Operations: The Function of Making Work, Work

Operations | COO - The Expert Generalist

October 07, 2024

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Opening Remarks

Everyone knows what a CEO, CFO, CHRO is…but Operations gets a little cloudy for many.

What do COOs do? Well, it depends.

If I tell someone I run operations for X company or client X, many think-

“Oh what do you manufacture? What machine do you run? What do you make? What does operations even mean?” It’s like I am speaking in code.

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Operations: The work function of every organization

Operations is in just about any business, organization, entity, in some form, but it’s a matter of:

  • How we look, handle, bundle, wrap, describe, or label it

  • Who does and leads the version of operations within that business

  • What is the output of operations

  • Operations may be called something completely different in some companies

Operations Runs the Organization:

  • Gets the work done

  • Supports the work

  • Provides resources

  • Improves the work

  • Builds, creates, enables, provides, does, figures out

  • Makes everything tick, bringing the company together

The Value Operations Delivers

  • Efficiency

  • Effectiveness

  • Cost Savings

  • Associate Development

  • Culture

  • Organizational Expertise not functional specialization

  • Production

What does Operations do? What does a COO or “Second in Command” do? Depends on, a lot. The inspiration for this newsletter is credited to Kristin Cummings, Virtual COO. Her LinkedIn post and the associated comments are included below and helped create much of the list below.

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A few things COOs may own, oversee, lead, or do:

  • Annual strategic plan

  • Strategic planning sessions

  • OKRs

  • Dashboards

  • Quarterly organizational health assessments

  • All the things the CEO doesn’t do well or hates doing

  • What it takes to relieve the CEO or other c-suite’s non-core areas

  • Vision execution methodology

  • Brakes to the CEO’s foot on the gas

  • Customer partnerships - be “the buck stops here” for SMB/SMEs

  • Problem solver

  • Disruptor of the status quo

  • Risk mitigation

  • Team leadership

  • Kicking off new initiatives

  • Setting KPI's and holding team accountable

  • Running regular leadership meetings

  • Overseeing departments (i.e. HR, Marketing, Operations, etc)

  • Finding outside vendors/hires for specialty roles

  • Being a “jack of all trades” until an area is ready for a specialist

  • Creating a budget and leading the financial area

  • Internal events and team gatherings

  • External events

  • Client and team member onboarding

  • Creating, iterating and owning processes and systems

  • Project prioritization, building schedule of improvement projects, projects focused on People/Process/Technology

  • Strategic project prioritization and crafting a vivid long-term vision

  • Taking the Founder/CEO vision, helping craft a comprehensive three year “Vivid Vision” for all internal stakeholders and for sharing with partners and clients. (Before annual planning/strategy, helpful to have broader view that shows where you are going and high level priorities to get there. Makes the planning and strategy easier and more aligned).

  • Leading dashboard development/reset: creating visibility for KPIs and focus data

  • Be the “cultural glue”, ensuring the company's values are lived out daily.

  • Foster a culture of communication and decision-making, ensuring alignment across all departments.

  • Focus on fostering innovation and continuous improvement across all levels.

  • Own the tech stack when there isn’t another central owner

  • Consulting other leaders in the company on ways to optimize their discipline, find efficiencies, connecting them to others to collaborate

  • Optimizing operational systems so the organization always takes advantage of the latest efficiencies

  • Enterprise change management

  • Lead much of your organization’s work, serving clients, internal work, or the work behind the work

If you need help with crafting your organizational operations structure with considerations for various functional areas, advice on operations and people leadership, or to help craft the COO/”Second in Command” role. Feel free to reach out.

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Outbound requires hours of manual work.

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  • High Quality Emails with Waterfall Personalization

  • Follow-Up Management

Let your reps focus on closing deals instead of writing emails.

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Takeaways

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Supporting Content - For More to the Story

Second in Command: The Misunderstood Role of the Chief Operating Officer

Asking the question, “What makes a great COO?” is akin to asking “What makes a great candidate for U.S. vice president?” It all depends on the first name on the ticket—the CEO. New research sheds light on this most contingent, and most mysterious, of C-suite jobs. After in-depth conversations with dozens of executives who have held the position and with CEOs who have worked with COOs, the authors have concluded that different views of the COO role arise from the different motives behind creating the position in the first place. There are seven basic reasons why companies decide to hire a COO: to implement the CEO’s strategy; to lead a particular initiative, such as a turnaround; to mentor a young, inexperienced CEO; to complement the strengths or make up for the weaknesses of the CEO; to provide a partner to the CEO; to test out a possible successor; or to stave off the defection of a highly valuable executive, particularly to a rival. This tremendous variation implies that there is no standard set of great COO attributes, which makes finding suitable candidates difficult for companies and recruiters alike. Still, certain common success factors came up consistently in the interviews, the most important being building a high level of trust between CEO and COO. Trust comes from meeting obligations on both sides: The COO must truly support the CEO’s vision; keep ego in check; and exhibit strong execution, coaching, and coordination skills. The CEO must communicate faithfully, grant real authority and decision rights, and not stymie the COO’s career. It’s surprising that COOs are not more common. They would be, the authors contend, if there were less confusion surrounding the role. As we continue to demystify that role, more companies will benefit from more effective leadership.

hbr.org/2006/05/second-in-command-the-misunderstood-role-of-the-chief-operating-officer

Vivid Vision - COO Alliance

Vivid Visions help leaders form their goals into reality. This is our Vivid Vision of what COO Alliance will be by 2022. Learn more about what we hope to make a reality for our members soon.

cooalliance.com/vivid-vision

Welcome to Operations Nation!

The Operations Nation Community is home to 1,500+ startup and scaleup people with operations in their titles: Chief Operating Officers, VP Operations, Operations Directors, and Heads of Operations.

operationsnation.com

The Daily Newsletter for Intellectually Curious Readers

If you're frustrated by one-sided reporting, our 5-minute newsletter is the missing piece. We sift through 100+ sources to bring you comprehensive, unbiased news—free from political agendas. Stay informed with factual coverage on the topics that matter.

Graham Peelle

grahampeelle.com/founder-gtm

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