The Handbook: The Operations Podcast
The Handbook is a podcast for operations and service-business leaders who are juggling people, processes, finance, tech, and everything in between. Every other week, it dives deep into a specific challenge that businesses face as they grow in headcount and complexity. Listeners get practical insights and real-world advice from experts who have solved those problems. The goal is to help take your business to the next level of business maturity.
Episodes
8 Acquisitions: What They Taught Me About Integration with Jonathan Healey
Most businesses will go through some kind of change management challenge – a new tool, a restructure, a rebrand. But what does it look like when you're doing that across eight acquired businesses, each with their own people, systems, culture, and way of doing things?Jonathan Healey is Group Technology Director at IDHL, a 500-person UK digital agency group that has grown through eight acquisit
Revenue Is Up. Profit Isn't. Here's Why with Rich Brett
Most professional services firms are generating revenue. But somewhere between producing a quote and issuing the final invoice, profit gets eroded. And more often than not, the root cause runs deeper than you'd expect – it's that nobody in the business ever properly understood the numbers in the first place.In this special episode, Harv is joined by FinOps expert Rich Brett to introduce
Why Only 13% of Firms Feel Ready to Scale – with Manish Kapur & Rich Brett
The data is in – and it's not pretty.After surveying 303 agencies and consultancies through the Business Maturity Quiz, we've launched The Maturity Gap Report, revealing just how wide the gap really is between the firms where operations is a strength and everyone else.In this episode, Harv is joined by operations consultant Manish Kapur and FinOps expert Rich Brett to walk through the he
5 ops events. 8 weeks. Zero excuses. RSVP now!
Five events. Eight weeks. Zero excuses.If you're in ops, finance, or senior leadership at an agency or consulting firm – Harv runs through five upcoming events worth getting in your calendar right now.From the Maturity Gap Webinar (where the findings from the business maturity quiz finally get revealed) to the FinOps Conference, two intimate Handbook Breakfast Sessions in London, and – for th
6 Ops Changes That Took This Business from Scrappy to Scalable – with Alex Bodini
Growing a professional services business often starts the same way: scrappy teams, generalists wearing multiple hats, and a lot of momentum driven by energy rather than structure.In this episode of The Handbook, Harv sits down with Alex Bodini, CEO of Spin Brands, to unpack how Spin evolved from a grassroots social media shop into a multi-entity group of 100+ people. Rather than waiting for a cris
Why Ops Is Really About Culture (Not Just Process) with Nicky Russell
The work we produce gets all the attention.But the real question is: what’s happening behind the scenes that makes that work possible?In this episode of The Handbook, Harv sits down with creative operations expert Nicky Russell, co-founder of WDC, We Deliver Change, and chair of the Creative Operations Summit in London. Together they explore the discipline of creative ops – the systems, culture, a
Live event: Run like you're looking to sell, 19 March
Have you heard of The Handbook: Breakfast Sessions?These are intimate breakfast roundtables where we dive into big operational topics with leaders from forward-thinking agencies and consultancies.The next one is coming up on 19 March in London, and the theme is:Run like you’re looking to sell. Even if you’re not.I’ll be joined by Dom Hawes. Dom has led 11 acquisitions and scaled his marketing serv
From 11% to 43% Net Profit – Fixing the Fundamentals with Robert Patin
Your numbers might look healthy.Revenue’s up. Projects are flowing. The pipeline feels… fine.But underneath? Margins are eroding. Cash is tighter than you’d like. And no one’s totally confident in the data they’re using to make decisions.In this episode of The Handbook, Harv Nagra sat down with finance and business ops advisor Robert Patin to unpack what’s really going on beneath the surface of ma
5 AI Guardrails COOs Need to Put in Place Today with Sharon Toerek
AI is moving fast in professional services firms. And while most conversations focus on efficiency gains and new tools, the harder questions are around risk – ownership, liability, and what happens when AI use goes wrong.In this episode of The Handbook, Harv Nagra is joined by Sharon Toerek, a leading expert on IP and legal risk in the creative and consulting space, to unpack what AI really change
The 8 Systems Every COO Needs to Scale with Jason Swenk
Most service businesses don’t stall because of a lack of talent or ambition. They stall because the business quietly outgrows the systems it was built on.In this episode of The Handbook, Harv Nagra sits down with Jason Swenk – agency founder turned advisor who’s spent two decades helping agencies and consultancies scale with more confidence and less chaos. After building and selling his own eight-
One Question Before the Break – What Should We Tackle Next?
