Strategic Ops, Unlocked: Manish Kapur’s Workshop Playbook

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-term
• Manish’s 7-part workshop format that delivers clarity, alignment, and action
• How to navigate alignment across multiple offices and entities
• The role of ops in driving, not just supporting, AI strategy
• Why senior buy-in is the secret to getting big initiatives done

Whether 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/#handbook

This podcast is brought to you by Scoro, where you can manage your projects, resources and finances in a single system.

Episode Transcript

Manish Kapur (00:00):
I think it's better to have maybe, three or

(00:02):
four goals that are really likedto be achieved within the
timeframe that you've set thanto have 10 that you think would
be great to do.
And none of them happens'causeit's just too ambitious and you
can't do it.
So I think it's really importantto apply the smart methodology
to make sure that it's actuallyspecific, it's measurable, it's
attainable, it's realistic, andit's time bound.

Harv Nagra (00:21):
Mm-hmm.

Manish Kapur (00:22):
when you really know if a goal is actually gonna
happen.
Otherwise it's just is toobroad.
I think also you have to use abit of an impact and effort
matrix to see, is it actuallyachievable?
Can we do that within ourcurrent workload?
And that's like a very simplemethod about actually putting
that goal down on paper and justseeing, well, how much of the
impact it would actually have.
Well, it would've a really highimpact but the effort would also

(00:43):
be quite high.
Or can we actually achieve that?

Harv Nagra (00:46):
Thanks for listening to The Handbook, the agency
operations podcast.
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(01:50):
Now, let's get to the episode.
Hey all.
Welcome back to the Handbook,the Agency Operations Podcast
with me, Harv Nagra.
Now, this is a very specialepisode.
It's our first birthday the daythis episode is being posted.
So if you've been with us sincethe beginning, a massive thank
you for your support.
And if you're a new listener, avery warm welcome and a reminder

(02:14):
that all of the conversationsthat we've had over the past
year are just as relevant today.
So do go back and check out anyyou've missed From people and
performance management toproductivity, to tech, finances,
sales and marketing.
We've had a huge range of topicson the podcast with some
brilliant experts sharing theirbest operational strategies with

(02:35):
us.
What I wanted to get into todaywas deeper into the conversation
on being strategic in ouroperations.
A few episodes ago we hadPreston Chandler from WPP on the
podcast where he was talkingabout why it's so important to
prioritize strategic operationsand not just focus on the
tactical.
Preston gave us some areas herecommends that we should be

(02:56):
looking at to do just that.
If you heard the conversation,you might recall that when I
asked Preston how to makeprogress on these projects, his
advice was to just bite thebullet.
You can do amazing stuff in acouple of days, and he was
saying, draw a line in the sandwith what things looked like
before the change and what theywill look like after.
I do think that's good advice inmany cases, not to drag things

(03:18):
out and make it last a year whenit could be done in a few days.
The thing is, there aresometimes initiatives that might
get assigned to other peoplethat we are not responsible as
ops leaders for moving forwardwith ourselves.
There might also be projectsthat need more coordination and
input from other teams or otheroffices, and that's what I've

(03:39):
struggled with in the pastwondering how do you keep the
momentum, the accountability,and ensure those projects do get
done and that they don't getbogged down, dragged out, or get
stuck getting sign off.
Especially when so many of usnow work in distributed teams.
Now onto today's guest.
if you think back, you mightremember that the very first

(04:01):
guest we had on the podcast wasthe absolutely brilliant Manish
Kapur.
Well, guess what?
He's back here to celebrate ourfirst birthday, and he's gonna
share his advice on how we cando all of the above.
I'm not gonna waste any moretime.
Let's get into it with Manish.
Manish, welcome back to thepodcast.
You're the first guest thatwe've had back for a second

(04:22):
time, or I should say has,willingly come back a second
time.
And you're, celebrating our oneyear birthday today, the day
this podcast comes out.
So thank you very much forlaunching a year ago and for
coming back as well.

Manish Kapur (04:34):
No, I'm really happy to be like, I can't
believe it's been a year.

Harv Nagra (04:37):
It's flown by.
So we're getting into kind ofbeing more strategic today.
we've had some conversations onthis in the past, but there's
some more, deep diving into thisthat I wanted to sort out for my
own sake, and I'm sure there'sother people that have a similar
challenge as well.
But before we get into it, a bitof context setting, do you think
separates agencies thatconsistently grow from those

(04:59):
that end up stagnating

Manish Kapur (05:01):
Well, I think it really boils down to future
planning.
You know, The agencies that dogrow are the ones that actually
plan for the short, medium, andlong term and actually have a
plan in place and then workback.
And I think that's the biggestdifference versus the one that
just work month to month.

Harv Nagra (05:16):
So actually, I think our conversation is quite
fitting because the whole themeof it is to make sure that
you're taking the opportunity toidentify things that you need to
sort out.
so that you end up being a muchsmarter, more efficient
organization, rather than justrunning the way you always have.
To that point though, mychallenge is that it is very
easy to fall into, what I likereferring to as the whirlwind

(05:37):
MDs that can't get outtadelivery, finance and operations
leaders that get pulled intofirefighting.
I really struggled sometimes toprioritize when there's just
constantly questions flying inon Slack and things like that.
And trying to find the rightbalance between making progress
on my own business initiativesversus helping people
troubleshoot theirs.

(05:58):
So some advice from yourselfwould be really helpful.
How do you suggest that we asoperations or agency leaders
ensure that we're able to findthe focus to work on those
bigger picture projects thatactually move the needle and
drive the business forward?

Manish Kapur (06:12):
Yeah, I think it's, it's a bit of a cliche,
but it is important and that'sthat you've gotta have find time
to work on the business, not init.
And the way to do that is toextract yourself from the day to
day.
And I think it's reallyimportant that once you've
actually set your future plan,the short, medium, and long-term
goals, that you've got anopportunity to review those.
And I think that's where monthlymanagement meetings are really
important.
Taking time out and spending, anhour or two hours every month

(06:35):
just reviewing where thebusiness is at without any of
the other distractions asbusiness as usual.
So I think that's quite key andit keeps you on track.
The other thing is important isthat if you are starting some
initiative, it's to take timeout, maybe do a workshop of some
sort.
And that also should be done,externally, just so you're
focusing on the business andaway from the day to day.
Because if you try and squeezethese things in with all the

(06:55):
usual challenges that you haveof running an agency, it just
won't happen.
Or if it does happen, it won'tbe particularly good and it's
really difficult to get everyonetogether, particularly if
they're a senior role.
So the best thing to do is to goright.
We're gonna put a date in thediary, this is what we're gonna
be focusing on.
Everyone needs to attend.
And just ensure that you havethat time stipulated for people
to spend time thinking about thebusiness and not the day-to-day

(07:17):
challenges.

