COO Advisor Skill | Agent Skills

COO Advisor

Operations leadership advisory for Chief Operating Officers.

Core Competencies

Business operations management
Process design and optimization
Cross-functional coordination
Operational scaling
Vendor and partner management
Business continuity
Operational metrics
Resource allocation

Operational Framework

Operations Maturity Model

Level 1 - Ad Hoc:

Processes are informal
Tribal knowledge
Reactive problem solving
Inconsistent outcomes

Level 2 - Defined:

Documented processes
Basic metrics tracking
Some automation
Repeatable outcomes

Level 3 - Managed:

KPIs and dashboards
Regular reviews
Continuous improvement
Predictable outcomes

Level 4 - Optimized:

Data-driven decisions
Automated workflows
Proactive optimization
Industry-leading efficiency

Process Documentation Standard

# Process Name

## Purpose
[Why this process exists]

## Owner
[Single accountable person]

## Trigger
[What initiates this process]

## Inputs
[What is needed to start]

## Steps
1. [Step with responsible party]
2. [Step with responsible party]
3. [Step with responsible party]

## Outputs
[What is produced]

## SLAs
[Time and quality expectations]

## Exceptions
[How to handle edge cases]

Cross-Functional Alignment

Operating Rhythm

Daily:

Standup meetings (15 min)
Issue escalation
Key metrics review

Weekly:

Department syncs
Cross-functional coordination
Pipeline/project reviews
Customer escalations

Monthly:

Business reviews
Metric deep dives
Process improvements
Resource planning

Quarterly:

Strategic reviews
OKR assessment
Planning cycles
All-hands communication

Meeting Cadence Template

| Meeting | Frequency | Duration | Attendees | Purpose | |---------|-----------|----------|-----------|---------| | Leadership Sync | Weekly | 60 min | Execs | Alignment | | Ops Review | Weekly | 45 min | Dept heads | Execution | | Business Review | Monthly | 90 min | Leadership | Performance | | All Hands | Monthly | 60 min | Company | Communication | | QBR | Quarterly | Half day | Leadership | Strategy |

Scaling Operations

Headcount Planning

Capacity Model:

Required HC = Volume / (Productivity × Utilization)

Volume: Work units per period
Productivity: Units per person per period
Utilization: Available time percentage

Planning Factors:

Attrition rate (typically 10-20%)
Ramp time for new hires
Seasonal variations
Growth assumptions

Vendor Management

Vendor Selection Criteria:

Capability fit
Financial stability
Reference quality
Service levels
Pricing competitiveness
Contract flexibility

Vendor Review Cadence:

Weekly: Operational issues
Monthly: Performance metrics
Quarterly: Business review
Annual: Contract renewal

Tool Stack Assessment

Evaluation Framework:

User adoption rate
Process efficiency gain
Integration capability
Total cost of ownership
Vendor reliability
Security compliance

Operational Metrics

Key Performance Indicators

Efficiency:

Process cycle time
First-time completion rate
Cost per transaction
Automation rate

Quality:

Error rate
Rework percentage
Customer satisfaction
SLA compliance

Scalability:

Volume growth handling
Cost per unit trend
Capacity utilization
Bottleneck identification

Dashboard Structure

OPERATIONAL HEALTH
├── Volume metrics (transactions, requests, tickets)
├── Quality metrics (errors, rework, satisfaction)
├── Efficiency metrics (cycle time, cost per unit)
└── Capacity metrics (utilization, backlog)

TEAM PERFORMANCE
├── Productivity per person
├── SLA achievement
├── Training completion
└── Engagement score

SYSTEM HEALTH
├── System uptime
├── Integration status
├── Processing latency
└── Error rates

Process Optimization

Improvement Methodology

1. Map Current State:

Document as-is process
Identify handoffs
Measure cycle times
Calculate costs

2. Identify Waste:

Waiting time
Rework loops
Manual steps
Approval bottlenecks

3. Design Future State:

Eliminate non-value steps
Automate where possible
Reduce handoffs
Parallelize activities

4. Implement Changes:

Pilot with subset
Gather feedback
Iterate and refine
Roll out broadly

5. Measure Impact:

Compare metrics
Document savings
Share learnings
Sustain improvements

Automation Priority Matrix

                    High Value
                        |
    Quick Wins     -----+-----   Strategic Projects
    (Do First)          |        (Plan Carefully)
                        |
    Low Effort ---------+--------- High Effort
                        |
    Fill-ins       -----+-----   Reconsider
    (Do When Available) |        (May Not Be Worth It)
                        |
                    Low Value

Business Continuity

BCP Framework

Risk Assessment:

Identify critical processes
Assess impact of disruption
Determine recovery priorities
Document dependencies

Continuity Planning:

Define recovery objectives (RTO/RPO)
Identify alternate sites/resources
Document procedures
Assign responsibilities

Testing and Maintenance:

Annual tabletop exercises
Periodic recovery drills
Plan updates after changes
Post-incident reviews

Incident Classification

| Level | Impact | Response Time | Communication | |-------|--------|---------------|---------------| | P1 | Business critical | 15 min | Exec + all stakeholders | | P2 | Major impact | 1 hour | Leadership + affected teams | | P3 | Moderate impact | 4 hours | Team leads | | P4 | Minor impact | 24 hours | Direct reports |

Resource Allocation

Capacity Planning

Demand Forecasting:

Historical trend analysis
Seasonality adjustments
Growth rate assumptions
Initiative impact

Supply Planning:

Current headcount
Hiring pipeline
Contractor availability
Automation roadmap

Gap Analysis:

Capacity vs demand
Skill gaps
Location constraints
Budget limitations

Budget Management

Operating Expense Categories:

Personnel (salary, benefits, contractors)
Technology (software, hardware, hosting)
Facilities (office, utilities, equipment)
Services (professional, consulting)
Travel and events

Variance Analysis:

Actual vs budget comparison
Root cause identification
Forecast adjustment
Corrective actions

Common Scenarios

Scenario: Rapid Scaling

When volume doubles in 6 months:

Identify bottleneck processes
Prioritize automation investments
Adjust hiring plan forward
Negotiate vendor capacity
Implement parallel processing
Monitor quality closely

Scenario: Cost Reduction

When cutting operating costs by 20%:

Categorize all expenses
Identify non-essential spend
Renegotiate vendor contracts
Consolidate tools/systems
Automate manual processes
Rightsize team structure

Scenario: System Outage

When critical system fails:

Activate incident response
Assess customer impact
Enable manual workarounds
Communicate to stakeholders
Restore service
Conduct post-mortem

Reference Materials

references/process_templates.md - Standard process documentation
references/scaling_playbook.md - Scaling operations guide
references/vendor_management.md - Vendor relationship framework
references/bcp_template.md - Business continuity planning

Scripts

# Process efficiency analyzer
python scripts/process_analyzer.py --process onboarding

# Capacity planning calculator
python scripts/capacity_planner.py --forecast demand.csv

# Vendor scorecard generator
python scripts/vendor_scorecard.py --vendors vendors.yaml

# Operational dashboard builder
python scripts/ops_dashboard.py --metrics metrics.json

Agent Skills: COO Advisor

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