A short one to close out the year! 🎁No frameworks. No deep dives. Just a genuine thank you.Whether you found The Handbook last week or you’ve been listening since episode one, I wanted to reflect on the year and say how much I appreciate you making time for the show.This year I’ve had the chance to sit down with brilliant operators and leaders across agencies and consultancies, covering people, pr
Ops Quickie: Fixing the Sales-to-Delivery 'Black Hole'
Ops Quickies – snackable episodes on tech, tools, and systems. 🍿"Ballpark" is a dangerous word.Especially when Sales sells the dream, and Delivery is left living the nightmare.In this Quickie, Harv shares a real story from a consulting session with a 100+ person agency. They had the headcount and the revenue, but behind the scenes? It was pure chaos.We're talking manual spreadsheet
Scaling Effort, Not Results? This is your wake-up call – with Michael Wark
When your business feels busy but the numbers don’t back it up, something’s off.Agencies and consultancies often confuse effort with progress – and today’s guest has the data to prove it.In this episode of The Handbook, Harv Nagra sits down with fractional CFO and Trimline founder Michael Wark to unpack why so many service businesses hit revenue ceilings, run on thin margins, and stay stuck in tha
Ops Quickie: AI isn't the threat. Flying blind is.
Ops Quickies – snackable episodes on tech, tools, and systems. 🍿Flat demand, tighter budgets, squeezed margins. And AI is adding uncertainty on top of it all. But the real risk? It’s flying blind. If you don’t know what’s profitable, where time’s going, or what’s around the corner, every decision is a gamble.In this Quickie, Harv lays out how visibility and control de-risk your business – and why
How to Run Annual Planning Like a CFO (Even If You’re Not One) with Adam Cooper
Most teams treat annual planning like a spreadsheet exercise.Finance builds the numbers. Everyone else nods along. Then the plan gets filed away until next year.But real planning isn’t about producing a static budget – it’s about creating a rhythm that connects finance, operations, and delivery all year round.In this episode of The Handbook: The Ops Podcast, Harv sits down with Adam Cooper, founde
Ops Quickie: PSA vs ERP – Same Same...or Totally Different?
Ops Quickies – snackable episodes on tech, tools, and systems. 🍿So many acronyms, but what do they mean!? This one’s for anyone wondering: what’s the difference between a PSA and an ERP? And which one does your business actually need?Harv breaks down how both systems bring your operations together – but are built for completely different worlds. ERPs power product-based businesses with inventory,
Beyond Experiments: What It Really Takes to Operationalize AI with Luke Alexander
AI has stopped being a side project – it’s rewriting the rules of how professional services businesses operate – and – stay competitive.Luke Alexander, Chief Digital & AI Officer at Four, has led an ambitious AI transformation in his business. From rolling out Microsoft Copilot across 300+ staff to launching client-facing AI services, Luke’s approach to embedding AI is bold, practical, and ref
Ops Quickie: MCP – the Missing Link Between Ops & AI?
Ops Quickies – snackable episodes on tech, tools, and systems. 🍿This one’s for anyone curious about the next big shift in how AI connects with the tools you already use: MCP. Model context protocol.Harv breaks down what it is (a universal connector for AI), why it matters for ops leaders, and how it could turn your favourite LLM into the control center for your business systems.He also shares how
Becoming Better Ops Leaders: Lessons from Operations Nation
Ops isn’t just about keeping the lights on anymore.As Aušrinė Keršanskaitė, co-founder of Operations Nation, puts it – today’s ops leaders are expected to drive growth, protect culture, and build resilience. And if you’ve ever felt like the “glue” holding everything together without always getting recognition, this one will hit home.In this episode of The Handbook: The Operations Podcast, Aušrinė
Ops Quickie: When your stack starts to crack 😬
Ops Quickies – snackable episodes on tech, tools, and systems. 🍿This one’s for anyone who’s ever looked at their jumble of spreadsheets and apps and thought: “Is this normal?”Harv explains why the state of your tech stack is actually a mirror of your business maturity – from The Chaotic Era where everything’s buried in spreadsheets and copy-paste is your main 'process', through The Stabl
Lessons From Scaling $750k to $25m with Lindsey Head
Touch the same piece of information more than twice – fix the workflow. That’s the kind of CFO-meets-COO thinking we get into in this episode of The Handbook, where Harv sits down with Lindsey Head to connect the dots between finance, ops, tech, and people – and what really changes when you standardise how the business runs. Lindsey helped scale a PR agency from 5 to 125 people and $750k to $25m i
Ops Quickie: What ERA is your business in? Find out here!