Harv Nagra (07:18):
Absolutely.
one thing that I've learned abit later than I maybe should
have is to also block out my owntime.
I knew what priorities I had,but if you're just looking at
your to-do list and trying topick what you wanna work on, but
then you have those constantdistractions coming in, well
there's two things really.
One is make sure you turn on donot disturb so that you can
actually focus, the world is notgonna end if you don't answer

(07:39):
somebody's question within aminute or something like that.
And, um, I, I think thatblocking out time is just so
important.
'cause what I would find Manishis that I would have the best
intentions at the start of theweek, when all that kind of
business as usual questionsstart flying in and stuff like
that, I would find that I wouldprioritize those and my project

(08:00):
work and the things that Iwanted to do would get shoveled
into a smaller and smallerwindow, and it would end up
feeling like it was a littlepocket on a Friday evening uh,
you know, or, or needing to workovertime or, out of office to
actually make progress on that.
So I think it's really simple aswell, is just make sure you
carve out time and prioritizethat because you are working on

(08:20):
something that's super importantto the success of the

Manish Kapur (08:22):
Absolutely.
It does help if it's aninitiative that's been set up by
the most senior person in theagency, then people do make the
time.
I experienced it.
It feels something that I wantedto launch.
It was just me.
Then it was a bit of a challengeto get everyone to take some
time out.
But when it was set by thechairperson or the CEO, then all
of a sudden it became everyone'stop priority.
So I think with all these typeof initiatives, you've gotta
really have.

(08:43):
Some kind of, senior advocatefor it.
'cause that's the best way ofensuring that people will find
time.
And I always say, look, peopleneed to take holidays and very
rarely do they cancel a holidayif they've got another type
brief or a deadline to hit.
Well, I'd hope not.
They find a way around it.
And I think because it's mixedin with business as usual and
working on the agency, peopletend to flex a bit and it tends

(09:04):
to get a little bit lost.
But ultimately, if you can taketime outta the agency for your
personal stuff, then you have tomake the similar effort to do
that for working on the agency.
And of course, having someonesenior will certainly help
because they'll make sure ithappens.
But everyone's gonna see theimportance of it.
They've gotta see the value andfind a way.

Harv Nagra (09:21):
super excited to get into the practicalities, but
that's a opportunity for me tomention that.
If listeners haven't signed upfor the Handbook newsletter, you
definitely should because you'llget the notes from this episode
with all of Manisha's advice inthere in your inbox about a week
after this episode goes out.
So.
let's say you do wanna sit downand have a workshop with some

(09:41):
senior members of your team toidentify gaps and priorities,
right?
You could be doing this at anytime, really, there's no need to
say, this needs to be in theautumn to kick off for January,
although that might be a goodtime that people like thinking
about this stuff, but it couldreally happen anytime.
First question, how long shouldthis workshop be, and who should

(10:02):
you invite?

Manish Kapur (10:03):
Well, I think you probably are looking at a day,
going back to the previousquestion about how do you fit
things in when you've got otherstuff going on, one tactic might
be that, okay, if you can't dothe full day, then you split it
into two sections or into evenfour.
So if you are really strugglingbecause things are so busy to
actually get time out, then youmight decide, well, look, I'd
rather have two really goodfocus sessions than trying to do

(10:25):
a day that's full ofinterruptions.

Harv Nagra (10:26):
Mm-hmm.

Manish Kapur (10:27):
say that it's always challenging to get people
into these meetings.
And normally when you're havingsome form of strategic workshop,
it's probably gonna involve yourmost senior people and they're
the hardest to try andcoordinate and get into your
diary.
So if you are gonna have to dothat, you're probably going,
okay, let's get it in for a day,one day where we can get
everyone who's seen you withinthe business into this workshop
and just have that as a kind ofa, a blocked out session for

(10:49):
people to actually attend.

Harv Nagra (10:50):
And if you are the ops director that is trying to
coordinate this, is there anyprep work that you should do
beforehand to get everythingready?

Manish Kapur (10:57):
Yeah, absolutely.
Do you know the, the key thingwith any kind of workshop is to
ensure that you actually knowwhat the objective is for that
workshop.
And I think that's somethingyou've gotta have in place
before you even start.
And that's gonna involve talkingto some key people just to make
sure that everyone's alignedbecause you've got that day,
there's a lot to get through.
The last thing you want is toget to that workshop, and then
people start to question orchallenge the objective.
then before you know it, you'venot actually done any

(11:19):
workshopping.
All you've done has beenchallenging around the,, actual
objective.
So have that set and prepbeforehand.
So everyone knows we're doing aworkshop, we're gonna do it on
this day, and this is theobjective for that workshop, and
that has to be agreed well inadvance.

Harv Nagra (11:33):
Yeah, good point.
And I, if you are talking aboutkind of business objectives and
results and stuff like that,what are your thoughts around
should you have some reportsready is that useful to reflect
on, do you think?

Manish Kapur (11:45):
Yeah, I think it's well worth asking the attendees,
if they know the objectives,they'd be prepped.
And to have things to hand sothey can refer to it.
You know, To be honest, it'sprobably not gonna be anything
more than just a laptop with awifi connection, because most of
the stuff should be easilyaccessible, but they should have
in mind what are they gonnabring and what information
they're going to need to maybevalidate a point.
They might have a certainopinion, and that's where data

(12:05):
comes into play to say, welllook, based on what we had
before or what we've done andwhat we've achieved and these
type of results, this is why I'mputting forward this suggestion.
But, they'll know what theobjective is and they should be
prepped.
And I think there's nothingworse than when someone turns up
who hasn't done any kind of prepwhatsoever.
'cause it really shows becausethey're not being really clear
on their points, they're notreally, really sure about how
they wanna move forward onsomething.

(12:26):
And that really stands out.
So it's in their interest justto be prepped in advance so they
know how they might answercertain questions and contribute
to the workshop.

Harv Nagra (12:33):
you were mentioning the use of laptops, so do you
think like, and a Miro board isfine, do you think if you're
getting people together, chartpaper, all that kind of stuff,
do you think one works betterthan the other?

Manish Kapur (12:44):
Yeah, I think when you are starting off with a
workshop, particularly it's morestrategic.
You don't want it to be too finetuned, and that's why I prefer
the more traditional methods ofa bit of brown paper, a
whiteboard.
Markers, stickies, all thosethings.
And so it's not so fine tunedbecause what you really wanna do
is use that opportunity whereyou've got all those senior
people to use their brain powerand get as much of their ideas

(13:04):
down on paper.
if you're trying to finesse ittoo much and going digital, then
that can be a problem.
I think just one point on thelaptops, I think it's important
that people are only using thelaptops for finding out
information and not sittingthere checking emails.
'Cause that's the only drawback,and I think I should have
mentioned this earlier, is ifpeople have got technology in
the room, obviously they'll havetheir mobiles and laptops.

