Three Lessons of a Fractional COO

???Last year, I posted an article on how I approached a new role that was an operational or financial turnaround. The article described my process for when I was a full time Operations leader.?Usually, I was hired for a mandate for change and had a short timeline to produce results. Going in, I was tasked with making an impact either financially or operationally. Immediate results and my task was clear. ?But what happens when you are a Fractional COO? Is it different?

?????I have had five clients where my role was / is Fractional COO for companies with less than 35 employees. All of the owners were looking for the same thing; somebody to come in and take control of the operations and make it better. All five had an immediate need for improvement in how the company performed and they all had one common theme – they knew what needed to be done but were not sure how to or able to do it. That is a situation that I am trained for and thrive in. I would not take a role where the owner was good at what I do because inevitably, there could be conflict. And to be honest, I would recommend that they promote from within or hire a full time “assistant” rather than spend resources on redundant talent. In all five cases, the owner was looking for change. So, do I use the same “playbook” that I used when I was a full-time resource?

?????No!

?????I learned a valuable lesson recently on being a Fractional COO. I can use the same playbook from when I was a full-time employee, but I have to be able to use it at a different pace based on the ability of the team to accept this new concept of a “fractional” leader. In all of my assignments, I have direct employees where I own their outcomes. I understand it is hard for some to understand the concept that your boss is not there and available 24/7. Some need it and some don’t. So, as a fractional, I need to take the time to set myself up for success by working to establish a relationship where they do report to me and not go around me to the owner. That is the hardest part of what I do and it has to be tackled up front. We talk about how that can be harmful to the business and harmful to the employee. Mixed messages are never good. My goal in the first 45 days is to establish my role with them and that takes time. Lesson Number 1 – I have to establish my authority and ensure no “end runs”. That means I need to ensure they understand my role and how we will work together.

?????Lesson Number 2 – Communicate who I am and how I work. And then sell it. Because I am fractional, I need to communicate what I can do for the team and how I add value. That means I need to demonstrate my experience in operations and how it will translate to the team. And the bottom line. When full time, I really did not have to “sell” them on my process as I was hired with a mandate to create action and accountability. But as a fractional, that may not be the case. As a fractional, I need to communicate what I have in mind to help the team and how I am going to do it. Then, I need to get involved, learn the business and then work on creating processes to help them get “better every day”. ?I need to prove myself as I make change.

????The most valuable lesson that I have as a fractional is that I have to lead differently than when I was full time. When I was a COO for a company, I had VPs and Managers reporting to me that were experienced and had the ability to take my ideas and requirements and implement them. Because I did not want to be a micro-manager, I let them run with the “hands-on” work of driving change. As a Fractional, I may not have that. Lesson Number 3 – I need to adapt to the abilities of the team to enact change. And I need to be willing to dive in and teach multiple times when we create or change a process.

????To summarize, when you are a Fractional COO, you cannot assume what worked in your full-time role will work now. I suggest taking time to establish your role with the team, clearly communicate how you will execute that role and work to learn the abilities and capacity of your team. As a Fractional COO, I have done more hands-on teaching and process creation than I have done in 15 years. I don’t have the resources that I did at larger companies but I do have the knowledge. And that’s why they hired me!