July 2022

Throughout my career, I’ve had the opportunity to participate in regular operations review meetings (a.k.a. OpsReviews) for different organizations. Typically, I’ve been the strategy guy providing guidance to keep operations on strategy. From my vantage point, I have been blessed with the opportunity to see what works and what doesn’t, and to provide feedback to the leader to make their meetings even better.

In the article linked below, I identify six key factors that seem to strongly correlate with OpsReview meetings that are powerhouses of teamwork, contributing significantly to the team’s performance throughout the week.

Those six factors are:
1. A Winning Team
2. A Focus on Performance
3. Ownership and Accountability
4. A Commitment to Improve
5. Other Meetings
6. A Consistent Agenda

Read the full article here. 

The word “operations” shows up in many business conversations and it’s one of those words that seems to mean something different to each person.

In the article linked below, I look at different dictionary definitions for the term, as well as different models for tangibly understanding what the discipline really is all about: mathematics, organizational structures, the business model canvas, etc. Based on all that, I suggest that we define business operations in this way: Business operations is the collection of activities and resources required for a business to deliver its value proposition to its customers.

In the article linked below, I go on to discuss how operating models and operating systems support “operations” and I consider why business operations even matters.

Since most small to mid-sized businesses haven’t taken the time to do so, carefully considering what goes into their operations and how they could operate better could deliver significant benefits: Customers could be happier. Growth could be faster. Profits could be larger. Employees could be less frustrated. Do you need help getting started?

Read the full article here.

As a consultant, my job is to help my clients figure out how their businesses could operate better. In my discussions with clients, my questions typically seek to uncover the business’ “operating system” — the business practices that define how the company does its work day after day. 

In the best cases, these practices are consistent and well understood across the organization. They’ve been developed thoughtfully given who the company is and what they are working to accomplish. They are coordinated across departments and naturally everyone in the business is pulling together in the same direction. In these cases, my job is relatively easy. The conversation with leaders is a straightforward analysis of how to tweak the operating system or add some new capabilities to adjust to the changing situation or address the current issue.

But most cases aren’t “best cases.” For most companies, how they operate has developed organically over years as different people have come and gone. The business has grown and been pretty successful without having to really think about how the different business practices work together. But then, something changes, or needs to change, and leaders struggle with how to make that change without breaking the entire system. In these cases, my job can be pretty fun and productive. As I help leaders begin to think about their “operating system”, together we can identify ways they can dramatically improve how the business moves towards its goals in a coordinated fashion.

In the free 30 minute tutorial linked below I dig into this concept of a business operating system. What is it, how can you figure out what yours is, and how can you make it even better?

Watch or read the full tutorial here.