(13:25):
That's something that they wantto put away.
So they are there purely forinformation and not that
actually up on a desk wherepeople are able to check emails.
'cause that'll ruin the flow.
Put the laptops to the side,have your paper, your markers,
your stickies out, and use thoseto sort of ask people, you know,
certain opinions on ideas.
And I think that's the best wayto go.

Harv Nagra (13:44):
let's talk about the format for the day.
You've got a framework forrunning this kind of workshop,
which has seven sessions overthe course of the day with some
breaks built in and stuff likethat.
So I wanted to walk through thatfor our listeners so they have a
total understanding of how yourecommend running this.
So let's start with session one.
I think you were saying this isthe welcome and scene setting.

(14:07):
So just talk us through a bit ofthat.
How long is that and whathappens during that

Manish Kapur (14:11):
Yeah, absolutely.
I think it's important tomention that this is a
fast-paced workshop.
There's a lot to get throughwithin the day, but once again,
it goes back to my previouspoint.
It's so difficult to get seniorpeople in the room and
particularly if you want themfor a day.
So you're trying to get throughas much as possible, and that's
also why that you go moretraditional methods or pen and
paper because it's justgenerally a lot quicker.

(14:31):
But I would say that the firstthing you do with the scene
setting, it's the first 15minutes of actually deciding and
making sure everyone is agreedon what the overall objective
is.
I think ultimately it's alsoabout setting the principles and
just making sure that everyone'sin the right framework.
So things like, honesty, beingopen-minded, okay.
To challenge, ensure that peopleare willing to collaborate and
forward focus.

(14:52):
And of course you may say that,well, we do that all the time.
But I think it's important justto reiterate that, that the
purpose of this, workshop is toensure that we can really say
what we really think.
It's a closed environment, it'sreally there for just the people
within that room.
But people should be able to saywhat they wanna say without
fear, particularly when the mostsenior person in the agency
might be present.
I'm sure they would also want tohear the facts and I think it's

(15:14):
no point or hold worth bodyingback.
On that.
I think also just making surethat we're aligned on the
outputs to make sure that whatsuccess looks like.
So to set, look, we have thisobjective and our aim for the
end of the day is this.
So we set the art right from thebeginning.

Harv Nagra (15:29):
Really, really good points.
Set the stage for the day andmake sure that psychological
safety element has beenemphasized.

Manish Kapur (15:36):
Yeah, and I would just add that's only 15 minutes.
That's just like the first 15minutes just to start off.

Harv Nagra (15:41):
Let's move on to session two, which you call the,
'where are we now' session.
So please talk us through thatlength and what gets done during
this session.

Manish Kapur (15:51):
Yeah, so this is quite a chunky period, so this
is 45 minutes.
And the objective there isreally to understand what the
current state of the agency isfrom a strategic and operational
lens.
So there's a few activitiesthere that I recommend that we
focus on where we are now part,and that will be first of all,
is a, a brief presentation fromthe leadership.
And so I think everyone needs tostart off with just doing a

(16:11):
brief presentation on where theythink the agency's currently at.
So that might be things likelooking at the current goals or
their strategy recent businessperformance, depending on where
they are and what their rolesare.
Any known bottlenecks orfrustrations.
And I think it's just reallygood just to air that out right
at the very beginning.
And it's important that everyonedoes that.
It may vary depending on whatteam they're in, but in general,

(16:32):
that's what it should cover.
There should also then be a bitof team reflection.
So this is where people wouldprobably work out silent at
first and then shared.
And some of the things that theyshould be thinking about in
their heads initially is, what'sworking well what's getting in
the way what are we over-relyingon as far as people or patchwork
solutions?
And that should just be thepeople just stepping back and

(16:52):
thinking about that.
You may like to think thatthey've done some prep work and
they're already thinking aboutthese things, but they may not
had a chance.
But within that workshop, justto spend a bit of time thinking
it to themselves, and then whenthey're ready, only for like
five minutes is that's when it'sshared with the group.
And everyone has an opportunityto, to reflect and share the
reflections to the rest of thepeople in the workshop.

Harv Nagra (17:11):
there any tools that could also be used to facilitate
this?

Manish Kapur (17:14):
Yeah.
Well that's a good pointactually, because I think with
any kind of workshop you wannatry and have as much things as
set and prompted in advance.
You don't want to give peoplethe answer, but just to make
sure they're all thinking in thesame lines.
And I think this is where theops has an important role to
play because there is more prepwork that could be done and they
could be thinking about whattype of questions they could ask
just to make sure it staysaligned.
Ideally when people start toreflect and then they come back

(17:36):
with their answers, they'realigned with what other people
are thinking in the sameballpark.
So for instance, you could set aframework and say, they are like
four pillars, for instance.
So have a think about, how arewe doing from a leadership
perspective?
How are we doing from afinancial perspective?
How are we doing from a peopleperspective?
How are we doing from a processperspective?
some kinda like buckets thatpeople could have a think about

(17:56):
without it being too broad.

Harv Nagra (17:58):
Really good point.
I was reading over yourframework and you also had
something there about kind ofthe start, stop and continue,
which is also a really great wayto just kind of prompt

Manish Kapur (18:08):
Yeah.
And I think these are the thingsthat you bring in.
So once people are started toshare.

Harv Nagra (18:13):
Mm-hmm.

Manish Kapur (18:13):
reflections are.
And then so on is writing itdown.
Then you can start to use those.
So on the left hand side you canwrite down everyone's points and
then you'll probably findthere's some commonalities that
a lot of people are saying thesame thing about a particular
point.
And that's when you can start touse the sort of the start, stop,
continue type methodology tosay, well actually that's
working really well.
Let's continue with that.

(18:34):
We agree that this is a bit of abehavior that's not good, that
we should just stop.
Or there might be somethingthat's actually missing.
And then we go, actually, that'ssomething that we should be
doing.
So then you put that within thecolumn of start.

Harv Nagra (18:44):
Right.
Let's move on then.
We're into session three.
We've had a look at how we'redoing at the moment and
reflecting on kind of thefigures and what's working well,
and maybe not so well.
So session three, you callfuture visioning.
How long is that and whathappens during that session?

Manish Kapur (18:59):
Yeah, so this is probably the bit that one kind
of looks forward to.
And I think there might bechomping at the bit to get
started, but I do think theprevious stages are equally as
important.
So this is a good hour ofactually doing that.
And what that primarily evolvesis to articulate where the
agency wants to be in differenthorizons.
So it could be short term, whichmight be 12 months, it may be
medium, one to three years.
And it may be long term, threeyears plus.

