It's time to invest in your business' operations

There are plenty of external pressures on marketing and advertising agencies in the current climate. Client budgets are shrinking; competition is growing; AI seems to be all but taking over. 

These are the priorities for CEOs, MDs, CFOs for sure - and they can often seem all-encompassing.

The need to show profitable growth quite understandably can over shadow the need to optimise internal ways of working. After all, it's often the case that nothing seems obviously broken when it comes to how internal teams are functioning. Projects are still being delivered to clients, right? 

So it's the non-billable 'operations' roles that are the first to be cut - or not invested in, in the first place - leaving teams with no other choice but to continue delivering as they always have. And with that comes a continuation of billable time lost to to 'admin', inefficiencies in inter-team workings, slow project completion, and falling levels of profitability.

But I would argue that business operations teams are no longer 'nice to have'. The very reason operations teams exist is to find a way to make companies more efficient. 

To streamline complex ecosystems. To simplify ways of working. To reduce complexity.

To increase profitability.

So let's consider how effective internal operations can help you reduce costs, friction and lost time, in a bid to improve your efficiency.

Firstly, it's the duty of your operations team to do right by your people.

Because of an ability to understand the agency's workflows holistically, operations leads can identify gaps, duplications of effort, and opportunities for time savings when it comes to how work is being delivered. This may range from anything like updating briefing templates, putting guardrails in place around resource bookings and mandating timesheets, to supporting the change management around a new project management system.

By putting people first and looking at how technology (yes, AI too) can support those teams is something quite unique to operations. And that stems from a strong understanding of how the business operates (or, should operate) in the first place.

And it goes without saying that having happy employees, who feel motivated and enabled in their work will only support your agency's ability both deliver profitably and keep clients happy. And that saves you the not insignificant cost of staff churn.

Secondly, a good operations team can help your business become more agile.

How adaptive - really - are your processes and systems?

And when things change - as they inevitably will, either due to clients or internal restructures - do your processes and systems really empower your people, and enable them to continue to collaborate and spend their time wisely? Or are they holding them back, causing friction, frustration, delays?

With an effective operations team on board, how teams across your different functions can work together more efficiently and effectively will be top of mind, rather than an after-thought. So nothing should affect your ability to deliver, whatever the macro environment may throw your way.

"Ok," you say, "I'm convinced, but I still don't have the budget"

That's where Mission: Purple's fractional offer comes in.

By committing a fraction of the time that a full-time role would cost, we could work one, two or three days a week hands-on with your team as COO.

Our consultant will get to know your agency, your stakeholders - from who does what and how, to the challenges and blockers to growth.

They will review and optimise workflows, evaluate and suggest systems, train and enable teams.

They will address inefficiencies, over-servicing, lack of momentum, siloed communications and ways of working by creating your own bespoke project lifecycle.

Mission: Purple will help you to get your internal operations right - making you more efficient, effective and reducing risk - so you can focus on the external pressures on your business.

Get in touch to understand how Mission: Purple can get you to that purple patch of delivering - profitably - against your strategic goals.