Ops Quickies – we're back with another snackable episode. 🍿This one’s for anyone who’s ever wondered: Is my business actually set up to scale – or are we just surviving?Harv breaks down:👉🏽 Why business maturity matters👉🏽 What it really means (hint: it’s not about headcount or revenue)👉🏽 Why most service businesses get stuck at the early stages👉🏽 And how you can quickly benchmark where you sta
How to Scale Smarter: Productizing Value with Brian Kessman
When businesses talk about “productizing,” they often picture cookie-cutter scopes and rigid templates. But according to Brian Kessman, that’s missing the point.Brian is the founder of Lodestar Consulting, and he’s spent 25 years helping agencies and consultancies scale without burning out teams or eroding margins. His approach isn’t about productizing services – it’s about productizing value.In t
Ops Quickie: Why a PSA ≠ PM Tool
Ops Quickies – snackable episodes on tech, tools, and systems. 🍿This one’s for anyone who’s ever asked: How is a PSA actually different from a project management tool? And does it even matter?Spoiler: it does.Harv breaks down how project management platforms and PSAs serve very different purposes – and why the difference becomes more obvious (and more valuable) as your business grows.If you'v
What 11 Acquisitions Taught Dom Hawes About M&A
From the outside, M&A can seem like a clean transaction – a new parent company, a logo change, a cheerful announcement.But inside? The reality is messier. Integration. Culture clashes. Reporting headaches. And a long list of decisions that determine whether the deal actually works.Dom Hawes has lived both sides. After his own agency was acquired (badly), he went on to build Selbey Anderson – a
Ops Quickie: What the heck is a PSA?!
New series alert: Ops Quickies — snackable episodes on tech, tools, and systems. 🍿We're kicking off with a big question wrapped in The Clunkiest Acronym: what the heck is a PSA ... or professional services automation platform?Harv explains why the name’s a problem, what this kind of platform actually does, and why service businesses need to start paying attention.If you've got any questi
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.
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
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
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 meanin
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,
Pricing, Profitability & Predictions with Karl Sakas
What if you could charge more, and keep your best clients happy?Karl Sakas has spent over 20 years in agency operations and consulting, helping more than 600 agencies shift from reactive to strategic. In this episode, he joins us to break down why pricing isn’t just about numbers – it’s an ops play, and one that can define your agency’s future.Here’s what we get into:• Why time & materials pri
Why your tools aren’t talking & what it’s costing you with Ryan Pearcy
Your tech stack might be holding your agency back more than you think.Ryan Pearcy, founder of Digital Transformers and chartered accountant, has helped countless agencies untangle their systems and make smarter, faster decisions. He’s spent nearly 15 years helping service-based businesses clean up their systems, bringing finance, tech, and process together so leaders can make decisions based on re
BenchPress 2025: 4 Big Agency Opportunities You Need To Be On Top Of
How do agencies stack up in 2025?The results are in for BenchPress 2025. The UK’s largest benchmarking survey for independent agencies has revealed some surprising (and shocking) trends about the state of the industry.To break it all down, Rory Spence, Head of Commercial at The Wow Company, joins us to unpack the data, trends, and opportunities that agency leaders need to know.In this episode, we
How to Get Clients to See You as a Strategic Partner with Max Traylor
Most agencies add value far beyond execution. They develop methodologies, frameworks, and strategic thinking that help clients make better decisions. But too often, they give that thinking away for free. Only to compete on price when it’s time for execution.Max Traylor has spent years helping agencies break this cycle. He’s an expert in packaging and selling strategy, helping agencies move from or
Rethinking performance, pay reviews & career growth with Zoe Blogg
Are performance reviews a waste of time—or your agency’s secret weapon?Too often, agencies treat performance management as a checkbox exercise, bogged down with vague feedback and awkward salary conversations. But Zoe Elizabeth Blogg, Operations Director at Reboot Online, has built a system that actually works. From structured performance reviews to proactive (quarterly!) salary reviews, Zoe’s cre
How to move from tactical to STRATEGIC ops with WPP's Preston Chandler
Your agency’s operations can either fuel creativity, or kill it.And you can focus on the big picture that drives real financial impact, or get stuck in the weeds.Preston Chandler, WPP’s Global Practice Lead of Strategic Operations has a point of view, and the experience to prove it. In fact, Preston’s role at WPP is all about advising agencies in the group on how they can operate in a better, smar
Mike Della Porta: How to elevate service delivery for scale
