Zebra 

Zebra Growth is a regenerative marketing agency. The company works with ethical and sustainable brands, dubbing themselves as ‘growth marketers’ for clients. They experiment with creative ways to help clients grow by applying different marketing techniques and approaches. 

Recent rapid expansion meant that employees were using systems and processes that weren’t able to cope with a larger team. Problems started to stretch into their day-to-day processes such as project planning and delivery. Tasks such as managing employee leave became pain points. 

“They were in a strong place but needed to focus on improving how they manage projects, engage clients and use their systems.” – Optimo

Zebra identified an opportunity to optimise their internal operations and ensure sustainable growth in the future. Directors Moh and Lee recognised the need for external support and reached out to Optimo to help them improve their day-to-day operations. By enhancing their operations, they hope to achieve a more stable and prosperous growth marketing trajectory. 

We worked with Zebra from October 2022 to July 2023. The process began with a discovery phase. This helped us create an initial strategy to tackle the pain points being experienced.  We discovered that some of their challenges were:  

• Staff were working outside of core hours, including evenings and weekends.  
• Planning and designing sprints, used to manage client projects needed a little refinement. 
• They needed to update and add to their skills and provide leadership training due to rapid growth. 
• A joined-up approach to their current systems and processes, post-growth was needed to keep them running efficiently.  

“When it comes to Project Management we are only using about 5-10% of the capability of Monday.com.We’d like to do the basics well and start looking to maximise automation where possible” -Moh 

Armed with this information, we carried out an operational audit to capture challenges, opportunities, and potential solutions. This involved bringing together stakeholders from across the organisation. Our goal was to understand the cultural and mechanical difficulties faced by individuals, teams, and the organisation. 

After learning about the people and processes, we began reviewing their digital infrastructure. This encompassed the use of technology and information. We delved into the gritty details of how the business used them. 

“We ran discovery sessions and interviews to review how everything was working. This included the people, processes, technology, and information.”- Optimo

The discovery workshops informed the operations strategy and recommendations report. Our findings and recommendations included: 

• Creation of an operational strategy to align people, processes, and technology. 
• System and process mapping and reengineering. 
• Skills, system and process training creation and delivery. 

Moving to the second phase, it was time to turn recommendations into an implementation plan with clear priorities. 

To manage the delivery of the changes, we used sprints and regular project meetings, which kept the client informed and involved.  This meant that they could keep on top of progress, with regular communication, maintaining buy-in for staff.  

The outcomes of the delivery phase were: 

• Developed SMART targets as Key Performance Indicators. These were designed to help manage performance at all organisational levels.  
• Designed organisational dashboard & reporting functions using the above. 
• Implemented line management & performance management mechanisms, alongside leave booking, and onboarding & offboarding processes. 
• Remapped project management practices knowledge management, and internal communications tools against futureproofing needs. 
• Trained teams in project management fundamentals. This included project planning, delivery, and evaluation stages, alongside resource & capacity management. 
• Trained teams to understand the new systems, processes, and procedures relevant to their roles. 
• Designed training manuals, procedural guidance, and training videos to guarantee long-term understanding. 
• Supported the embedding of all the changes. We held drop-in sessions and created short show-and-tell videos.