| One thing is for sure, we are all busy busy busy | | | | their position and responsibilities. We even included |
| on a daily basis. To the point that sometimes we | | | | our admin assistant in the mix.This is what it |
| get lost in it. We all know that being busy doesn't | | | | looked like: |
| always mean being profitable, unless of course, | | | | Production Designer's Billable Target: 90% (mission |
| you are concentrating your efforts on | | | | findings: a low 46%) |
| moneymaking activities. | | | | Senior Designer's Billable Target: 75% (mission |
| Years ago, we did an experiment with our team | | | | findings: a low 39%) |
| at Scenario Design as we needed to increase our | | | | Creative Director's Billable Target: 85% (mission |
| overall efficiency and profitability. Before we made | | | | findings: a low 45%) |
| any shifts, we needed to know how much time | | | | Admin Assistant's Billable Target: 25% (mission |
| we were all spending per day on non-billable | | | | findings: a crazy 0%) |
| activities. On a Monday morning, in our regular | | | | Project Manager's Billable Target: 65% (mission |
| daily huddle, I asked everyone on the team to | | | | findings: a low 26%) |
| get a white piece of paper, a red pen and a | | | | 2. We started Estimating with Ranges to allow the |
| green one (Being a very creative team of | | | | team a buffer of time to work within and added |
| designers, I probably asked for specific Pantone | | | | a clause to our proposal letting the client know |
| Colors like PMS 485 for red and PMS 382 for | | | | that we would advise them in advance should the |
| green...ha! ha!). | | | | project go above 10% of the project range. |
| The mission was simple. To keep this piece of | | | | 3. We tweaked our Client Meeting Rhythm to |
| paper handy at all times for 14 days. Each team | | | | allow for entire days of design production without |
| member was to draw a red line when doing | | | | interruptions. For example, Mondays + |
| Non-Billable tasks and a green line when working | | | | Wednesdays became meeting days for some of |
| on Billable tasks or activities with an approximate | | | | us and Tuesdays + Thursdays became production |
| time log for each task. The results were | | | | days for everyone. It does not mean that we |
| mind-blowing. Everyone was surprised as to how | | | | never had exceptions...but this was the new |
| much time and energy was spent on non-billable | | | | "productivity" norm. |
| or non-moneymaking opportunities every single | | | | 4. We implemented BubbleTime. BubbleTime is a |
| day. It was a real eye opener for me, as an | | | | block of uninterrupted, productive time. No calls, |
| entrepreneur, needing to be more profitable | | | | no emails, no talking...just pure productive energy. |
| without necessarily hiring more employees. | | | | It is recommended to have at least 2 blocks of |
| THE FINDINGS: We were shocked to find out | | | | uninterrupted time per day of at least 1 hour and |
| that our main production designer, who was hired | | | | a half. |
| to be our #1 "production profit centre" because | | | | 5. We tweaked our Monday Huddles to include |
| of his amazing talent and speed, was only working | | | | each team member's billable % average from the |
| on billable activities at an astonishing low rate of | | | | previous week. It is very important to publicly |
| 46%. Our senior designer was on average billing | | | | celebrate the team members that are making it |
| only 39% per week, and the list goes on. Trust | | | | happen week after week and to also look at |
| me when I say knowing is half the battle. | | | | which team members are falling behind and why |
| THE #1 PROBLEM: It's amazing what you can find | | | | so you can either tweak the expectations, find |
| when you are actually looking. Our #1 problem | | | | solutions together to reach the target, or simply |
| was our unprofitable habit of working way more | | | | evaluate if this employee is assigned to the right |
| hours than estimated or proposed to the client. | | | | seat on the bus. |
| Sound familiar? In actuality, a lot of our team's | | | | 6. We continually Measured Efficiency and |
| time was billable...but was not accounted for nor | | | | Profitability against our targets and our client |
| billed because the project had gone over and | | | | proposals to ensure that we stayed the best |
| beyond our initial proposal and no one felt like we | | | | "well-oiled machine" that we could be. |
| could bill those extra hours at that point...and they | | | | THE RESULTS: We grew an astonishing 85% that |
| were partially right. Rule of thumb: never spend | | | | year alone without hiring anyone new...and we did |
| someone else's money without letting them know | | | | it pretty effortlessly when all considered. This |
| first. | | | | simple mission allowed us to uncover and |
| THE PIVOTAL SHIFTS: Once we were aware of | | | | course-correct a few major growth blocks, or |
| everyone's efficiency or deficiency patterns, we | | | | potholes as I like to call them. |
| then made 6 pivotal shifts: | | | | Don't operate your business blindly. Know your |
| 1. We established Billable Percentage Targets for | | | | numbers...including your team's efficiency rates and |
| each team member to hit weekly according to | | | | go from "Survive" to "Thrive. |