Most of the agencies I’ve worked with have all gone through a time when they were growing so fast that they couldn’t keep up.

They were turning business away and still hitting record revenues. They wanted to increase their team’s capacity and productivity so they could turn away less business and make more money.

Agencies increase capacity and productivity in 3 ways. You can stop doing work that doesn’t matter, focus on “force multipliers”, or standardize your processes.

Stop Doing Work That Doesn’t Matter

Capacity is a zero-sum game. Once a slice of pie is gone, it’s gone forever. So, stop working on things that don’t help your business advance.

On an individual level, Stephen Covey in his book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People called it “putting first things first”. You prioritize things that are both urgent and important and that only you can do. I call this quadrant 1 work because of the “Work Elimination Matrix”. 

I often find agency teams confuse urgent/important stuff with stuff that isn’t. They eat up 30% or more of their capacity doing stuff that isn’t quadrant 1 work. Stop it. When you do, you’ll experience major capacity and productivity breakthroughs.

On an agency level, focusing on work that isn’t your unique value proposition wastes capacity. That extra work may generate revenue, but at what cost? You may lose out on more profitable contracts because you don’t have room to fulfill them. 

Focus on your unique value proposition. You’ll free up major capacity to make a killing doing what you’re best at.

Focus on using “Force Multipliers”

Force multipliers take whatever work you give them and amplify it. Plenty of tools will claim to solve all our problems and make a great Philly Cheese Steak while they’re at it. They’re lying.

Unless you know what your limitations are, and where you need to multiply your team’s effort, you’re just wasting your money. Focus on learning where you need to multiply effort, then find and invest in tools to do that. 

And, remember “hire slow, fire fast” can apply to force multipliers, too.

Standardize, Standardize, Standardize

Imagine a 5-star chef improvising their recipes every time they cook! The kitchen would be chaos. The staff couldn’t help. Instead of “customization”, chefs start with a standard recipe and build on that.

Customization is important to deliver for your clients but taken too far, it clogs your work pipeline, stretches project timelines, and confuses your team. Instead of full customization, start with a standard process framework and build on that.

It protects quality, provides clarity, and creates consistency. That increases your capacity and productivity.

Let’s have a conversation about your agency’s capacity and how this applies to you. Schedule an appointment here or reach out to zac@homericconsulting.com.