Drucker's words ring true, especially in the professional services industry. With tight margins and high client expectations, professional services firms have to be efficient and strategic to deliver projects successfully — on time, on budget, and with the best quality. One of these strategies is professional services automation (PSA) scheduling — designed to help agencies manage and optimize their resource utilization, project timelines, and overall profitability.

An astonishing 21.5% of billable hours go unrecorded due to inadequate tracking methods. That's a significant blow to any professional services organization’s bottom line. Thankfully, many businesses now harness the power of sophisticated time-tracking and invoicing tools to counter this issue. How do they work and why are they a game-changer for teams doing client work? We’ll break down the specifics below and give you our top five tool recommendations.

Pop quiz! Which is better? Being the first agency to reach a potential client with a quote, or the last one to get back with them? In most situations, the answer’s so obvious we can hardly call this a quiz: Being the first to make a first impression is almost always best. But in the agency world, getting a custom quote together isn’t exactly simple. It takes time and careful planning, and in some cases, the quote itself is a fully designed proposal — more like a first deliverable.

Ever wondered why some agencies consistently outperform others? It's all about harnessing effective business performance. This isn't merely about surviving — it's about thriving amid fierce competition. Improved business performance can transform your agency, boosting productivity, enhancing customer satisfaction, and building a robust bottom line. This guide seeks to provide actionable insights to help agencies transform their business performance.

Professional services firms have plenty to offer to right-fit clients: deep technical expertise, advanced project management and project planning skills, and a steady hand through change. They also face sideways competition from another class of businesses: managed services providers.

In an agency environment, time is not just an abstract concept — it's the currency you trade. Every minute counts, and each second can be a missed opportunity. The same goes for billing, as efficient and accurate invoicing is crucial for maintaining a steady cash flow and keeping clients happy.

If managed correctly, time is the difference between a profitable or unprofitable agency, a happy or unhappy workforce, and healthy or unhealthy client relationships. It’s safe to say time is the heartbeat of what you do, and what we do at Teamwork.com So to help make logging time as intuitive, quick, and painless as possible, we’ve rolled out 6 improvements with exactly this in mind!

Has 2023 been a bumpy ride for your agency? Like you’re swimming upstream with one arm tied behind your back and a crocodile snapping at your heels? Whatever your experience has been this year, it’s sure to have been a disruptive one. From the ongoing economic and geo-political uncertainty, to shifting client and consumer behavior, to rapid technological change, the agency landscape is more complex and competitive than ever.

Can business exist without risk? Risk is inevitable, a nearly unavoidable byproduct of seeking to make a profit. But there’s a big difference between risks we never see coming and those we plan carefully for. Risk management comes up repeatedly in any discussion of project management best practices because identifying, tracking, and planning for risk are all keys to lessening its potential impact. One tool agencies can use to better understand and track risk is called a risk register.

Have you ever tried to push your way through a door that said “pull”? First comes confusion. What just happened? Why does my face hurt? And then embarrassment: No one looks good walking into a door. But once we get past the shock and awkwardness, there’s a great lesson to be learned here. Pushing and pulling are two different ways of doing very similar things. But in most situations, only one works — and the other has a negative effect that could leave you looking foolish.