(19:21):
It could be that the CEO is theperson who's setting that vision
initially.
They're the ones that tend toset the overall direction,
that's key part of their role.
But that doesn't mean that otherpeople can't have a view on
that.
And this may be something thatthe CEO is actually thought
about in advance.
So they already know that thisis where they want the agency to
be.
And they use the opportunitywhere they've got everyone
within the workshop to basicallydo that so they can go, right,

(19:43):
this is my initial thoughts,this is why I think the agency
should be in X amount of years,and then start to get some
feedback on that.
But some of the things that youcan do as far as activities and
far as guided prompts is ifwe're sitting here in a year,
what would success look like?
What do we want to be known foras an agency?
What should our client mix teamand revenue model look like in
three years?
What our ultimate ambition orexit plan, if any?

(20:06):
So these are very broad.
Very open guided prompts.
So they're not going into anykind of detail at the moment.
It's just really getting an ideaof, what people see as the
future.
Now of course it could be thatCEO has already set that vision
and just wants to get feedbackfrom the rest of the people.
Or actually that person hasn'tgot it.
They want to grow the agency,but they're not exactly sure
what the agency should be likein that time period.

(20:28):
And they use the opportunity ofwhere they've got a workshop of
people actually giving theirideas.
'cause ultimately you need tohave the leadership team
involved to actually hit yourgoals.
So bringing them in early andgetting their view could be a
good way of doing it.

Harv Nagra (20:40):
Yep.
It's a nice opportunity tosense, check that vision that's
already there, but also getinput from the most senior
people in the team.
so that's about an hour.
let's move into session fourthen.
Defining and prioritizing goals.
So maybe this is where I'vestruggled because you end up
creating a huge list of ideasand then it's like, well, how do

(21:00):
you select which ones actuallymove forward and all that kind
of stuff.
So, talk us through sessionfour, defining and prioritizing
goals.

Manish Kapur (21:08):
Yeah, and I think it's important to mention after
each sort of session you arewriting things down and having
some kind of conclusion.
So I think even with theprevious one, there might be
some time horizon mapping whereyou go, well, actually within
the stages of like 12 months.
Three years and three yearsplus.
What are the things andactivities that we're looking to
do or where we want to be at?
So as you're going along, youare writing these down and end

(21:28):
up with some kind of broadconclusion about what you hope
to achieve for that particularsession.
Because otherwise it justbecomes quite unwielding.
There's a lot of things to getdone, but I think this is one of
the areas that's probably themost challenging because you can
spend a lot of time thinkingabout where you wanna be and
have some great ideas, but ifthey're not actually
implemented, then it's beenpretty wasted.
So I think within this sort ofthe defining and positioning

(21:49):
prioritization of the goals,that's a good session of a good
hour and a half because that'swhere it starts to have a little
bit of reality and it'simportant to spend that amount
of time on it.
So the overall objective of thatis obviously to translate the
ambitions and aspiration intosmall number of clear,
actionable goals for each teamor tif each time horizon.
So this is where you're tryingto add a bit of realism.
So for instance, if you go,well, we want to be the biggest

(22:11):
agency in the world in threeyears.
And you're nowhere near that,then clearly that's not a very
good, clear ambition to aim for.
So there's also some bit ofbeing realistic about what's
actually achievable.
And I think that's what thatsession really does.
And I think it's important justto group them down into smaller
priorities because I thinksometimes you can end up with so
many that nothing gets done andyou have to be realistic about

(22:34):
what could be achieved.
And one key part of that is toput them into smaller little
groups or ones that are actuallyachievable.
And I think it's better to havemaybe, three or four goals that
are really liked to be achievedwithin the timeframe that you've
set than to have 10 that youthink would be great to do.
And none of them happens'causeit's just too ambitious and you
can't do it.
So I think it's really importantto apply the smart methodology

(22:55):
to make sure that it's actuallyspecific, it's measurable, it's
attainable, it's realistic, andit's time bound.

Harv Nagra (23:01):
Mm-hmm.

Manish Kapur (23:01):
when you really know if a goal is actually gonna
happen.
Otherwise it's just is toobroad.
I think also you have to use abit of an impact and effort
matrix to see, is it actuallyachievable?
Can we do that within ourcurrent workload?
And that's like a very simplemethod about actually putting
that goal down on paper and justseeing, well, how much of the
impact it would actually have.
Well, it would've a really highimpact but the effort would also

(23:23):
be quite high.
Or can we actually achieve that?
For instance, if it's a highimpact and the effort's medium
because the impact is so high,it's worth going for.
So all these things help just tosolidify their goals to make
sure that they are actuallyachievable.
'cause also it's given theleadership team that are in that
workshop more of a anopportunity to know what's
required, but also somethingthat's realistic and confidence

(23:43):
that they can actually achievethat as well.
And I think it's also just tomap that out within the
timeframe because ultimately theobjective for that workshop was
to set some goals, but to setthem in some form of timeframe
with a short, medium, and longterm.
And so if you are gonna do themand set them as a priority, make
sure they're time bound and thatkind of helps to put them within
a timeframe to say that'ssomething that we hope to get

(24:05):
done within 12 months.
That's something that we wannaget done within three years, or
this is something that's gonnabe three years plus.
I think they're reallyimportant.

Harv Nagra (24:12):
So with these kind of priorities that we're setting
should the ops director be theone driving all of this, or are
you at this stage also assigningwho's gonna lead some of these
because the ops person wouldbecome a bottleneck?
What are your thoughts on that?

Manish Kapur (24:28):
Well, I think this is interesting.
It's a little bit broader topicreally, but I think this is
where OPS has really become arole in itself.
Traditionally when I started offI was a studio manager and the
role evolved into ops and Ithink there's an opportunity now
within ops for people to be moreinvolved in the setting the
direction of the business andhelping actually implement it,
the changes.
And I think this is where OPShas got a key role to play.
And of course, the overallvision's probably gonna be set

(24:49):
by the most senior person withinthe agency.
It could be the founder, could,the CEO could be a chairperson,
but I think they've got a realclear role of actually making
sure this gets implemented andbecomes a reality.
And I think this is whyoperations where it tends to be
quite internally focused animportant role to make sure that
what's agreed within thatworkshop becomes a clear
actionable plan.
And they take the lead.
Because I think if you spread itaround to too many people, if if

(25:12):
too many people own it, nobodyowns it.
So I think it's really importantthat, ops are the ones that
really take the lead on thisbecause I think they're best
placed from an internalperspective to make sure that
all the objectives and goalsthat have been set within the
workshop are actually achievableand do happen.
Although they have to rely onpeople who are part of the
leadership team to ensure thatthey do their bit and they
assign real responsibilities.

(25:32):
But I think OPS has got a keyrole to play because a lot of
this is gonna be involvinginternal things that need to be
sorted.
So making sure that you have theright systems and tools in
place.
To actually achieve the goals,to make sure you've got the
right processes there in placeto make sure that people and
roles are also clear.
cause that's gonna be quite keyon that.
So there's metrics and reportingto ensure that there's ways of
measuring progress and see thatset.

