Board-Level Thinking, Sale-Ready Ops – with Sam Wood
Your ops might be ticking along just fine.But what if your founder got sick tomorrow? What if your top client left? What if you had to make a big decision with zero visibility on the numbers?You might not be planning to sell your agency – but you should run it like you are.Because when you adopt that mindset, you zoom out. You stop firefighting. You start building a business that runs without you.This week on The Handbook, Harv sits down with Sam Wood – fractional COO and founder of consultancy Ottesu – to talk about how agencies and consultancies can apply board-level thinking without needing to set up an actual board.Because a business that’s sale-ready is a business that’s well run.In this episode, Sam breaks down the five areas every agency should be reviewing regularly – whether you’re building to exit or just want better control of the ship.Here’s what we get into:Why applying board-level thinking doesn’t mean setting up a boardroom – and how to startHow to define and operationalize strategy (it’s not just a slide in onboarding)Why culture starts with leadership behavior (not beers and pizza)How to build capability and resilience so your business doesn’t depend on heroicsHow to reduce risk and spot gaps in capability before they break youThe one performance metric every service business should be tracking if they want to be profitableWhether you're an ops lead or MD, this one’s packed with practical ways to futureproof your agency.Additional Resources:Follow Sam Wood on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-wood-gaicd-9023a54a/ Check out Ottesu’s website: https://ottesu.com.au/ Follow Harv on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harvnagra Stay up to date with regular ops insights. Subscribe to The Handbook: The Operations Newsletter.This podcast is brought to you by Scoro, where you can manage your projects, resources and finances in a single system.
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The ops CHEAT CODE: One year of insights condensed with Harv Nagra
Is your business growing, but it still feels messy?This solo episode from Harv looks back at one year of The Handbook podcast, and it’s a big one. Harv recaps what he’s learned from a year of speaking with ops leaders across the agency world. He packages it all into one whirlwind tour of the five core pillars of operational maturity: people, process, tools, data, and growth.If you’ve missed a few episodes (or want a cheat code to benchmark your agency’s ops maturity), this is your starting point. Or your reset.Here’s what Harv dives into:Why operational maturity, not creativity or client relationships, is the biggest differentiator for scaleWhat smart people practices actually look like, from efficient and effective hiring to career path frameworksHow to build a sales engine that doesn’t rely on panicked effort or founder charismaWhy a tech stack is only as good as the strategy underneath itWhat it really means to be data-driven, beyond just dashboardsAnd what common agency growth mistakes still trip up even the most ambitious teamsPlus, you’ll hear key takeaways from guests like Manish Kapur, Karl Sakas, Preston Chandler, Jenny Plant, and many more.Additional Resources:Harv’s webinar on documentation & best practice here: https://youtu.be/RroxOVlSwIk Learnings and tools from Freia Muehlenbein's 'how to pitch' episode: https://www.scoro.com/blog/how-to-pitch-a-client/ Follow Harv on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/harvnagraStay up to date with regular ops insights. Subscribe to The Handbook: The Operations Newsletter: https://www.scoro.com/podcast/#handbook This podcast is brought to you by Scoro, where you can manage your projects, resources and finances in a single system.
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Are you helping or hindering your delivery team? With Galen Low
Ops Leaders, are you unintentionally making life harder for your delivery team?Galen Low, co-founder of The Digital Project Manager and host of The Digital Project Manager podcast, joins us to flip the lens, and spotlight the real impact of operational decisions from the delivery floor up.Galen has spent years helping digital PMs thrive in chaotic environments. In this episode, he shares the signs leaders might be missing when systems break down and how to create structures that support people doing the work.Here’s what we dive into:How layoffs and role blending are pressuring delivery teamsThe hidden cost of heroic project managers who just “make it work”What agencies get wrong about tool rollouts (and how to fix it)How to better onboard freelance talentThe link between trust, autonomy, and delivery excellenceGalen also offers advice on listening to your PMs, empowering teams, and building resilience into your operations, without burning people out.And – this is part one of a two-way podcast exchange! For part two, head over to The DPM Podcast where we flip the mic and explore what it takes to build operational models that truly support delivery.Additional Resources:Listen to PART TWO on The Digital Project Manager podcast: https://thedigitalprojectmanager.com/podcast/how-project-managers-can-thrive-in-evolving-agency-models/The Digital Project Manager website: https://thedigitalprojectmanager.com/membership/DPM on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcgWl0Rda9bHhOJTcIy8XwQDPM on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedigitalpm/Follow Galen Low on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/galen-low-digital-transformation-advisor/Follow Harv on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harvnagra/ Stay up to date with regular ops insights. Subscribe to The Handbook: The Operations Newsletter: https://scoro.com/podcast/#handbookThis podcast is brought to you by Scoro, where you can manage your projects, resources and finances in a single system.
