Planning Season Is Here: The Framework to Build Your AEC Firm’s 2026 Strategy
Because every firm needs clarity, focus, and a roadmap for resilience and growth
The leaves change, the days shorten—and across the architecture, engineering, and design sector, leadership teams are beginning to turn their attention to planning for the year ahead.
In times of stability, planning can feel routine. In today’s environment of simultaneous disruptions—from economic uncertainty to technological transformation—it is nothing short of essential.
A thoughtful plan is more than an internal exercise. It’s a roadmap for resilience, a framework for growth, and a way to align your people, your resources, and your voice in the marketplace.
Without it, firms risk drifting—reacting to changes rather than shaping their future.
At Oomph, we’ve seen firsthand how firms that take planning seriously enter the new year with focus, energy, and competitive advantage. And we’ve also seen what happens when planning is skipped: scattershot marketing, overextended teams, missed opportunities stalled, and growth.
So—what should planning look like in Fall 2025? Let’s break it down.
THE THREE PILLARS OF PLANNING
Comprehensive planning touches every aspect of practice management. At its core, there are three interdependent pillars that leaders must address:
Marketing and Business Development
HR and People Management
Financial Health, Revenue Streams, and Firm Operations
Each requires attention, but the weight of your plan will differ depending on your priorities and position in the market. Let’s look at each briefly—then go deeper into the marketing and business development work that can make or break your growth trajectory.
1. HR and People Management
Your people are your practice. But in a time of rapid change, the challenge isn’t just about headcount — it’s about cultivating the leadership and skills your team needs to adapt. As Ruth Silver noted in her recent conversation with us, flexibility and innovation are becoming defining attributes of successful design practices. Planning with those qualities in mind means focusing less on “filling roles” and more on resilience, adaptability, and preparing your team for what’s next.
Key areas to consider include:
Retention and engagement: What systems, recognition, and growth opportunities keep your best people motivated and committed?
Leadership and skills development: How are you equipping staff to adapt, innovate, and step into greater responsibility?
Succession planning: Are you cultivating the next generation of leaders and owners who can carry the firm forward?
Culture and values: How do you reinforce alignment, flexibility, and shared purpose in a multi-generational workplace?
In times of disruption, the firms that thrive are those that grow their people — strengthening leadership capacity, encouraging continuous learning, and fostering a culture where talent can flourish even when the market is turbulent.
2. Financial Health, Revenue Streams, and Operations
Financial planning goes beyond budgets. It’s about ensuring your firm is built for sustainability and profit. Consider:
Revenue targets: What is realistic for 2026 given cooling markets in some sectors and emerging opportunities in others?
Profitability: Where are the leaks—unbilled hours, scope creep, underperforming projects—that need to be closed to stay competitive?
Cash flow management: Are billing cycles, receivables, and reserves strong enough to keep you steady when projects slow or clients delay payment?
Operational efficiency: Do your project management, reporting, and costing tools give you the clarity and speed you need in a disrupted, tech-driven environment?
In today’s environment of stalled projects, fierce competition, and rapid technological change, firms need to plan not just for growth but for resilience. The ones that thrive will be those that know their numbers and can adjust in real time—turning financial discipline into competitive advantage.
3. Marketing and Business Development: Your Firm’s Growth Engine
If HR is about talent, and financial planning is about stability, marketing and BD is about growth.
This is where Oomph’s expertise lies, and where your planning season should spend the most time.
Marketing and BD planning is about setting your compass for the year ahead. It requires you to ask—and answer—the hard questions:
Audit of Systems and Tactics: Are our marketing and BD processes current, efficient, and effective? What’s working—and what isn’t?
Sectors of Activity: Which markets do we serve, and which do we want to expand into? Are we over-reliant on one sector that’s cooling off?
Scope of Services: Do we need to broaden, narrow, or reposition our offerings to align with client demand?
Revenue Targets: What growth are we aiming for in 2026, and how do we align marketing to support that?
Budget and Schedule: What resources will we invest—and how do we sequence activity across the year for maximum impact?
Market Trends: How are client expectations, technologies, and competitors evolving in 2025–2026?
SWOT Analysis: Where do our strengths give us advantage? Where are we vulnerable? What new opportunities are emerging—and what threats loom?
Marketing Plan: What’s our narrative, our channels, our campaigns for the year?
This is not just about filling a pipeline. It’s about clarifying who you are, who you serve, and how you’ll win the work you want.
WHY PLANNING MATTERS MORE THAN EVER
In the past, firms could often “wing it.” Referrals came in, RFPs went out, and steady markets made growth relatively predictable. That era is over.
Consider the current landscape:
Markets in flux. Residential towers are stalled in some cities while industrial and mixed-use retrofit is booming. Policy shifts in housing, infrastructure, and climate resilience are redrawing the opportunity map.
Technology leaps. AI, digital twins, industrialized construction, and prefabrication are changing how projects are designed, priced, and delivered.
Client expectations. Today’s clients expect not just design excellence, but data-backed strategies, ESG alignment, and cost predictability.
Talent shortages. The fight for skilled staff is intensifying, with younger professionals expecting more flexibility, purpose, and growth.
Without a plan, firms risk being caught flat-footed. With one, they can anticipate change, seize openings, and allocate resources wisely.
SETTING THE STAGE: WHAT COMES NEXT
This September article is just the start of a series. Over the next three months, we’ll explore:
October: Marketing & BD Deep Dive — How to craft a marketing plan that aligns with your growth goals for 2026 and beyond.
November: The Planning Toolkit — Practical tools and templates, including a budget planner you can download from our website.
That budget template will be free to access, and in exchange, we’ll ask for your email. Our goal is to help firms plan smarter—and to grow a community of leaders committed to building resilient practices.
FINAL WORD
Fall is planning season. And this year, planning isn’t optional. It’s your chance to take control of uncertainty, focus your resources, and position your firm for sustainable growth.
Whether your priority is marketing and business development, strengthening your team, or securing your financial footing, the key is to start now, not later.
2026 belongs to firms that plan for it today.
👉 Want to get a head start? Sign up for our newsletter to be the first to access our free budget template, launching this November.
