In today's rapidly changing business landscape, organizations need a strategic and thoughtful chief operating officer (COO). While the specific responsibilities and expertise of a COO, or head of operations, might vary among organizations (depending on the industry, geographic location, and company size), the role itself is essential to navigate today’s operational complexities, e.g., digitization, ESG regulations, shortage of skilled workers, disrupted supply chains, and more. So, across sectors and regions, what makes some COOs more successful than others?
To find out, we interviewed leading COOs and asked them to reflect about their first 100 days as a newly-appointed COO. Almost all the leaders we spoke with said that the first 100 days were challenging, but also extremely important to their long-term success. They said their focus was on meeting a variety of high expectations from stakeholders including their colleagues, their shareholders, and the general public. But they also highlighted that they prioritized building trust and gaining momentum as they lay the foundation for what they hoped to accomplish over time.
Whether organizations choose to promote from within or hire external talent, once a COO is in place the onboarding process demands meticulous preparation that aligns with the role and the specific needs of the organization. A comprehensive action plan is essential to mitigate the risk of potential failure.
We have looked for common patterns in the COOs’ answers to what the most important questions were for them when preparing to step into their new roles. Four questions were mentioned by almost every interviewee:
- 1What is expected of me?
- 2What do I want to achieve within my first 100 days in the office?
- 3How should I prioritize my available time?
- 4What short-term improvements can I realize and what long-term optimization should I pursue?
Answering these questions does not of itself guarantee a positive impact within the first 100 days as a COO but serves as a solid foundation to build from in successfully managing today’s complex operations environment.
Managing complex operations in 2024 and beyond
The past few years have created a number of new complexities and challenges for COOs to address. To name just a few of the factors affecting operations, we’ve seen unprecedented workforce shortages, combined with rising cost pressures and supply chain disruptions. In addition, companies are grappling with increasing ESG requirements and price hikes. Moreover, the imperative to balance profitability and growth aspirations adds further complexity to the COO agenda. To learn more about how we’re helping retailers and CPG companies with these challenges, take a look at our Value Chain eXcellence approach.
At the same time as managing these general global shifts, across industries, newly-appointed COOs must also rapidly acquaint themselves with their company’s needs, identifying both immediate challenges and long-term issues. Their window to familiarize themselves with granular details is limited, as they often step into their roles at critical junctures, with expectations for a quick turnaround. The initial onboarding phase is crucial in building trust, steering the company toward the right path, gaining crucial momentum, and ensuring sustained success.
Internally-promoted COOs, by contrast, often struggle to gain an objective perspective on the operations organization.
"My advantage in being appointed from within the organization, was my knowledge of the company. Simultaneously, my disadvantage lay in this very knowledge."
Conversely, external hires bring fresh perspectives, diverse skillsets, and a wealth of industry experience, injecting new ideas and strategies into the organization. But it might take them longer to build trust and get up to speed on company culture.
"My biggest challenge was being regarded as an outsider, stepping into the company in which the other board members were all long-term employees with existing informal networks. Yes, I came with a fresh pair of eyes, which the company needed for sure, but also a disadvantage on the starting line in terms of power."
In either situation, whether a new COO comes from inside or outside of the organization, the first 100 days serve as a critical window of opportunity for a new leader to make a positive impression, gain insights into the organization's operations, and build the foundation for their future contributions. To take best advantage of that period, here’s an action plan outlining key areas of focus for incoming COOs.
A three-month action plan for incoming COOs
Reflect and connect
Even before officially taking on your new role as COO, the work begins. If you want to lay a strong foundation, you need to get a head start.
In the weeks leading up to your first day, take some time to reflect on your own leadership type and your expectations for the job. If you’re coming in as an external hire, take advantage of your outside-in perspective. Start collecting ideas and information that you can ask people about and then build on.
“Usually there is no one to onboard you – so you need to make sure that you leverage your personal network as much as you can, e.g., talking to other COOs in the same or an adjacent industry”, a COO of an industrial products manufacturer told us.
If you’re moving up internally, try to gather other people’s outside perspectives on emerging market trends and issues. Seek out the support of external experts through your own network. And in either situation, make sure to reach out to your peer colleagues. Building and maintaining strong relationships will be important to your success.
Listen and learn
During your first month, your main objectives will be to understand your company’s vision, listen to your key stakeholders and employees, and identify your key operations areas. At the same time, you’ll want to clearly define your role and responsibilities within the board, while establishing sustainable relationships with other leaders, such as with the CFO for future investment decisions. As one interviewee said, “Seek connections to the works council, as they often have other perspectives on pressing issues.” In addition, getting to know people at all levels and across functions is one of the most effective ways to understand a complex organization. So, as you build your high-level strategic vision for operations, it can be useful to get into the weeds.
"Being on the shop floor and working with the production team in different shifts accelerates the understanding of technical processes, but also of roles and responsibilities within Operations. This is a must and gave me an understanding of the capabilities we have and the immediate actions we must drive. Apart from the shop floor functions, Sales and Engineering are essential partners to work together closely with from the start, to understand which areas to focus on first. Therefore, be prepared for a jump into the deep end - operational decisions will require your input from Day 1."
Plant visits to understand your manufacturing processes will provide valuable insights and understanding of details to challenge the status quo if necessary.
Visit manufacturers and suppliers to better understand their capabilities and limitations firsthand. Ask questions and consider different perspectives. Particularly for external hires, participating in various processes might help you gain understanding of the core business.
Strategize and plant seeds
During your second month, you can start paving the way to implement changes. First, take an inventory and see where your organization stands. As you do that, make sure you’re securing the business and not losing track of day-to-day responsibilities. Next, define and prioritize the processes that may need to change and your desired goals – whether they’re related to sales and operations planning or inventory reduction, for example.
"Lever your network and external sources to get an objective perspective. Based on the outside-in view, I prioritized three topics: Our future footprint, the organizational design, and our Operations Digital agenda."
Then you can conduct your own assessments to get an unbiased view of performance across the organization, including capability assessments. At the same time, identify any barriers to transformation. And, finally, prioritize identified change needs and start creating your action plan, making sure to set up your organization for success. In other words, each team should have the support it needs to perform well.
"It is quite important not to focus purely on strategy and processes. The cultural component is just as relevant, for instance if a deeper supply chain integration in your company is required."
Communicate and measure
As you get ready to implement your changes, divide your strategic plan into functional roadmaps for each area. Then, make sure you’re making yourself visible – internally and externally. To be successful, you need not only to set measurable goals, but also to communicate them clearly. During this period, focus on continuously building and maintaining strong relationships and rapport.
"Strategic goals can be a stretch – so you need to make sure to collect feedback to shape smaller goals or achievable objectives."
One way to do that is by providing transparency about your early achievements and by regularly engaging with your stakeholders. In addition, be clear about which KPIs you’ll use to measure success. With those in mind, align your near-term and long-term goals. Remember, you may need to negotiate tradeoffs between KPIs based on the direction in which you want the company to go.
No matter what industry or region you’re operating in, a new COO needs time to fully understand their operations. But in today's fast-moving environment, they also need to be agile. They need to learn fast, make swift decisions, and adapt quickly. Being appointed as COO from within the organization might seem less daunting than being an externally-hired leader. But, in fact, both scenarios have advantages and hurdles – and they both necessitate approaching the new position with an open mind, listening skills, and a well-defined agenda. With that approach, we know a new COO can accomplish a lot in just 100 days.
Thanks to Tim Biskup, Annalena Kiefer, Eva Nguyen, and Hannah Ableidinger who contributed to this report.
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