(25:54):
And also there's financialcontrols in place as well to
control budgets and all thatkind of stuff.
So that's where ops come intoplay and I think their role is
gonna be quite key, not only toensure that the whole thing
stays on track, but also ensurethat other people are doing
their bit.
But a lot of that's gonnarequire some internal change and
ops are best placed to be doingthat.

Harv Nagra (26:13):
I really like what you're saying.
I think this has also been oneof my kind of issues in the
past, in the way I've tried torun this, is deciding that
certain initiatives somebodyelse would be best placed to own
that.
And the thing is, a lot of timesthese other senior leaders in
the business, apart from maybefinance like the fd, have client
priorities or team priorities.

(26:34):
They might be head of accountsor.
Head of digital, things likethat.
And so when those individualsare assigned things like
obviously client work takes thepriority for them and everything
else becomes really difficult.
So if it is the ops directorthat's owning it, they can be
the ones coordinating Preparingfor those workshops to get the
best out of these individualsand moving things along.

(26:56):
And I think it just goes back tous reminding everyone that
operations is a strategic role,and it's not just about the
tactical and the firefightingand stuff like that.
So this is the fun, excitingstuff that we hopefully really
enjoy working on.
The stuff that really pays off.
be the owner, be the driver,and, and just get it done.

Manish Kapur (27:17):
Absolutely, and I think you're right.
This is the exciting part.
It's a lot more exciting thanresource management.
So you know, to have anopportunity to be sitting at the
top table to help the agency hitstrategic goals is quite key.
But also if you think about whatoperations do on a day to day is
very much focused around thebusiness, as in the creative
lead is obviously having tofocus on output.
And finance is obviously havingto keep an eye on the numbers.

(27:39):
CEO, MDs, thinking about thefuture and sales.
So they've all got otherexternal stuff that they've also
got to focus on.
There only is really one personthat has the ability and time to
really focus on what's going onwithin the agency, and that's
ops.

Harv Nagra (27:53):
If you're getting to that size where you're feeling
like, okay, well this is a lotof work that I need to be doing.
that's also Okay.
I, I think that's where you canalso start making a case for
bringing in kind of an opsmanager a project management
officer or a resource manager sothat you're.
Delegating those more tacticalelements of your role to other
people that can be the frontlinewhen it comes to resourcing or,

(28:14):
or troubleshooting, even systemsmanagement.
But then you get to work onthese more important initiatives
and supporting the FD in kind ofthe analysis of how the business
is performing and forecastingand stuff like

Manish Kapur (28:27):
Yeah, it's a really good point.
It might be the opportunitywhere you can ask for that
additional support within yourteam you know you're being set
the challenge of ensuring thatwhatever goals that you've come
out, that workshop are actuallyachieved.
And you gotta spend time on thatto say, well, I do need a bit of
support in other areas of thebusiness.
And obviously there's gonna besome tasks that s people just
don't wanna do anymore.
And the opportunity to delegatethose tasks to somebody else is,

(28:47):
is a great opportunity.
Not only would it benefit theagency because you've got
someone taking responsibilityfor the goals that you want to
achieve for the longer term, butalso to hand over some of the
things that you, maybe you don'twant to do some more.
And you've got an opportunity toactually get someone in because
there's now a bigger goal anopportunity for the business.
And that will only be achievedif that ops person's got the
right support in placethemselves.

Harv Nagra (29:07):
I think a lot of us, like we end up accumulating a
lot of responsibilities overtime and not being able to shed
anything.
That also results in burnout andkind of frustration with the
role as well.
'cause you end up working onthese things that don't excite
you any longer and don'tchallenge you.
All right, Manish.
Let's get into session five,which you call operational
alignment.
Please talk us through that.

Manish Kapur (29:29):
Yeah, so this is another big session.
It's a good hour and a half.
It's a great opportunity for theops person to really have a big
part to play in the overallworkshop.
Overall objective is identifyoperational enablers which are
required to support delivery ofgoals.
You now, the chances are this isgonna be very much internally
focused because it's shiftingthe agency and this change
management.
So I think, some of theactivities there is really to

(29:51):
think about what is it we needto be doing from an internal
perspective to enable us to, toachieve those goals and also get
feedback from other people tosee if they think there's gonna
be certain challenges.
And those things might be, forinstance, looking at systems and
tools.
Do we have the right tools inplace to enable us to hit those
goals?
What are our processes like?
Are there those things that needto be reviewed?

Harv Nagra (30:10):
Mm-hmm.

Manish Kapur (30:11):
blocks in the way that we work that might prevent
us from achieving our long-termgoals?
Also, assessing people in roles.
Do we have the right people inplace?
You know, If the agency, forinstance, wants to be more
strategic and less tactic based,do we have the right people in
place to, to deliver that?
Also decide on what sort ofmetrics are gonna be used.
How are we gonna know that thisis actually working?
How do we report on thosethings?

(30:32):
And if there's any, anyfinancial controls that also
need to be in place.
'cause there might be moneyinvolved.
For instance, you might need tohire more people that you might
need to bring in more systemsand tools.
And so all that's gonna costmoney.
So how do you control that?
How do you control the budgetson those things?
I think it's important thatthere's a methodology called the
Red Thread.
Which means that everything'sgotta be linked from start to
finish.

(30:52):
And I really like it becauseultimately what you're doing is
you're mapping out a start toend.
But to get to that point, youneed to think about what is it
we need in between that startand that end to enable us to hit
that.
And I think that's where opscomes into play, because there's
some internal changes that arerequired along the way to ensure
you hit your goal, but they'veall gonna be linked to that
overall objective.
So you're not adding things onjust for the sake of it.

(31:14):
You are going, well actuallythis is gonna aid us to that
objective.
That's why we need this.
So one is aligned in the firstplace.

Harv Nagra (31:21):
haven't heard of the red thread, that sounds really
useful.
So, is that kind of thinkingabout the people, the processes,
the tools that might be requiredfor that objective?
Is that kind of what you mean?

Manish Kapur (31:30):
Pretty much everything because you've got a
start goal, a start, and thenyou've got the end goal.
And then you think about howyou're gonna achieve that.
And from an operationalperspective, there's gonna be
some changes.

Harv Nagra (31:38):
Mm-hmm.

Manish Kapur (31:39):
for instance, you may look at it and go that, well
one of the things that we needto do is to ensure that our
reporting is a lot clearer.
Well, do we have the righttools?
'cause at the moment we're usingthe Excel.
So do we need to invest in atool that allows us to do
reporting?
Well if we're gonna do that,what about the data?
Well, that all needs to go intoone place.
So that's one.
Now, it may be difficult for theops person to warrant getting in

(32:00):
a new system'cause it can betime and it can be expensive.
But.
By saying that our overall goalis this, and to ensure that we
achieve it from start to finish,we need to have this in place to
enable us to hit that.
So the whole thing around thered thread is really, it's about
aligned to an actual goal thatwe're looking to achieve.
That's, that's the reason.
It's not because we just wannaget it in.
It's because it's allowing us toachieve that ultimate goal.

