Zweig Group on the Recipe for Building a Successful AE Firm

May 10, 2017 By Anthony Fasano

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In episode 057 of The Civil Engineering Podcast, I talk with Mark Zweig, Founder, and Chairman of the Zweig Group and Chad Clinehens, PE, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Zweig Group about what it takes for building a successful AE Firm. If you want to grow as a Civil Engineer, or you want your company to grow, this episode will help you tremendously in achieving that goal.

Here are some of the questions I ask the Zweig Group leaders in regards to building a successful AE Firm.

What are the characteristics of fast growing, successful AE firms?
What made you decide to run a conference to recognize these firms?
How should an AE firm approach branding?

AE Growth Quotes

Here are some key points discussed in this episode:

[Read more…] about TCEP 057: A Discussion with the Zweig Group on the Recipe for Building a Successful AE Firm

TCEP 054: How to Master the Language for Clearer Engineering Contracts

March 29, 2017 By Anthony Fasano

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Engineering Contracts

In episode 054 of The Civil Engineering Podcast, Chris Knutson interviews Ken Adams, an expert in the world of contract drafting on how to master the language to create clearer engineering contracts.

Here are some of the questions Chris asked Ken:

What do you consider is the essence of a contract?
How do you suggest that civil engineers should approach reviewing engineering contracts?
What are some challenges you see with traditional contract drafting?
The National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) has also produced a series of standard contract documents for engineering design and construction projects, how do these rate with regards to language and clarity?
What is your opinion of general trade organization contracts?
With regards to schedule provisions in contracts, how standardized do these tend to be?
What does an engineer or contractor need to be aware of with regards to imposed contract requirements?
What are indemnification clauses and what do engineers need to know or be aware of with regards to them?

Engineering Quotes:

Here are some key points discussed in this episode on Engineering Contracts:

A contract gives the parties an opportunity to determine and state as explicitly as necessary what each expects from the other.
The problem with traditional contract language is that it results in delay and confusion at every stage in the contract process. It also creates confusion that can lead to fights.
Contract language is limited and stylized. It’s best if you leave it to experts.
Copy and pasting or inserting information to a contract is probably not the best route to go with standardized contracts. It is advisable to get legal counsel to take a look at the language of the contract and to make sure that it is relevant and applicable to the situation that you are truly in.
Schedules tend to be different from project to project, but is still part of the contract. If something doesn’t make sense in the contract it won’t make sense in the schedules.
Hold harmless is a mystery phrase with no settled meaning. Do not use the phrase indemnify and hold harmless, which is utterly standard. Instead, just use indemnify and say what the deal is.
It’s best to be an informed and skeptical consumer of contract language. Accept that in terms of the prose, most contracts are a mess. Learn to distinguish between what’s clear and effective, what’s not so clear but you can live with, and what’s confusing and could cause a problem and so needs to be fixed.