The Professional Services Pursuit

The Professional Services Pursuit

By KantataBusiness
Download on the App Store

The Professional Services Pursuit episodes

  • Ep. 5 - Balancing Culture and Strategy in a Modern Agency w/ Adam Brown

    Brent Trimble sits down with the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Strategy Officer at Gorilla Group, Adam Brown, to explore the approaches they took to navigate exponential growth during a pandemic and how they adapted to successfully nurture client relationships and corporate culture remotely. The conversation includes:

    • Adam’s unique dual role at Gorilla Group
    • How Gorilla Group operates as a decentralized entity while utilizing the benefits of being part of the Wunderman Thompson/WPP network
    • Gorilla Group’s focus on people and how that aligns with professional services
    • The importance of adapting to new ways of driving culture within your organization
    • Hiring from where the talent is
    • The experience of the remote pitch
    • Adam’s hope to regain informality
    • How Gorilla Group approaches the increased usage of a contingent workforce and the compliance complications that come with it

    Connect with Adam and check out Gorilla Group



    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    40 min
  • Ep. 4 - Finding Competitive Advantage with a Liquid Workforce w/ John Ragsdale

    Host Matt Finch sits down with Distinguished Researcher and Vice President of Technology Ecosystems at TSIA John Ragsdale to talk about current trends in the tech industry and the importance of a strong freelance culture. The conversation includes:


    • John’s perspective and definition of the liquid workforce 
    • Trends shaping emerging digital talent platforms
    • How COVID accelerated already established trends and behaviors of younger workers
    • The shift to more fixed-price predefined projects
    • How to remain a competitive employer in a tough hiring market
    • How rising cost of living in coastal cities may be contributing to younger workers wanting to move to this new model
    • Solutions to allow both distance work and in person collaboration
    • The risks and rewards of using contract workers
    • Why middle managers will be so important during this shift
    • Project based hiring best practices
    • John’s advice around challenging the traditional hiring and career mindset for young workers


    To learn more about this topic download Mavenlink’s recent research report, The Changing Face of the Modern Workforce.



    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    39 min
  • Ep. 2 - The Challenges and Trends Shaping The Future of Services Delivery w/ Ray Grainger, Sean Crafts & Roger Neel
    To kick off the first episode, host Matt Finch sits down with the founders of Mavenlink, Ray Grainger, Roger Neel, and Sean Crafts, to discuss some of the current challenges and future trends in the services industry! Their conversation includes:

    • The powerful forces reshaping the services industry
    • Getting the right talent at the right place at the right time in order to meet client needs 
    • The emerging employee-first culture 
    • The current subcontractor landscape 
    • The pitfalls of tribal knowledge
    • How digital transformation and technology are evolving the industry
    • The role of Covid globalization and the appeal of a liquid workforce to both organizations and employees
    • The importance of a centralized resource management function
    • Applying a supply chain methodology to your services business

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    35 min
  • Ep. 3 - Defusing Talent Pressure Points to Find Harmony Between Project Managers and Resource Managers w/ Peter Taylor

    Host Brent Trimble and author of The Lazy Project Manager, Peter Taylor, get a moment to talk about the relationship between project managers and resource managers and the importance of taking a people-first approach to projects. The conversation includes:

    • The inspiration behind Peter’s book; 
    • The natural tension between project managers and resource managers; 
    • How rapid digitalization is strengthening that tension and creating opportunity; 
    • The role authenticity plays in retention and “The War on Talent”; 
    • Peter’s favorite football analogy about building loyalty; 
    • The importance of a global view of resources and visibility into where there is strain; 
    • The top pressure points in services organizations with regards to people; 
    • Remembering that projects are all about people

     Learn more about Peter and his work at https://thelazyprojectmanager.com/

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    30 min
  • Ep. 1 - Welcome to The Professional Services Pursuit

    In the first episode of The Professional Services Pursuit, co-hosts Brent Trimble and Matt Finch welcome listeners to a brand new show aimed at giving professional services leaders a place to go to be inspired and tap into expert advice, trends and best practices in their  pursuit of excellence. From agencies to IT services and every PS organization in between, every episode will provide the insights you need to drive a resource-first organization and do what you do best, only better. 


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    14 min
  • (German Version) Techniken zur Entwicklung von Dienstleistungen - mit Marc Stickdorn
    Improvisationstheater, Legofiguren und Virtual Reality scheinen eher in die Welt der Unterhaltung zu gehören als ins Umfeld professioneller Dienstleistungen. Aber Design Thinking Experte Marc Stickdorn ist ein leidenschaftlicher Verfechter von solchen Techniken, um Serviceangebote zu entwickeln, bevor sie auf den Markt kommen.
    In einem Prozess, den er gerne mit der Marktforschung, Prototypentwicklung und Crashtests bei Autos vergleicht, glaubt er, dass Serviceangebote die gleichen Prüfungskriterien durchlaufen sollten, bevor sie verkauft werden. Gewinnen Sie Einblicke darüber wie erfolgreiche Dienstleistungen entwickelt werden, weniger erfolgreiche schnell und kostengünstig identifiziert werden, und so das Endergebnis auch durch mehr Kundenzufriedenheit profitiert.
    29 min
  • Techniques for designing services - with Marc Stickdorn
    Improv theater, Lego figurines and virtual reality may be more familiar in the world of entertainment than in professional services. But leading thinker Marc Stickdorn is a passionate advocate of using techniques like these to design and prototype service offerings before taking them to market.
    In a process he likens to market-researching, prototyping and crash-testing a car, he believes service offerings should pass through the same kind of rigorous examination before being sold. Gaining insight into how to improve successful services, and allowing others to fail fast and at low cost benefits both the bottom line and customer satisfaction.
    26 min
  • Where is the professional services sector headed? - Marc Lacriox
    In a wide-ranging discussion, Marc Lacroix considers some of the key development within professional services in recent years and looks at where the sector is going, identifying likely areas for innovation. For instance, after adapting from time and materials to fixed price, many businesses are now moving to offering outcome-based pricing models.
    In this, the second of his PS Insights podcasts, Marc - managing partner at RTM Consulting - looks at how PS businesses can drive value from AI and big data. Marc looks forward to new developments in commoditization of services, and considers the meaning of ‘agile’ and how it is interpreted in the services sector today.
    28 min
  • Taking the RISK out of the Risky Business of Project Delivery - with Shane Anastasi
    How should professional services organizations manage risk? In the second of his PS Insights podcasts, services industry guru Shane Anastasi discusses how to identify projects that are heading off track and the kinds of actions that can be taken to keep them in the black.
    Shane, who has helped many global software companies change how they measure and respond to project risk, shares some of the strategies he has used successfully in the past. Shane Anastasi is CEO and Founder of PS Principles, the professional services training and certification company.
    30 min

About The Professional Services Pursuit

From the publisher's feed

Our goal is simple: to give professional services leaders a place to go to be inspired and tap into expert advice, trends and best practices in our collective pursuit of excellence. From agencies to…