Time Tells All: Shifting our Understanding of ROI

By Chad Clinehens, President and CEO, Zweig Group

The Summer of 2024 is drawing to a close, and the stirrings of Autumn can be felt on the breeze and seen on the trees.  2024 has been another historic year, and the past few months of summer have been hotter than ever for the AEC industry.  This marks another year of growth, as we continue a decade-plus of the AEC industry soaring past financial metrics and benchmarks.  Our industry is performing at historic levels in 2024, but, while the AEC industry as a whole is experiencing an upward trend, there are still many challenges ahead of us as we navigate the future.

Our annual ElevateAEC Conference and Awards Gala will be held next week in Tampa, and I think this year’s theme of Return on Investment (ROI) is a fitting platform from which we can draw useful themes about how our industry will handle the challenges of the future and Elevate the Industry.  While the basic definition of ROI—the net gain (or loss) of an investment compared to its cost—is simple, the concept often proves significantly more complex in reality.  For most of us, the only way we look at ROI is in those simplest terms, of dollars and cents.  However, as we think about the challenges that lie ahead, I think it’s important that we expand our understanding of ROI to include another more valuable asset: time.

Over the last several years, we at Zweig Group have noticed what we understand to be fundamental shifts in how firms understand ROI, particularly as a function of time.  Dynamic industry and economic elements over the last several years mean this fundamental shift in our understanding of ROI has the potential to create industry-defining change.  As a result of this change, AEC firms will adapt and change the way they operate, further altering the landscape of our ever-changing industry.  I believe one of the major changes that will come as a result of this shifting landscape is an even greater emphasis on time as a measure of ROI.

At Zweig Group, time in relation to ROI is something we take seriously, and it’s something we have been building into our business on a daily basis.  Most notably perhaps, you can see the result of this way of thinking in the schedule for our upcoming flagship conference next week.  Thinking of ways to innovate an already wildly successful industry event, we turned to nearly a decade of feedback from those who have attended the conference.  As it happens, a common thread that bound these disparate areas of feedback was a simple fact: people valued their time more than almost anything else.  This understanding helped us shape the schedule for the upcoming conference, condensing the standard three-day event into two, giving attendees a full day on Friday to explore beautiful Tampa or travel home to their families.

This illustrates a major component of the focus on time in relation to ROI—that it is often a way to focus on people.  I would be short of words trying to relate the importance of time to each of us, and to do so would be to speak a truth we already know.  Time spent at work—during your daily schedule or at conferences near and far—is time not spent with your families and friends.  There are a million things that matter to our coworkers and colleagues outside of their work, and more and more the value of individual time is becoming a pressing topic of conversations when it comes to the present and future of the AEC industry.  We see this manifesting in widely-shared sentiments like more and more people looking for work that is meaningful and has a positive impact on their communities.

Owners and principals who recognize this shifting perspective on time and ROI will be able to respond quicker when it comes to adapting.  The firms that begin to expand their understanding of ROI and incorporate evolving sentiments about the value of time will thrive in the AEC industry in the near future.  The ability to recognize and adapt to this shifting landscape will also add an incredible value to AEC firms over the long term.  Closely tied into these conversations about ROI and time are themes of growing efficiency amidst the ongoing digital and AI revolutions.  The ceiling is high, but the process must have a start.  And, as always, time is one of our most valuable assets, so keep it in mind as you’re planning your firm’s future.