StudioOps Agency operations setup Agency Ops Setup · USD 149
Nine clients, one person at 134 percent, and USD 14,000 of unbilled scope
Delivery stages, a capacity view and a reporting rhythm, built on what is actually in flight.
The operating system is now in place: five delivery stages, a weekly capacity view, an approvals register and a renewal calendar. Populating it with your nine active clients is what found the overload and the unbilled work, and both were visible within an hour of the data arriving.
Your senior designer is committed to 134 percent of available hours for the next three weeks while two people sit under 60 percent. Separately, four clients have received work outside their agreed scope with no change order raised, totalling about USD 14,000.
Capacity
Who is actually loaded
| What is on the senior designer | Deadline | Could move to |
|---|---|---|
| Brand refresh, Client C, concepts | 17 October | Nobody. This is the right person |
| Campaign artwork, Client F | 17 October | Midweight designer |
| Pitch deck, new business | 20 October | Junior plus account lead |
| Website visuals, Client A | 24 October | Midweight designer |
| Guidelines document, Client C | 31 October | Junior designer |
Four of five could move today. The reason they have not is that nobody had a view showing that the copywriter and two designers are at half capacity in the same fortnight.
Commercial
Work delivered and not billed
Found by comparing each signed scope against what actually shipped. None of this is anybody behaving badly. It is five months of small yeses with no mechanism to record them.
| Client | Agreed scope | Also delivered | Approximate value | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Client A | Website, 8 pages | Three extra pages, two rounds beyond the agreed three | USD 5,200 | Raise now |
| Client D | Monthly social, 12 posts | Averaging 19 posts a month since June | USD 4,800 | Reset the retainer |
| Client F | Campaign, 3 formats | Seven format variants | USD 2,600 | Raise now |
| Client H | Brand guidelines | Two presentation templates, unrequested | USD 1,400 | Write off, note it |
| Total | USD 14,000 |
Client D is the important one. Nineteen posts a month against a twelve post retainer is not a change order, it is a retainer that no longer describes the relationship, and it will keep costing you every month until the retainer is rewritten.
The system
Stages, approvals and renewals
| Stage | Next milestone | Waiting on | Renewal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Client A | Production | 24 Oct | Us | Project |
| Client B | Discovery | 30 Oct | Client, 9 days | Project |
| Client C | Concept | 17 Oct | Us | Project |
| Client D | Retained | Monthly | Us | 31 Dec |
| Client E | Stalled | None set | Client, 34 days | Project |
| Client F | Production | 17 Oct | Us | Project |
| Client G | Retained | Monthly | Client, 6 days | 28 Feb |
| Client H | Closing | 21 Oct | Client, 11 days | Project |
| Client I | Retained | Monthly | Us | 15 Nov |
Client I renews in five weeks and nobody has started the conversation. Client E has been waiting on the client for 34 days with no milestone, which means it is either dead or it is about to arrive all at once in a fortnight when the senior designer is already at 134 percent.
Rhythm
The week, from Monday
- Monday 09:15, 20 min
Capacity and milestones
The two tables in sections 01 and 03. Who is over, what is due, what moves. Twenty minutes and everyone present.
- Monday, after
Rebalance the senior designer
This week that means moving four items. Every week after, it means checking nobody is above 100 percent before Wednesday.
- Wednesday
Chase approvals over 7 days
Three clients are currently sitting on approvals. Nobody owns chasing them, which is why one has been waiting 34 days.
- Friday, 10 min
Scope check
Anything delivered this week that was not in scope. Logged immediately, raised at the natural moment. This is the whole fix for section 02 recurring.
- Monthly
Renewals 90 days out
Client I should have appeared in this review in August. It did not because the review did not exist.