What skills can business operations professionals learn from other industries?

Design thinking methods adapted to internal business operations: ? 5 Whys: A leakage framework to get to the root cause of internal problems. It offers a way to enroll stakeholders in authentic collaborative solution ideation, such as culture or implementation. ? Affinity Diagramming: Sales Ops insights such as forecasting can be grouped based on affinity, similarity, dependence, or proximity, allowing us to find the essence behind the content. ? Six thinking hats: Amplifies by providing reassurance that a broad variety of viewpoints are represented. ? Prototyping: A fun approach is to have a role-playing game of entrepreneur and CEO. Each stakeholder pitches an idea. What should be prioritized? What type of people should be hired?

Business operations, often rooted in analytical efficiency, can deeply benefit from design thinking's empathetic approach. By integrating user-centric insights, operations can shift from mere task execution to creating resonant experiences. Tools like journey maps illuminate complex processes, fostering collaboration. Embracing design thinking's iterative nature also promotes agile adaptability, refining strategies based on feedback. Ultimately, merging these realms ensures operations aren't just efficient but also deeply human-centered.

Agile can help companies remain operationally resilient. As risk and regulation are a big part of business operations, it is easy to get caught up in a self-preservation, linear environment that is often in conflict with the sales/marketing teams. The ultimate loser in this classic conflict is always the customer. Agile provides a decision-making framework that is customer-centric. It involves a short, manageable work stream that enables regular reflection, learning, and adapting. It also provides a more flexible operational self-preservation endeavor. Adaptable business operations can react quickly to market changes, customer feedback, and internal developments while encouraging collaboration and fostering an inclusive work environment.

While Agile's roots lie in software development, its tenets of adaptability and swift response are universally applicable. For business operations, adopting Agile means transforming rigid structures into fluid processes that can quickly pivot in response to feedback. By compartmentalizing projects into sprints, operational tasks become more manageable, allowing for regular evaluations and refinements. Scrum boards and retrospectives aren't merely tools but gateways to enhanced visibility and introspection. Infusing Agile into business operations doesn't just enhance productivity; it ensures the operations team becomes a dynamic entity, always attuned to both internal and external shifts.

In addition to identifying and maximizing value, lean management also involves mapping the current state process to identify all actions completed and by which team. The value stream map serves as a visualization tool for managers and stakeholders to understand which processes are led by which teams and who is responsible for measuring, evaluating and improving the process. The value stream map also shows non-value add activity that is waste and should be eliminated from the future state process. Business operations professionals should have a basic understanding of lean management principles in order to facilitate the use of lean tools to identify what an organization has done and what it needs to do.

Adapting Lean management into business operations is akin to sculpting: strategically chipping away the unnecessary to reveal an optimized form. Beyond its manufacturing origins, Lean's core principle of value-centric efficiency can revolutionize business operations. By eliminating extraneous processes and focusing on value-driven tasks, operational costs diminish while quality surges. Tools like value stream mapping aren't just analytical devices; they're roadmaps, illuminating operational inefficiencies. By embracing Lean, business operations doesn't merely streamline—it evolves into a model of sustained excellence, always with an eye on value.

A crash-course on the advancements made in the manufacturing industry alone could be a great refresher and value-add for professionals in business operations of any industry. Let's not just consider Lean and all the legs of its approaches, but look back to where "Lean" is said to originate from: the Toyota Production System, and what we can learn from its history and evolution. Although approaches may not be directly applicable considering differences in environment, the concepts, the why and similarities in goals may help stimulate a new way of thinking or approach to issues for professionals of any industry.

Data Science can help resolve key business operations problems: - Strategy implementation: one that adapts to current data reads and keeps up with new demands and consumer trends - Performance improvement: by collecting metrics that improve decision-making throughout the organization. - Product improvement: Data science can provide insights into how a newly launched product is performing in the market. - Forecasting: Revenue-generating activities can benefit greatly from data to forecast future goals. Finally, business leaders can help data scientists by making sure that all findings lead to actionable improvements.

Harnessing data science in business operations is like having a compass in an ocean of information. Beyond its technical roots, data science offers operational professionals a way to navigate the vastness of data, transforming it into actionable insights. From predicting bottlenecks to uncovering latent opportunities, the power of analytics drives operational excellence. Tools like SQL or Python aren’t just coding languages; they’re bridges to a deeper understanding of business processes. When operations marries data science, it evolves from mere execution to strategic foresight, always informed, always ready.

In the orchestra of business operations, emotional intelligence is the conductor, guiding teams harmoniously. Beyond the metrics and processes, operations thrives on interpersonal interactions. Drawing from the heart of emotional intelligence, business operations professionals can foster environments of trust and open communication. Tools like active listening aren't merely techniques; they're gateways to deeper collaboration and understanding. When operations are infused with emotional acumen, barriers diminish, and collective goals are reached with empathy at the helm. This isn't just about better operations—it's about human-centric operations.