You’ve landed a new job in Business Operations, a field that combines strategic thinking, data analysis, and problem-solving to optimize business processes and performance. Congratulations! But what should you do to succeed in your first weeks and months in this role? Here are some tips to help you get started.
The first thing you should do is to understand the vision, mission, and objectives of the business you’re working for. What are the key drivers of growth, profitability, and customer satisfaction? How does your role fit into the overall strategy and operations of the business? How do you measure and report on your impact? By aligning yourself with the business goals, you’ll be able to prioritize your tasks, communicate effectively, and add value to your team and stakeholders.
I agree that learning the business of your company is important as well as the mission, but to understand the business goals, you have to look beneath the surface. For instance, I work as an operations consultant for the largest healthcare system in Arizona. In order to understand our daily work, I had to study through and through the tool I was using. But to know the why's I had to understand who we were supporting as a team. Our benchmarking work and data reports are used to support over 18 hospitals that are benchmarked and how to support the overall goal of supporting our Sofias (the patients) and in turn our directors at each facility belonging to different AU's.
It depends on which job position we are talking about. From an everyday perspective, processes hold greater importance than strategic knowledge. People are cogs in the machinery. The smooth operation of a business is crucial for its success. Efficient processes, well-defined and streamlined business operations ensure tasks are carried out efficiently, minimizing waste of time, resources, and effort. This leads to cost savings and increased productivity. In my experience more important tahn understanding business goals.
As a business operations professional, you’ll need to master various tools and systems that help you analyze, automate, and improve business processes. Depending on your industry and function, these could include software for project management, data analysis, customer relationship management, workflow automation, and more. You should familiarize yourself with the features, functions, and best practices of these tools and systems, and seek feedback and guidance from your colleagues and managers on how to use them efficiently and effectively.
In order to understand our daily work regarding the Benchmarking work that I do, I had to study through and through the tool I was using. I am still learning new things every day and while I am learning the intricacies of the tool and looking for ways to improve the tool, it is inherent to understand how it works. Just inputting data and calling it a day is not the right approach. Again, understanding the why's is what helps me understand the why's of our reports and giving the right data to our leaders and stakeholders. Asking questions constantly will help a person grow. Listening and taking notes will not only help them to grow in their career but just understand the basics of why the tool works the way it does.
To understand daily workflow within your department or organization, you have to understand the current workflow of the organization. Have an open mind in terms of listening to understanding and not listening to change.
Another important aspect of your new job is to build relationships and networks with your coworkers, managers, customers, and partners. Business operations is a cross-functional role that requires collaboration and coordination across different teams and departments. You should introduce yourself to the key people you’ll be working with, learn about their roles and responsibilities, and establish trust and rapport. You should also seek out mentors, sponsors, and peers who can support your learning and development, and share your insights and ideas with them.
It is crucial to any field of work or industry to build your relationships and networks. The reason being is because they are not just a stepping stone to achieve personal goals, but these relationships will be good teachers and provide insights - professional and personal. Never look at building networks as a means to getting what you want. A tit-for-tat approach never works. Grow where you are planted and learn from every single colleague and mentor.
As you get more familiar with the business goals, tools, and systems, and the people you work with, you should also start to identify the pain points and opportunities for improvement in the business processes and performance. What are the current challenges and bottlenecks that affect the efficiency, quality, and customer satisfaction of the business? What are the potential solutions and innovations that could enhance the value proposition and competitive advantage of the business? You should document and analyze these pain points and opportunities, and propose actionable recommendations to your team and managers.
My best advice for anyone starting in Business Operations is to first understand the pain points. On my first job, I dove into identifying inefficiencies by listening to employee frustrations and customer feedback. This approach led me to uncover not just problems, but also hidden opportunities for improvement and innovation. For example, a common complaint about slow software turned into a chance to upgrade our systems, significantly boosting productivity. Start by listening; it's where real change begins.
Finally, you should be ready to experiment and iterate on your ideas and solutions. Business operations is a dynamic and evolving field that requires constant testing, learning, and adapting to changing customer needs, market conditions, and business goals. You should be open to feedback, data, and evidence, and be willing to adjust your assumptions, hypotheses, and strategies accordingly. You should also track and measure your results, and communicate your findings and outcomes to your team and stakeholders.