Top 10 Resources List for 2020

GBA provides hundreds of highly effective resources  developed to satisfy the unique needs of geoprofessionals,  giving members essential tools for achieving success.  However, we also know that it can be overwhelming to sort through them all. To help, we have compiled a list of the top 10 GBA resources by numbers ordered in 2020. This is a great place to start your exploration of GBA’s resources, or to get acquainted with a publication loved by your peers and “new to you”.

The list below is the top 10 GBA resources, in order by popularity. Topics cover a wide range of geoprofessional business issues, so there is certain to be something on this list that could help your business succeed. Select a title to learn more and order it today.

CONTRACT REFERENCE GUIDE, FOURTH EDITION
This new edition not only provides significant updates from the prior editions, but also includes important new topics, such as Climate Change, Indemnities and Hold Harmless Provisions in Favor of the Consultant, and Instruments of Professional Service.

GBA BUSINESS BRIEF FINANCIAL SURVEY: FISCAL YEAR 2019-2020 FINANCIAL-PERFORMANCE-SURVEY
The newest GBA Business Brief — available only to members and free of charge – comprises the GBA Business Practices Committee’s 2019-2020 Financial-Performance Survey report, covering key financial-performance issues surveyed firms reported. These include pre-distribution profit, discretionary-profit distribution, net multiplier, utilization rate, pre-distribution overhead, marketing costs, group insurance, collections, and fee backlog.

PRACTICE ALERT 05: TABOO WORDS
This Practice Alert focuses on six “taboo words”: certify, inspect, monitor, supervise, safety, and represent. The six are not necessarily dangerous in and of themselves. How they are used and their context are important.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THIS GEOTECHNICAL-ENGINEERING REPORT
This report transmittal cover sheet identifies limitations in geotechnical engineering reports and stresses the need for the geotechnical engineer’s involvement throughout the course of the project.

FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS FOR PROJECT MANAGERS
Effective Project Managers are key to the success of all geoprofessional businesses. GBA recognizes development of highly effective Project Managers requires training, experience, and mentorship in numerous areas. GBA has developed, with support of member-firm volunteers, a Project Manager essential skills training course to support and augment training available by member-firms.

GBA BUSINESS BRIEF: FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE – SURVEY REPORT
The GBA Business Brief — available only to members and free of charge – comprises the GBA Business Practices Committee’s 2018-2019 Financial-Performance Survey report, covering key financial-performance issues surveyed firms reported. These include pre-distribution profit, discretionary-profit distribution, net multiplier, utilization rate, pre-distribution overhead, marketing costs, group insurance, collections, and fee backlog.

GBA BEST PRACTICES: E-COMMUNICATION

This GBA Best Practices replaces Practice Alert 46 which focused on e-communications. It is revised to address recent usage and offers more suggestions to the problems. As its title suggests, covers e-mail, instant messaging texting, and the use of Facebook, Skype, Twitter, and so on. It is organized as a series of five problems, each accompanied by suggested solutions. The five problems are:

GUIDE TO THE IN-HOUSE REVIEW OF REPORTS
This 20-page guide was created to help GBA-Member Firms review their proposals and reports internally. It provides guidance to report writers, including a definition of an effective report, a list of elements that should be attached to a report, and recommendations for communicating with the reviewer once the report has been submitted. It also relates instruction to reviewers, including recommendations for conducting the initial review, revising comments, keeping a report control log, and communicating with the report writer throughout the review process.

GBA GUIDE TO THE IN-HOUSE REVIEW OF GEOPROFESSIONAL REPORTS
The publication provides step-by-step instructions – as well as overarching concepts – for report writers and reviewers. Organized into three principal content areas to help reviewers consider major issues and to give report writers a clear framework for preparing reports and considering reviewers’ comments, the guide addresses a report’s ability to satisfy the contractual obligations it was intended to fulfill; the quality of its technical and risk-management content; and the clarity of presentation.

LUNCH & LEARN: Risky Language
Words can kill, or at least create a great many difficulties, especially when they are the wrong words, like taboo words whose legal meanings may be far different from what they seem to imply. This well-crafted Lunch & Learn seminar discusses the U.S. legal system and why geoprofessionals need to avoid it as a dispute-resolution forum, then addresses a variety of taboo and other words and phrases that can result in formal dispute resolution and litigation becoming unavoidable, time-consuming, costly, and frustrating.

Review 2020’s Top 10 Resources and Top 10 Case Histories: HERE