What does it really take to operate more strategically as an agency?Manish Kapur returns to The Handbook to help agency ops leaders shift from firefighting mode to future-focused thinking. If you’ve ever struggled to carve out time for the big picture while juggling the day-to-day, this episode is your playbook.Harv and Manish dig into how to run fast-paced, high-impact workshops that drive meaningful change – and how to keep momentum once priorities have been decided. They also explore how ops folks can step up as strategic leaders, driving these initiatives, especially as AI is forcing agencies to become more adaptable than ever.Here’s what we get into:Why agencies that plan beyond month-to-month win long-termManish’s 7-part workshop format that delivers clarity, alignment, and actionHow to navigate alignment across multiple offices and entitiesThe role of ops in driving, not just supporting, AI strategyWhy senior buy-in is the secret to getting big initiatives doneWhether you're leading change or nudging it along, this conversation is packed with real-world tactics to keep your agency moving forward.Additional Resources:Manish's workshop playbook: https://www.scoro.com/podcast/episode/strategic-ops-unlocked-manish-kapur-workshop-playbook/Follow Manish on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/manishkapur/ Follow Harv on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harvnagra/Stay up to date with regular ops insights. Subscribe to The Handbook: The Operations Newsletter. Sign up here: https://scoro.com/podcast/#handbookThis podcast is brought to you by Scoro, where you can manage your projects, resources and finances in a single system.
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Growth Thresholds & Growing Pains with Marcel Petitpas
Growth is the goal for many agencies, but as your team hits certain size thresholds, your structure, systems, and workflows can start to break down.Marcel Petitpas, CEO of Parakeeto, has spent years helping agencies around the world clean up their operations, tighten up forecasting, and build financial systems that actually support scale.In this episode, Marcel shares what breaks as agencies grow, and how small optimizations can make the difference between momentum and mayhem. If your team’s growing fast, but your numbers aren’t adding up, this one’s for you.Here’s what we dive into:The critical headcount thresholds where agency ops tend to break - and what to do at each stageThe metrics that really matter when you’re trying to scale profitablyHow to build a top-down forecasting model that’s simple, fast, and actually usefulHow to align your leadership team around a shared, consistent view of performanceWhy data hygiene matters, and how to balance accuracy vs precision to help you make smarter, faster decisionsMarcel also breaks down the operational traps that create noise, slow growth, and kill clarity. Plus what you can do right now to lead with better insight.Additional Resources:Follow Marcel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcelpetitpas/Follow Harv on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harvnagra/Parakeeto’s Website: https://parakeeto.com/Marcel’s Agency Profitability Toolkit: https://parakeeto.com/toolkit/?utm_source=Earned+Media&utm_medium=Podcast+Appearance&utm_campaign=Harv+Nagra Parakeeto's Foundation Course: https://course.parakeeto.com/?utm_source=Earned+Media&utm_medium=Podcast+Appearance&utm_campaign=Harv+NagraThe Agency Profit Podcast: https://agencyprofitpodcast.simplecast.com/ Stay up to date with regular ops insights. Subscribe to The Handbook: The Operations Newsletter: https://scoro.com/podcast#handbookThis podcast is brought to you by Scoro, where you can manage your projects, resources and finances in a single system.
Running a serviced based business, an agency or consultancy isn’t just about great client work. It’s about keeping everything behind the scenes running smoothly. That’s where The Handbook comes in. Our goal? To help you take your business to the next level of business maturity.This podcast is for operations and service-business leaders who are juggling it all – people, processes, finance, tech, and everything in between. Every other week, we dive deep into a specific challenge that businesses face as they grow in headcount and complexity. You'll get practical insights and real-world advice from experts who’ve been there, solved the problems, and know what works.If you’re looking for smarter ways to scale, streamline, and strengthen your business, you’re in the right place. Welcome to The Handbook community, your go-to guide for better business operations.And don’t forget to sign up for The Handbook newsletter – we’ll send you the key takeaways from each episode straight to your inbox: scoro.com/podcast/#handbook The Handbook: The Operations Podcast is brought to you by Scoro.
Ireland