Sling & StoneIntro
IntroductionContext

Task | Taylor Wallace

Client Operations Manager

Rather than a traditional deck, I built this with GPT Sites. AI fluency is a big part of the role, so it felt like a good opportunity to show how I’d use new tools in practice.

Scroll through, or jump straight to any scenario. :)

Estimated reading time8 minutes

Culture is sacred at Sling & Stone.

Caitlin and Kya have sold me on this.

How I see this role:

A problem solver across the agency, its people and the clients we work with.

Scenario 1 / 03

Capacity and resourcing

The situation

A S&S client team has the following current and target billable utilisation rates for August. Their client has just asked for an additional $30k scope for a launch in the third week of August. It's an additional 80 hours of projected work across the team.

The challenge

August is already tight, and new business / marketing time has been protected.

The opportunity

The opportunity is worth pursuing to meet commercial targets and deepen the existing client relationship. The client wants a fast turnaround and has specifically asked for more senior counsel on the project as there are some sensitive issues involved.

The task

Outline what a 3-week resourcing approach could look like with this additional scope and highlight how I'd work with stakeholders to make it work.

The decision

Say yes, but resource it deliberately rather than quietly absorbing the pressure.

  1. 01

    Rebalance first

    There is headroom against target in the team, but it is sitting at the wrong levels. Move suitable work away from the Associate Director before adding the launch.

  2. 02

    Protect senior counsel

    The client has specifically asked for senior involvement. Create room for the Associate Director to focus on the sensitive moments where their judgement adds value, rather than routine delivery.

  3. 03

    Make the remaining gap visible

    Once the team is rebalanced, there is still a small capacity gap. Solve that through support, contractor capacity, an agreed over-target period, or a scope/timing adjustment.

    Protect the new business and marketing time already set aside.

How we got here

This is an opportunity worth pursuing, but only if we resource it intentionally.

Findings

The team can absorb most of the new scope within its current target billable mix, leaving an 11-hour gap to resolve.

The bigger issue is where that headroom sits. The Associate Director is already 15 hours above target, while the available headroom sits further down the team. Move suitable existing delivery work down to create room for the senior counsel the client has requested.

Assumptions

I've used 152 hours per person for August (38 hours × 4 weeks). In practice, I'd validate this against Mavenlink and actual working days.

I'm treating the $30k as the value of the opportunity and the 80 hours as the estimated effort required to deliver it. I'd validate the scope, pricing and margin assumptions through S&S's scoping process before confirming the final plan.

August billable utilisation by role
RoleTarget billableCurrent billableTarget hoursCurrent hoursPosition vs target
Associate Director50%60%76h91h15h over target
Account Director70%50%106h76h30h below target
Account Manager80%75%122h114h8h below target
Account Coordinator80%50%122h76h46h below target

Associate Director

15h over target
Target
50% / 76h
Current
60% / 91h

Account Director

30h below target
Target
70% / 106h
Current
50% / 76h

Account Manager

8h below target
Target
80% / 122h
Current
75% / 114h

Account Coordinator

46h below target
Target
80% / 122h
Current
50% / 76h
84hHeadroom across Account Director + AM + Coordinator
15hAssociate Director already above target
69hNet team headroom to target
11hResidual gap against the 80h scope

3-week resourcing plan

Rebalance existing delivery work before adding the launch.

First step: Rebalance existing delivery work before adding the launch. Create room for the Associate Director to provide senior counsel, while using the team's headroom to target.

Role split

Associate Director
Senior counsel / sensitive issues
Account Director
Delivery lead + client comms
Account Manager + Coordinator
Execution and coordination
Residual 11h
Additional support or a scope trade-off

The actual split of work and hours across August would be confirmed once scope, milestones and current capacity are validated.

Stakeholders

Client
Scope, milestones and senior-counsel touchpoints
Account team
Ownership and rebalanced workload
Finance/Ops
Budget, margin, utilisation and 11h gap
MD/Leadership
Approve additional support, deliberate over-target utilisation or scope/timing trade-offs
  • Confirm scope, milestones and sensitive issues with the client
  • Identify the senior-counsel moments that genuinely need the Associate Director
  • Move suitable existing AD delivery work down the team and agree on review and quality control gates
  • Validate the 80h estimate, pricing, margin and roles
  • Set up project/task lines correctly in Mavenlink
  • Decide how the 11h residual gap will be handled. Additional support or a scope trade-off
  • Confirm any SOW/scope changes required

Scenario 2 / 03

Scope and margins

The situation

A fixed-fee retainer is showing an early margin risk.

The client is paying $10k/month, but after month one the work and the budget are moving at very different speeds.

30%of scope has been delivered
85%of budgeted hours have been used
2months are still left in the quarter
~2.8×

Projected hours to complete

If that burn rate continued, full delivery would require approximately 2.8 times the budgeted hours.

The task

How would I approach the campaign lead to get the project back in line with budget?

The decision

Don’t let the margin leakage stay silent.

Diagnose the cause, partner with the campaign lead and reset the remaining work before the account becomes unprofitable.

Without a change in scope, delivery approach or client expectations, the campaign is likely to become unprofitable.

The recovery conversation

Work collaboratively toward a recovery plan with zero blame.

“We’ve delivered 30% of scope but used 85% of our budgeted hours. I want to understand what’s driving that and work with you on the cleanest path back.”

Before speaking to the campaign lead, I’d check:

  • Where the hours have been spent
  • Who has spent them
  • Whether time is coded correctly
  • Work out remaining scope and expected margin
  • Whether the work was front-loaded, underestimated or expanded mid-campaign

Scenario 3 / 03

IT rollout &
change management

The situation

Timesheets are annoying.

But accurate time data protects people and the business when it is used properly.

Right now, the process isn’t giving S&S the full picture

  • 80% completion
  • Time is not always attached to the right project or task line
  • Some work is underreported because people don’t want to show that a task took longer than expected
People shouldn’t be punished for honest reporting. It’s useful information, not a mark against the individual.

, the new AI timesheet platform currently being piloted at S&S, has the potential to “kill timesheets forever”, reduce admin and improve data accuracy.

The task

Outline a lightweight change management and transition plan to implement Manifest for our 60 APAC Slingers with three aims: 100% adoption, improve timesheet accuracy, and minimise friction.

The approach

Make the Manifest rollout feel safe, useful and human.

It’s not just an IT rollout. It is a trust and behaviour change around how time data is captured, understood and used.

Manifest adoption will depend on two things: whether the tool works as intended, and whether Slingers trust why it is being used.

Treat the rollout as a parallel operational transition and an internal comms campaign.

Ownership: Client Ops Manager leads the rollout end to end, coordinating team leads / champions to drive adoption.

01

IT / Ops

Does the system work, and is the data clean?

02

People / Adoption

Do Slingers understand it, trust it and see the value?

One staged rollout, with two parallel tracks

Prove → Prepare → Roll out → Embed

IT / Ops

  • Run the Manifest pilot
  • Validate accuracy, reliability and mapping
  • Understand where human review is still needed
  • Resolve technical and privacy concerns

People / Adoption

  • Interview pilot Slingers
  • Understand friction and concerns
  • Capture useful quotes, tips and experiences
  • Identify potential champions

Gate: We know the tool works — and we know how people feel about it.

Outcome

Better data. Better decisions. Less friction.

100% adoption

All 60 Slingers using Manifest.

Better accuracy

Cleaner project data, fewer corrections and better visibility.

Less friction

Less manual admin and more trust in the process.

Client Operations Manager
Task | Taylor Wallace

Thank you.