We’ve all had those moments, we land that huge new client – first comes the elation for winning the mandate that will transform our fortunes, and then the mild panic at how we’re going to deliver.There’s also times when what we do is simply just not that well understood across the organization – there might only be one internal expert, which creates a significant amount of risk for the business if
Managing Gen Z: Challenges, Myths, and the Opportunity with Isobel Camier
This year, Gen Z are due to make up over a quarter of the workforce – a huge proportion. But both the negative headlines and moaning around the watercooler have commenced. Claims of entitlement, laziness, and unreasonable expectations abound. But is any of it true? And is their approach to work really that detrimental to an efficient workplace? In this episode, Harv speaks with Isobel Camier, foun
Building a systemized, codified, scalable sales engine with Ryan Hall
In a tight market, sales become a big concern. Relying on repeat business or referrals no longer cuts it, you have to put in more effort. Often in agencies, the know-how on how to get this done is missing; few people come from a formal sales background. So a haphazard approach is implemented and we hope for the best. Only that slapdash approach rarely gets the results we want. Is it time for the s
Running your agency like clockwork with Jinny Mitchell-Kent
How do you create a highly efficient agency without losing flexibility or quality?In this episode, Harv Nagra sits down with Jinny Mitchell-Kent, Joint Managing Director at Great State. With nearly 20 years of experience at agencies big and small—including global powerhouse AKQA—Jinny shares how she’s applying lessons from her big-agency days to a 100-person team.Here’s what you’ll hear:How moving
How to document and embed best practices that stick with Harv Nagra
Are you battling with inconsistent processes, bad practice and poor staff training? In this episode, Harv Nagra explains the benefits of documenting and embedding best practices – to take your agency one big leap forward in operational maturity.Harv shares his best tips on:Creating an agency handbook – to create a single source of truth for your business, and help your team work consistentlyChoosi
Hire, train and retain like Sarah Brougham
Hiring and training new employees is a big commitment - and getting it right will have a lasting impact on your agency.Kicking off The Big Agency Club series, we chat with Sarah Brougham, VP of Operations at GenFlow. Sarah’s helped multiple agencies go from start-up to established, having a big hand to play in their growth and maturity journies. Sarah has spent the past six years at GenFlow, helpi
Amy Hopper: How to build more engaged, high-performing teams
Individuals thrive when they’re equipped to handle challenges.Amy Hopper is a former agency owner and now founder of the business consultancy TOA. In this episode, Amy opens up about her journey through some serious challenges. She shares how those experiences helped her create a system that keeps teams (and individuals) focused, engaged, and productive.Amy dives into practical tips on:Planning yo
Richard Brett: What is 'rev rec' & which metrics matter?
Which metrics should you track, to run your agency as efficiently as possible?In this episode we speak with Richard Brett. Rich is a seasoned FinOps professional with 15+ years of experience, including a decade in the agency world. Rich has played a key role in scaling agencies, setting up financial processes, and supporting sustainable growth. Rich will take us into a deeper dive of agency financ
BONUS EP: How can you boost your agency's productivity?
Do you ever get to the end of the working day and wonder, ‘What did I actually get done today?'You’re certainly not alone. We’re interrupted about every 8 minutes. And it can take up to 20 minutes to get back to what we’re doing. Imagine the impact of that on an 8 hour day.In a recent Agency Hackers webinar, Harv spoke about productivity – including the flow state, trends that have had a nega
Trenton Moss: 3 high-impact strategies that redefined my agency
Curious about how an agency experimented with new approaches and found their recipe for success?In this episode, we talk with Trenton Moss, a former agency owner who ran his business for 15 years before it was sold. Trenton shares the key decisions that transformed his agency, along with some missteps along the way.Trenton covers three major changes he implemented and explains exactly how he did i
Dan Timmiss: How to get your agency IT ready for scaling
As an Ops person, the role of IT expert is often part of the job. So how can you ensure your agency’s IT infrastructure is set up for scaling? That's the focus of our discussion with Dan Timmiss, Technical Director at Kaizen IT Solutions. With over two decades of experience, Dan has helped hundreds of creative agencies optimize and manage their IT setups, from audits to complete IT overhauls
Freia Muehlenbein: How to pitch to WIN
Winning pitches is tough. Ghosting has become a common challenge, and even when you win, clients may be commissioning smaller pieces of the project rather than the full program.But that’s only part of the struggle - crafting pitch decks takes a lot of time and energy. Surely there’s a better way than packing slides with your best creative ideas. In this episode we tackle these challenges and intro
Jenny Plant: Great Sales & Great PM - Can One Person Do It All?
