Operations

We’ve written 7 blog posts about Operations. View all topics »

1. 

   Staying Cultured

   

   1/26/17

   by Leigh Nash

   When many think about agency culture, they think: ping pong tables, beer, some guy carrying a longboard, and other miscellaneous hip decor. Well, we do have beer and awesome decor. As cool as having all of those things is, it doesn’t keep people employed at a company. When I started with Happy Cog, in June 2016, it was clear to me that having the appearance of a fun culture did not equal a good culture. Good culture is better. Happy Cog focuses on working hard and producing great projects for good people. We recently ditched the office, moved to a coworking space at WeWork, and officially became distributed. Staff rotate in and out of our office space throughout the week, with the bulk of the team being present on Tuesdays. It’s typically pretty quiet around here. So without people around, how does Happy Cog maintain its culture in the distributed workplace?

2. 

   The Pillars of Operations

   

   10/27/16

   by Leigh Nash

   The greatest thing about working in operations is that it is a necessity in every industry. Your skills are transferrable. For me, getting into operations happened right after college. I started a career in mental health doing one-on-one support and casework at a non-profit. In my role as case worker I realized I was developing operational skills. Casework requires budget management, adherence to private and sensitive information, organizational skills, and great interpersonal skills. I found that I liked using those skills, and eventually, I chose to expand my experience in a different field, but with a focus on operations. The skills I’d developed in casework led me to an operational role with an advertising and branding agency.

3. 

   Don’t Make Me Turn This Project Around...

   

   7/10/15

   by Joe Rinaldi

   As I sit in my living room, laptop open and a Cognition column awaiting my two cent contribution, I listen to the sound of my three children shrieking upstairs. It’s bath time and they’ve been freed from the prisons of their clothing. They may or may not be careening into one another in a darkened second-floor hallway, laughing like maniacs. Parenting, like client services, is the management of the wackiest of variables, people.

4. 

   Little Wins: Monthly Invoicing

   

   2/19/15

   by Joe Rinaldi

   When I joined Happy Cog there were whispers about the elusive holy grail called monthly billing. It was hardly a new concept, but it was new to us. In theory, monthly billing would keep a regimented stream of cash coming in the front doors, and steady cash flow is almost more important to running a business than overall revenue. But we’d never made the move. We structured contracts so that our deliverable-based invoicing occurred at reasonable intervals, but if deadlines shifted, our payments did too.

5. 

   Recruit the Recruiters

   

   2/6/14

   by Joe Rinaldi

   Business development in a client service organization is a complex responsibility. Each approach is different from the next, but good salespeople share core competencies. I’ve talked to dozens of agency owners at Owner Camp, where the importance and role of business development is a popular conversation topic. Salespeople can be found in all walks of life. But, more than a few great ones I know were formerly recruiters, and here’s why.

6. 

   RFP Advice From The Front Lines

   

   5/17/12

   by Joe Rinaldi

   Stop what you’re doing! John Conner sent me from the future to prevent you from authoring this RFP. I’ve seen the aftermath. Internal teams at odds over the redesigned site, users confused by an experience that somehow got more complicated, unreconciled technologies, hopes dashed, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria.

7. 

   Buying Wins

   

   12/8/11

   by Joe Rinaldi

   Investing in business development is like investing in anything else; you have a finite amount of resources to invest in a wide variety of options. In retail, the success of an enterprise often hinges entirely upon managing inventory. The difference between a successful and an unsuccessful venture often rests in the balance of ordering enough merchandise to meet demand, while subsequently avoiding over-ordering, and wasting money on overstock. In professional sports, a team’s success often rests in combining value among contracts, as much as in combining the right line up of athletes. In my role, the resource I invest is time. Money too, but man, it’s the time I miss.