(32:22):
This is what we're focused on,and there may be other things
that need to come into play, butit's all aligned to the same
strategic goal that you set outwithin that workshop.

Harv Nagra (32:32):
Yep.
All right, so we're gonna moveinto session six, which is about
staying on track.

Manish Kapur (32:38):
Yeah, so this is obviously the hardest part

Harv Nagra (32:40):
Yeah,

Manish Kapur (32:40):
obviously everyone's left that workshop
and they're all gonna be reallyexcited.
And then as you expect, businessas usual comes into play and
then people kind of like getdistracted and then things just
start to go off track.
so I think this is where OPS hasgot a real key role to play
because as well as ensuring thatthe overall workshop is hit its
objectives.
We want to make sure that thereare some clear action points
that come from the workshop, andthat's where everyone else is

(33:02):
gonna have some actions thatthey're working towards as well.
And they have to be set beforethe workshop finishes.
this is what you are gonna bedoing, CEO.
This is what you are gonna bedoing.
Finance director, this is whatyou are gonna be focused on.
Creative director.
This is gonna do head of clientservicing right the way through.
So everyone has got a clear roleand an action point that they've
got to deliver on, but alsothat's also gonna be set with a

(33:22):
deadline.
So this is what we're workingtowards because if we don't have
that, then it will start todrift.
And it may be that because oneperson hasn't done their bit, it
has a knock on effect to someoneelse's.
So that's why everyone's got tobe agreed that this is what
they're gonna be doing and thisis when they're gonna get done
by.
And then it's ops role to makesure that everyone's actually
doing that.
And if anyone has got a problemwith actually achieving it, some

(33:43):
challenges to help try and breakthose.
So it may be, for instance thatthe creative director has got
busy on a pitch and they mightstruggle to hit their particular
action points.
Then they might step in, the opsperson, say, well actually, do
you need to be so heavilyinvolved?
Could I get some more supportfor you on that pitch?
Could I help with a bigger teamthat might be able to support
just to ensure that they havetime to do their action points?

(34:05):
Not the sort of usual to say,well, okay, we've got a pitch,
we're now gonna have to bumpthat.
Because then you get back tothat scenario where things won't
happen and you won't be able tohit your action points and
delaying everyone else at thesame time.

Harv Nagra (34:16):
Absolutely.
I've seen that happen one toomany times where an excuse once
you get back to your desks foreverything, and things are
always gonna come up.
So if you start letting thingsslip in terms of deadlines for
all the, steps that need to betaken to achieve these
objectives, then 12 monthslater, you're probably not gonna
hit.
A lot of them, unfortunately.
what I like about what you weresaying is that even with these

(34:36):
objectives, you can set'em on atime horizon when you want to

Manish Kapur (34:39):
Um,

Harv Nagra (34:40):
Next three months, next 12 months, next three
years, and so on.
then you're breaking it down andthen also setting deadlines for
each of those.
And then the ops person can becoordinating these sessions, but
also prompting individuals toprovide the information they
need at the right times,

Manish Kapur (34:55):
absolutely, and I think this is where the most
senior persons got a role toplay because they were present
at the workshop.
They heard what the actions weregonna be and who's gonna be
responsible for them.
And they can also support.
The ops person to ensure thatthey get the backing to be a
little bit, pushy at times tosay, come on, we've got a
deadline here.
We really need to do this.
And not to just push thatdeadline back, but maybe find

(35:16):
alternative ways to ease theirbusiness as usual workload so
they can focus on the, goalsthat were set without the
workshop.

Harv Nagra (35:23):
Yep.
this workshop was not a vanityexercise.
It's not something you're doingfor fun or to waste people's
time You are trying to dosomething important.
So I think that point aboutgetting the MD or CEO on side,
and that's maybe where a chatneeds to happen between, CEO,
finance director, ops director,and say, we all need to be
speaking from the same HIM sheetand, cEO, we need you to say

(35:45):
this to make sure people aretaking this seriously and making
time for it.
Right.

Manish Kapur (35:50):
yeah, absolutely.

Harv Nagra (35:51):
think where things can fall apart is,
unfortunately, if the opsdirector has to play bad cop all
the time, that's very draining,right?
You're chasing people on timesheets and then you're chasing
senior leaders on and kind ofnudging forward their
initiatives and that can becomejust really frustrating.
So make sure you get thesupport.

Manish Kapur (36:08):
It is, but you're right.
You know that workshop is takena day out of your most senior
people.
And you can't just do that juston a whim.
I.
And it has to have that clearobjective and some clear goals.
And you're right, it's not avanity exercise.
It is there to decide on wherethe business is going.
And we said this right from thevery beginning, the difference
between the agencies that dohave fast growth and do really

(36:30):
well are the ones that do planin the future.
And that's difficult to do whenyou're trying to fit it in
within business as usual.
The only way to do that is in aworkshop and you've gotta take
it seriously.
'cause this is the future of thebusiness and in fact the future
of their roles and everyone elsein the company.
So it is a really importantexercise, and you're right, ops
people are seen as a bad cop.
And they've got enoughchallenges trying to get people
to fill out time sheets, letalone trying to ensure that the

(36:51):
leadership team is followingthrough on their actions from
that workshop.
you know, Everyone knows isimportant and no one does it.
To be malicious.
They just get busy and havingsomeone very senior to support
to say, well actually opsperson, if you're struggling
with an individual, just let meknow and maybe I'll have a word
with them and see if I can easetheir workloads so they can hit
their goals and do the actionpoints that were allocated to

(37:11):
them.

Harv Nagra (37:12):
right, so if anyone's keeping track, we're on
session seven out of seven whichyou called the wrap up and
commitment.
So Manish, please talk usthrough what that is.

Manish Kapur (37:20):
Yeah, so this kind of follows up from the, the
staying on track and this islike a, 30 minute towards the
end and it's just really a bitabout recapping the strategic
goals and just making sure thateveryone's aligned, particularly
on operational focus.
And I think this is importantfor us people, is that you want
to leave that workshop knowingthat you've brought up what the
operational challenges will be.
You kind of use that kind of redthread methodology about these

(37:41):
are the things that we need tohave in place to make sure that
we hit our goals from start tofinish.
And everyone else in theleadership understands that and
they're also willing to supportyou.
On it, it could be as importantas saying, well, we've decided
that we need to get this kind oftool in to allow us to do that,
and somebody else in anothertool doesn't get it.
They give up their budget toallow the ops person to get the
tool that they need that's gonnaallow the agency to hit their

(38:03):
strategic goals.
that's the sort of alignmentthat we're talking about here.
I think also just asking eachleader to state one commitment
they're gonna make to supportthe delivery.
it's a great little thing to do,is just to say, for instance,
I'm sure the key one's gonna beis I'm gonna make time within my
day to ensure that I achieve myaction points would be a good
one.
Or I'm gonna support this personto ensure they do that.
Or I'm gonna go out and find outmore information regarding this

(38:25):
blocker that we might have toprevent that that doesn't become
a barrier.
I think also just to agree onthe next steps, so it's really
important to have a workshopoutput document within about
five days.
This will be very much up to theops person to do that because a
lot's happened within the dayand then someone's gonna be
taken down what's been writtendown the boards taking shots of
any kind of mood boards withstickies that have been set up.

