Growth enablement : How AEC executives can scale faster through shared services?
By Metam
Abstract
AEC executives can no longer rely on traditional methods to scale. A shared services model is emerging as a powerful strategy to centralize support functions and reduce operational inefficiencies. Metam partners with leaders to design tailored models that enable firms to achieve scalable growth and enhance operational excellence without overextending internal teams.
Scaling in the AEC (Architecture, Engineering, and Construction) sector is no longer just about adding headcount or bidding on larger projects, it’s about creating the operational infrastructure that supports agility, consistency, and cost-efficiency across multiple engagements. Shared services have emerged as a powerful lever for AEC executives to achieve scalable growth while maintaining project excellence and compliance discipline. But how can this model be effectively adapted to the unique complexity of AEC environments?
This article explores how shared services empower AEC firms to scale smarter, the leadership capabilities required to deploy them successfully, and how firms like Metam Technologies partner with executives to unlock this potential.
AEC firms operating in multi-project, multi-region environments are facing mounting complexity, rising overhead costs, duplicated back-office functions, and inconsistent processes that limit scalability. The traditional project-by-project approach to managing operations such as procurement, finance, HR, compliance, and reporting is increasingly inefficient.
Shared services offer a structural solution: centralizing key support functions to deliver consistent quality, lower costs, and faster scaling across projects and regions. More than just consolidation, shared services allow firms to create operational leverage, standardizing processes, unlocking economies of scale, and freeing core teams to focus on high-value, project-specific activities.
In the context of AEC, where margins are tight and execution speed is paramount, shared services provide a path to do more with less, reducing duplication, shortening cycle times, and enabling agile response to workload fluctuations across the project portfolio.
How can AEC executives rethink scale as a function of leverage?
Scaling is no longer just about growing headcount or increasing geographic footprint, it’s about how effectively a firm can replicate success across projects without overextending its core team. This requires rethinking scale as a function of operational leverage.
AEC executives must focus on identifying repeatable, transactional, and support-heavy processes that can be consolidated, such as vendor onboarding, payroll, compliance documentation, bid prep assistance, or subcontractor qualification. By creating centralized shared service units to handle these, firms can reallocate skilled internal resources to more strategic and project-specific work.
Moreover, by leveraging shared services, executives can align growth with standardization, ensuring that every new project benefits from the same operational rigor, financial discipline, and risk oversight without the burden of rebuilding systems from scratch.
This shift transforms scale from a staffing challenge into an architectural opportunity: building an operational backbone that grows with the business, instead of becoming a bottleneck to it.
Shared services in AEC are most effective when deployed in functions that are high-volume, compliance-driven, or require consistent coordination across multiple projects. Key use cases include:
Finance & accounting: Centralizing accounts payable/receivable, job cost reporting, payroll processing, and budget tracking to ensure financial accuracy and real-time visibility across the project portfolio.
Procurement & vendor management: Managing supplier databases, purchase orders, bid solicitations, and contract administration from a centralized hub to reduce errors, delays, and costs.
Health, safety, and compliance: Operating shared safety and compliance reporting functions to ensure consistent documentation, audits, and regulatory submissions across jobsites.
HR & workforce onboarding: Running centralized onboarding, credential verification, and time tracking systems to ensure smooth mobilization of crews between projects.
Technology & digital operations: Supporting field teams with centralized IT helpdesks, data dashboards, and software support that reduce downtime and enable real-time decision-making.
When these functions are unified under shared services, they become force multipliers—driving consistency, quality, and responsiveness across the business while shielding project teams from administrative drag.
Metam supports AEC firms in navigating the transition to shared services by offering strategic guidance, operational design, and change enablement rooted in sector-specific realities. Our approach is grounded in deep collaboration, practical experience, and a focus on building fit-for-purpose models that can evolve with business needs.
Tailored operating model design
We work with executive teams to map where shared services can create the most value, evaluating existing processes, pain points, and interdependencies. Rather than applying one-size-fits-all solutions, we co-develop operating models that reflect each firm’s structure, culture, and pace of growth. This includes designing service scopes, organizational roles, and performance benchmarks that are actionable and measurable.
Phased implementation aligned to business readiness
We recognize that transformation must align with operational realities. Metam helps firms prioritize shared services rollouts by impact, readiness, and risk, often starting with functions like procurement, payroll, or compliance where quick wins are achievable. We help establish governance frameworks and transition plans that balance continuity with improvement.
Technology as an enabler, not the driver
Our consulting strategy views technology as a means to strengthen process efficiency and visibility—not as a standalone fix. We support clients in selecting and integrating systems that reinforce shared services, such as ERP modules, digital workflows, and centralized reporting tools. We focus on simplifying execution and ensuring alignment with field teams, not overengineering solutions.
Capability building and cultural alignment
Metam supports internal capability development to ensure sustainability. We help identify roles within the client organization that can lead or support the shared services model long-term. Our programs emphasize upskilling, knowledge transfer, and stakeholder alignment to ensure adoption is both functional and cultural.
Rather than offering prescriptive solutions, our role is to help AEC firms make deliberate, well-supported choices—ones that strengthen their ability to scale without diluting operational discipline. Our experience in the sector allows us to navigate the complexity of large project portfolios, regional variations, and evolving compliance needs—all while building shared service models that remain practical, adaptive, and resilient.
Key takeaways: scaling with intention, not just ambition
For AEC executives, growth no longer means just taking on more projects, it means building an organizational structure that can support that growth with precision, consistency, and control. Shared services are a cornerstone of this transformation.
Create leverage by offloading transactional work from project teams and allowing internal talent to focus on value-added execution.
Promote standardization, reducing risk and improving outcomes across a diverse project portfolio.
Enable scalability by providing a modular, expandable framework to grow without proportionally increasing cost or complexity.
At a time when AEC firms must do more with less, leading with shared services is not just operationally smart—it’s strategically necessary. By adopting shared services with the right design, support, and mindset, firms can scale faster, respond more nimbly, and build a future-ready operating model that grows stronger with every project.