Part of the remit of an ops leader is to ensure they’ve got the right people, in the right place. In many agencies, account managers handle sales, client relationships, AND project management. However, this hybrid role often leads to trade-offs. Everyone’s got their own strengths and preferences – and these responsibilities seemingly require very different personality types. A great sales person m
Julia Vastrik: How to strengthen company culture in the WFH era
We’re in the age of remote and hybrid working, and our physical distance from one another is having a huge impact on company culture. Previously, grabbing lunch or a drink after work was easy. But now, even small talk needs to be consciously brought into our scheduled Slack calls to avoid things becoming too transactional. This new way of working can lead to serious challenges like feeling disconn
Alfie Wenegieme: How to get better at finance
Without financial results, we can’t see the impact of the decisions we make on our agency’s profit.In this episode we’re joined by Alfie Wenegieme, a seasoned chartered accountant with over 17 years of commercial finance experience. Alfie shares important metrics for us to understand, report, and improve on. We explore the fundamentals of agency finances, common issues agencies face, and tips for
Matthew Peng: How to find the right tool for the job
Some platforms for niche use cases don’t require much consideration – you can try, and if it doesn’t work as intended, you can move onto something else. Other platforms, particularly those that are linked to your client services and business finances, require careful consideration. How do you ensure you’re making the right decision? In this episode, we discuss why growing and maturing agencies loo
Ryan McNamara: The REAL purpose of ops: A revenue and growth driver
Operations is a critical role within agencies today. But beyond the day-to-day, there’s a big opportunity to leverage this role as strategic driver of growth and efficiency. How can you develop both yourself as a leader and your agency to deliver better results?In this episode, Ryan McNamara, Head of Operations for Rise at Seven, highlights 3 key areas that every ops director should focus on:Finan
Claire Hutchings: Bad agency marketing is an ops problem: let’s fix it
Why do agencies drop the ball on their own marketing?In Agencyland, we understand the importance of impactful campaigns, yet we frequently neglect our own – particularly when things start getting busy. 46% of agencies don’t practice what they preach, according to Chime Agency’s latest benchmark report. This may not come as a surprise if you’re an owner or ops leader trying to oversee or take on th
Claire Quansah: 6 steps to successful change management
New tools and processes can transform your workflow. Especially when they’re well communicated, properly tested and correctly implemented. Successful change management motivates your team to adopt new practices. And makes them productive and happier - now and into the future.In this episode, we’re joined by Claire Quansah, an ops expert in the agency space with nearly two decades of experience. Cl
Tyler Caskey: How consolidating tools & automation can transform your agency
Easy access to reports and dashboards is a game changer. But if your data is siloed in different systems, replicating data can be a daunting task, let alone accurate reporting. And with manual data entry, there’s the risk of human error. Imagine if you could consolidate tools to improve automation - gaining visibility, accuracy, and efficiency within your team. In this episode we’ll hear from Tyle
Manish Kapur: Optimize these 4 areas to grow your agency
Forget about revenue for a moment. Consider how much more profitable your agency would be if you optimized your team’s time and improved utilization. If you could reduce hiring costs by keeping staff for longer. If you understood the leaky buckets in your outgoings and reduced losses like over-servicing through improved best practice. Manish Kapur, who has over 25 years of experience in creative o
Teaser: Hello from Harv
Our new podcast The Handbook: The Agency Operations Podcast endeavours to create more community for agency operations people – a place where we can hear from our peers and other experts on best practice, experiments, successes and sometimes failures – and also a place to celebrate our journeys into operations. Before we kick off with the interview series, Harv Nagra, our host, and former agency op
Agency folks, welcome to The Handbook: Trailer
Agency ops can be lonely – you might be the only person in your agency that works in operations, and you might end up having to figure things out on your own – rather than having a team of people to support you and bounce ideas off of.That’s where our new podcast, The Handbook: The Agency Operations podcast comes in. We’ll be talking to fellow experts and operations leaders about agency life – dis
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