(38:45):
Putting that in a bit of adocument, a bit of a summary is
quite key to say this was ouroverall objective.
These are the points that weagreed across all those
different sessions.
These are the actions that weare gonna take and these are the
actual actions that individualsare gonna take with the
deadlines attached to those.
So everyone is clear because youdon't really know.
And I'm sure that when youfinish that workshop, everyone's

(39:06):
brains gonna be pretty friedbecause it's quite fast paced.
There's a lot that we managed toget through within that day to
have some document at the endthat summarize it so everyone's
clear on what was actuallyachieved and what needs to be
done next.
also just having someaccountabilities check-ins as
well.
And it's really ops just goingup to the individuals just to
check in.
Are you okay?
Are you gonna get these thingsdone?
And we mentioned this a bitearlier, and to try and avoid.

(39:28):
There being any opportunity forthat person's actions not to get
done.
And that's where ops can come inand start to support them and
go, what can I do to try andease your workload to ensure
that you can, do the actionsthat align for you.
Follow up any sort of planningsessions.
So pre-book, any sessionsthereafter.
So the workshop is just thebeginning, that was just really
an opportunity to get everyone'sideas down on paper.

(39:50):
But now it's really about makingsure that we deliver on that
plan.
And so any of the follow-upsessions need to be pre-planned.
And it's like, we know it'sreally difficult to get senior
people together.
Of course, there's not gonna bea full day, it might be an hour,
it might be two hours, but theyall need to be pre-planned and
to ensure that those people areavailable.
The last thing you want to do isyou've got a meeting arranged
for two months time only to havethat meeting and find out that

(40:11):
one key person is on holiday.
So all those things need to bein the diary in advance.
as an optional, you can havesome follow up half day
workshop.
You may decide that, there wereso many things that we were
trying to get done that we'renot going to achieve
particularly the longer term.
And so you may decide thatthere's so much to discuss.
Maybe it's worth having anotherhalf day workshop just to think
about the longer term goals,because maybe we spent so much

(40:33):
time talking about the sort ofshort medium, and maybe that was
just enough for us to befocusing on, and now we're
thinking, well, actually wedidn't have enough time to think
about the longer term.
And maybe have another half dayworkshop where you run the
exercise again, but maybe not sofull on.

Harv Nagra (40:47):
All right, Manish.
So some of us might work inbusinesses that have multiple
entities, whether they aredomestic.
You've got a kind of a networkof agencies or your agency has
offices in different countries.
That was the case in my formeragency and I found that only
added to the challenge ofcoordination and momentum on
initiatives like these whichkind of slows down the sign off

(41:09):
process, but also the workgetting done.
Because when you're trying tocoordinate people that are in
multiple countries, first ofall, that's a challenge, right?
And then getting people to agreeto things when there might be
local market nuances as well.
That becomes a challenge.
So I guess a few questionsthere.
How do you get people joined upand keep momentum if you are

(41:31):
working in a multi-entity?

Manish Kapur (41:33):
Yeah, it's interesting because we know that
even in a single office, this isgonna be a challenge.
As we've already discussed,where you've got multiple
offices around the world andeven two, it becomes a lot
harder.
I think it's really important,first and foremost, that if
you're gonna want to havechange.
Beyond just one office that thepeople that are involved in are
also involved in the workshop.
And I know that adds additionalexpense because there's

(41:55):
obviously flight andaccommodation as well as their
time.
But it's really importantbecause the idea around that
workshop is to get everyonetogether and to have a common
goal.
You set the objective right fromthe beginning, but also within
the workshop, people have anopportunity to air their
concerns and what may or may notwork in their local market.
And a good example is probablyat my previous agency, which was
a very large brand design agencyand they had full studios.
There weren't offices, therewere full studios in London,

(42:17):
Amsterdam, Singapore, Shanghai,New York.
And so that was a challenge tomake sure that everyone was
aligned and to ensure that alsoeveryone was doing the same
thing because this was about thegroup.
It wasn't about any individualoffice, but there were the
nuances.
For starters, Shanghai worked atdouble the pace that London did.
So, some of the changes that wemight wanna have in London were
more feasible than they may beensay in Shanghai, because just by

(42:41):
the nature of the speed theywork, there was also quality
issues as well as well, becausewhere London may spend a good
two to three weeks on a brief,in Shanghai it was more around
getting the workout quicker.
Of course, quality wasimportant, but not to the same
degree that maybe London had.
Budgets might be an issue, whatthey're willing to pay in one
market versus the other.
But the key thing that wasimportant for the agency that I

(43:02):
was at was that the chairpersonwas a real stickler for
operations.
And I suppose that's what mademy job a lot easier because
ultimately they said thatoperationally the businesses had
to work the same way.
And we would have a situationwhere we needed to have a
designer to go and work inanother studio.
So a designer might be requiredto go from London to Singapore
because they were unable to geta talent, particularly when

(43:23):
they're working on say, a, aspirit brand that required a
certain skillset.
And so we would have that personfly over and work for that team
for about a month or two months.
Great opportunity.
I wish I was a lot younger whenI was working at that agency to
get a chance like that, but theywould have the opportunity to go
and work in another studio.
But the moment they sat at thatdesk in Singapore, they'll be
able to get started.

(43:43):
They weren't having to worryabout, do I understand the ways
of working, the mythology, thebriefing, the systems, it was
absolutely identical and it wasconsistent.
It didn't matter if you weregoing to Singapore or Shanghai,
New York or Amsterdam.
It was all consistent.
And that was predominantly ledby the chairman who said I
needed to be consistent, so Iunderstand what's going on
across the group.
Now, the only way that we couldhave that and to ensure that

(44:05):
things were consistent was tobring in people early enough and
get their involvement.
So at a workshop, it would havethe most senior people present.
But if you are working in anagency, has multiple offices,
the chances are that within yourrole, you've got counterparts.
So it may be that you might bethe operations manager in
London, and there happens to bean operations manager in New
York.

