Agency

Helping digital agencies deliver better

Digital agencies grow faster than they can deliver: the sales come in, the team scales, and the way of working that ran fine at ten people starts to creak at forty. This is the pattern rather than a single client, fixed again and again across agencies including Nomad, Fuse8 and Braid, and through DigitalCity. The work has meant recruiting 3 project managers, rebuilding delivery processes, running programmes up to £450k+ where £20k was the norm, and supporting 140+ SMEs along the way.

Whose problem is this?

This one is not a single client, it is a pattern I have been brought in to fix again and again, across agencies including Nomad, Fuse8 and Braid, and through DigitalCity. Digital agencies tend to grow faster than their ability to deliver. The sales come in, the team scales, and the delivery machine that worked fine at ten people starts to creak at forty.

What was the problem?

It shows up the same way most times. Projects get inconsistent, because every project manager runs things their own way. Margins slip. Clients start to lose confidence. Teams end up overloaded. None of it is really anyone’s fault, it is just what happens when delivery capability does not keep pace with growth. The job is to fix delivery, protect the margin and build something repeatable that lets the agency grow without the wheels coming off.

What was my role?

I have worn whatever hat the situation needed: independent consultant, project director, head of digital, delivery lead, mentor and strategic advisor. Sometimes that is hands on, running the biggest programmes. Sometimes it is rebuilding how the whole delivery function works. Often it is both.

What did I do?

• At Fuse8, reviewed the whole delivery operation, redesigned the processes and introduced Agile delivery, covered in full here
• Recruited three additional project managers and improved resource planning, then helped win new business and delivered the Charles Church project
• Created a reusable development approach, so good delivery did not depend on who happened to run the job
• At Nomad, managed major client programmes, built the delivery capability and earned the client relationships that supported the agency’s growth
• Through Braid and DigitalCity, worked with more than 140 SMEs to improve their delivery, strategy and digital capability
• Cut unnecessary complexity wherever it had crept in, because complexity is where margin goes to die

What was the scale?

• Agency teams of 70-plus people
• Three project managers recruited into one agency alone
• More than 140 SMEs supported through DigitalCity
• Delivery teams across the UK and Russia
• Projects ranging from around £20k to £450k+

What was the result?

More consistent delivery, healthier margins and clients who trusted the agencies to deliver again. Stronger teams, repeatable processes, and in more than one case new business won on the back of being able to deliver it properly.

What does this show?

• Turning around and improving delivery operations
• Project and programme governance
• Agile delivery in a real commercial setting
• Scaling teams without losing control
• Commercial thinking, protecting margin as well as quality
• Mentoring and building capability that outlasts me

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