Staffing

The Operating Method: Staffing

Managing complex projects is hard. Managing a large portfolio of projects in an agency is even more challenging. It’s not trivial to balance conflicting schedules, ambiguous client needs, and a consultant roster with skills to utilize optimally and personal preferences to consider. 

That’s staffing – a delicate dance of putting the right people with the necessary skills and expertise on projects to get the job done. 

Staffing is the number one process that an agency COO must master – you have colleagues who focus intently on sales, recruitment, and project delivery.

Staffing is about:

• Matching client needs with the skills and expertise of available consultants
• Maximizing value creation and billable work
• Avoiding employee burnout
• Building optimal teams that work effectively together
• Assigning people challenging projects to foster learning and growth, motivating them to engage in new work
• Prioritizing between many sub-optimal choices
• Providing business insights such as identifying possible skill gaps, capacity forecasts for recruitment and sales, and employee career aspirations.

Staffing is a blend of people and numbers. As the company grows, staffing becomes even more complex.

The Operating Method lays out key principles you need to succeed in agency project staffing.

Buckle up.