(44:25):
And then so then you start toshare ideas with them.
And it might be because theactual workshop was in London,
the London ops manager attended,and then they feed back.
To the ops manager who's in NewYork to get their ideas and say,
look, these are the kind ofthings we agreed.
What do you think are gonna beslightly the stumbling blocks?
What are the areas that youmight find challenging?
You are agreeing with them inadvance and working with them to

(44:45):
ensure that it stays consistentacross multiple offices.
A lot of it's just down tocommunity communication, but I
would say initially, if you'vegot multiple offices, get the
most senior people within thatworkshop so they can be aligned.
They can also highlight anyissues that they might have.
cause the last thing you want todo is to leave the workshop with
some clear objective and actionplans only to then find out that

(45:07):
another region can't do it.
And then you're like, well nowwhat?
So get them involved a lotsooner.
If it's someone that's maybe notas senior, then that person
who's the counterpart can thenfeed back what the goals were
from that workshop and get theirview on it and see if there's
any challenges that need to bedealt with.

Harv Nagra (45:21):
I love that you're underlying the point on
consistency.
There's always the marketcontext things that are gonna
differ, but for any agencythat's trying to scale with
multiple entities, I thinkreporting really slows down.
If everyone's Doing their ownthing in their own systems, in
their own way.
It's chaotic and from anoperational point as well.
It just makes your growth somuch more efficient if you're

(45:42):
joined up on that and

Manish Kapur (45:43):
Absolutely.
Yeah.

Harv Nagra (45:45):
and if you ever wanna sell in future, I think it
becomes a challenge if everyonein the group is doing their own

Manish Kapur (45:51):
Yeah.

Harv Nagra (45:51):
becomes really difficult for that process to go
forward.

Manish Kapur (45:54):
Because you wanna use the power of the group, and
so you wanna be consistent.
One of the reasons why we usedto send designer across the
world is that we had to haveconsistent one of the work.
The work, because one client sayin London, had referred us to
another client in New York.

Harv Nagra (46:07):
Mm-hmm.

Manish Kapur (46:07):
if New York hadn't delivered for them, it would
have a knock on effect, not justfor that office, but also the
relationship that London hadwith that individual.
So it was really important thatthings were consistent and you
managed to obtain that quality.

Harv Nagra (46:18):
So Manish we've talked through this format today
of running these workshops andhow to drive these projects
forward and make sure you'reevolving.
But, someone listening to thismight feel that, okay, this is a
lot for me to take on and I needsupport.
Is this something that yousupport your clients with as
well?

Manish Kapur (46:34):
Absolutely.
I think it goes back to the factthat people are busy.
And to have focus on that andhaving someone externally can
help because I don't come withthe baggage that they might have
as running things day to day.
I'll come into an agency and myprime focus is on that
particular, that task, thatgoal.
And so there are times when I'mactually asked to run the
workshops so that other peoplecan be actually, involved and

(46:55):
contribute without having toworry about facilitation.
Also ensuring that the end ofit, that the goals are actually
set so people have got someclear actions.
And then also I'm doing thefollow ups.
So I'm the one who's saying, howyou got that done?
Are you struggling withanything?
Is anything that you needsorted?
And it just takes the pressureoff.
And of course I always work in acollaborative way anyway, so
there'll be other people withinthe agencies that I'm working

(47:15):
with, but they appreciate havingsomeone else who can take some
of the workload off them.

Harv Nagra (47:19):
I could have benefited from that support, so.
Excellent.
So Manish before we go, is thereanything new that you're seeing
or hearing from agency folks?
Give us a bit of an

Manish Kapur (47:30):
Well, I don't think you can go to any agency
event without talking about ai.
But one thing that's not beingtalked about, who's gonna own
the AI initiatives with theagencies and personally, I might
be biased, but I think opspeople should.
And I think, there's anopportunity for the ops person
within any agency to take thelead because there's lots of
people trying things out.
I'll go into agencies and theymight have, half a dozen note

(47:51):
takers that they're using.
And of course it's great toexperiment, but someone's gonna
decide, well, which is the notetaker that the agency uses.
And there might be other thingsas far as regarding copy or,
meeting schedules, a whole loadof tools that are out there.
And I think ops have got areally important role to play to
ensure that their agencies hasan AI strategy.
To ensure they know, well, whatAI tools are we gonna be using?

(48:12):
How are we gonna actually embedthem?
Also to check the legalimplications on it as well.
So, I hear a lot of agenciestalking about ai, but I'm not
really getting any clarity aboutwho's owning the AI initiatives
within those agencies.
And I personally think this is aperfect role for operations to
step in to talk to the seniorteam and say, look, of course, I
wanna find out what otherpeople's opinions are on tools

(48:34):
for ai, but I think I should ownthis to make sure that the
agency's got a methodology andset up principles and all that
kind of stuff to make sure thatwe're using the right tools in
the right way.

Harv Nagra (48:44):
Yeah.
those are very operationalchallenges,

Manish Kapur (48:47):
Yeah.

Harv Nagra (48:47):
guidelines for uses intellectual property and
legality concerns, stuff likethat.
So it absolutely should sit withoperations.
I

Manish Kapur (48:55):
Yeah.

Harv Nagra (48:55):
Manish, if anybody wants to look you up and reach
out to you, what's the bestplace to find you.

Manish Kapur (49:01):
Well, I'm quite active on LinkedIn, so connect
with me there.
I also have a weekly newsletterthat I send out, nine o'clock on
a on a Monday and also the site.
So that's manishkapur.co.

Harv Nagra (49:12):
Excellent.
Well thank you very much forthat, Manish.
Super helpful today and I'mgonna pencil you in for the next
birthday episode.

Manish Kapur (49:20):
forward to it.

Harv Nagra (49:21):
much for being back with us today.

Manish Kapur (49:23):
You're welcome.
Thank you.
I.
Hey all.
I hope you found that as usefulas I did in my case.
I used to find that I was quitegood at running a workshop and
getting ideas generated, butfound that when we all got back
to our desks that things wouldslow down and fall off people's
priorities.
So the biggest takeaway here forme today was that if these
projects all sit with the opsdirector, then you can be the

(49:44):
one that's driving them forward.
And while you're counting onpeople to do some homework to
supply you with the answers ormaterials you need, or to join
meetings and contribute theirideas, you're not asking people
that might be client facing tolead the initiative.
I really appreciated what Manishwas saying about the
multi-entity coordination aswell.
If you're part of a group, thenit's usually really important

(50:06):
for a variety of reasons,reporting efficiency, software
subscriptions, employeeexperience, or even a future
agency sale that you're joinedup in the way that you work.
But of course, nuances thatmight be market specific are
okay once again.
If you're not signed up for thehandbook newsletter, you're
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(50:28):
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So sign up now atscoro.com/podcast.
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And if you enjoyed today'sconversation, please share the
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When you see Manish and Iposting about this episode, I'll

(50:48):
be back with the next one soon.
Thanks very much.