The Operating Table: How do you make your goals more manageable? Plus how to become a COO and who to follow for great advice...
Milly Barker
Fractional COO at Pay As You Go COO. I can help your growing company get more sh!t done. Serial startup COO. MBA. ex-Amazon.
Hi, I'm Milly and I help startups win. Is it time for the Christmas break yet? I feel like every other article I’ve read this week has been about burnout or the slow slog to the end of the year.
I’m planning to take a totally unheard of 2 week break at the end of December/start of January and I feel guilty that I’m counting down the days towards it. Getting to run Pay As You Go COO is such an incredible privilege and I don’t want to feel like I’m wishing the experience away, but BOY am I tired.
How are you coping now it’s colder and darker and there’s still so much to do and never enough time to do it in? I’m always here to chat if you need an empathetic ear.
If you are feeling overwhelmed, this newsletter might just be the boost you need. in this issue of The Operating Table, we’re looking at some things that may be able to help you - some tips on how to break your big, scary goals down into manageable chunks, where to go to learn how to be the best company operator possible, and who to follow when you need some friendly advice.
How do you make your BIG goals more manageable?
Over the last few newsletters, I've been justifying my existence by outlining how I turn a Founder or CEO's crazy wild vision into an actionable reality in a series of articles on my website. We're now on to Part 4 - how I, as a COO, can use Key Results to break your Objectives down into more manageable, more immediate chunks.
This one is perfect for you if you've got a solid financial plan and a clear vision, but you're struggling to see progress being made.
Objectives are huge numbers and they're often given a deadline that's pretty far in advance. This might seem like a good thing - you may be thinking you've got more chance of hitting a goal if you have longer to do it. It's actually not a good thing, so much as a necessary evil.
Humans are fantastically good at under-estimating how long something will take and over-estimating how quickly they can get it done. Ever rushed to clean the house before guests come round even though you gave yourself the whole morning to get it done? Then you know exactly what I mean.
Key Results are the mile-markers that let you and your team know that your company is on the way to achieving the distant Objective. They keep the business on track by giving it smaller, more manageable and immediate goals.
If you're wondering why you're not achieving your most important numbers and wondering if a better balance between the micro and the macro could help, check out the full article here:
Do you dream of being a COO?
If you do, you’re in good company.
There are two main groups of people who read this newsletter: 1. Founders/CEOs and 2. other Operations people, some COOs, some earlier in their Ops career.
If you’re in the latter part of that latter group and you’re reading this because you want to one day be a COO too (Hi! I see you, I believe in you!), then I’m very excited to say that the 6th cohort of the truly INCREDIBLE Aspiring or First-Time COO Course from my good friends at Operations Nation is open for applications.
The Aspiring or First-Time COO Course is a 14 week deep-dive that helps you build up your skills and confidence to either land the difficult-to-define role of a startup COO and/or succeed and thrive as you face the challenges of the role.
The next Cohort will be running from February to May 2025 and applications are open until Friday December 6 at 11:59 PM GMT.
If you’re a Head of Ops (or equivalent) OR a first-time COO and you're ready to develop and strengthen your skills and confidence as a COO - so you not only survive, but thrive head here to read all about the course, or click the link below to start your application.
Free Resources
I’m the ultimate cheerleader for early-stage companies and I’ve got the knowledge you need to?take your brilliant ideas from the drawing board to the board room.?Did you know you can get a lot of this knowledge for free on my website?
Find investors, accelerators, tips, tricks, tools, and more to help you beat the odds and build for success on my?free resources page.
I usually use this section of the newsletter to share great resources for small businesses that I've found, this issue we're doing great *people* I've found for small businesses. I meet with so many different freelancers, fractionals, and service businesses each week and it's a privilege to have such an interesting network. Since I believe that privilege is meant to be shared, if you're trying to grow your business and looking for help - look no further, these are three of people/companies you should be following.
Not only is he one of the best startup operators out there, he's also one of the nicest humans I know. Paul was one of the first ops hires at Deliveroo and his skills are very much battle-tested (quite literally, he was also a Chief of Staff in the British Army). Check out his substack here for really thoughtful and practical content about how to operate with purpose: https://lnkd.in/em_ZYNYv
The brains behind Caroline Sumners Marketing ??, Caroline is a Marketing Consultant and Coach for SMEs. Experienced, honest, and very tactical, follow Caroline and/or subscribe to her newsletter for great tips on how to effectively market your business without spending ALL of your time on content: https://lnkd.in/exvCDqTz
I met Ty only recently, when we shared a stage at the Operations Nation cONference, and was blown away by the impact that his words leave on anyone lucky enough to get to chat to him. Ty is based in Seattle, where he helps startup leaders keep their heads above the chaos. Follow him to learn from one of the best operations minds (we're talking multi-billion dollar experience here) in the business (he also knows a lot about cheese).
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If you’re dreaming of getting more sh!t done in your growing company, why not book a free call to see how I can help?
The COO & Ops leader coach | scaled 3 Unicorns | 5x Founding Ops | failed 10x more than succeeded (at least) | I help COOs outmaneuver the chaos ??
3 个月Love this "Humans are fantastically good at under-estimating how long something will take and over-estimating how quickly they can get it done." Spot on per usual!