Has your organization hit a wall in terms of operations? While you know that you can do better, are you overwhelmed with figuring out how to get there and are unsure of where to turn for advice?
A Fractional COO can provide you with cost effective solutions to your business woes and provide solutions to streamline your operations. As today’s business environment demands that operations be measured through other means, including through the lenses of sustainability, DEI, and corporate social responsibility (CSR), a Fractional COO can help you optimize operations while taking into account the demands of the modern business world.
What is operational streamlining?
If you’re asking yourself: “What does it mean to streamline operations?” You’ve come to the right article.
Operational streamlining is an iterative practice of identifying and eliminating activities that provide no added value to a business.
Traditionally, the goal of any operational streamlining process is three-prong: to reduce waste, boost efficiency, and increase productivity. Value comes in numerous forms and should not be thought of as merely a dollar amount on a balance sheet. As more jurisdictions are requiring ESG and CSR reporting to be conducted as a matter of law, operational streamlining can provide an opportunity for a business to demonstrate how it provides value to the environment and society.
Waste reduction and its relation to operational streamlining
Waste can be characterized in numerous ways, but all types affect the bottom line. A manufacturing entity may produce solid municipal waste and also need to dispose of hazardous materials.
It may also have to contend with the production of waste water, which costs money to treat, for example. A consulting or services provider may contend with waste in the form of obsolescent equipment.
Waste production, and consequently its reduction, have an immediate and direct impact on a business’ sustainability and corporate social responsibility profiles.
Streamlining operations boosts efficiency
Efficiency is a measure of how well resources are being used. In the traditional sense, efficiency can be optimized by tools such as process mapping to determine where duplicative steps are taking place and looking into metrics related to waste production. In some cases, some tasks performed in house can be outsourced or completely automated, if the result will allow staff to focus on profit generating activities.
However, means to increase efficiency should not come at the risk of increasing damage to the natural environment or to the health and welfare of human beings.
Increase productivity with clear business operations
Productivity is simply a measure of the work completed in a period of time. While this is fairly straightforward, the causes of lagging productivity are typically related to communications and logistical issues and require analysis to sort out, as more than one may be present, depending upon the type of business.
What is the best way to streamline operations?
Study, study, study your processes!
A Fractional COO can help you understand how information, money, and materials cycle through your business by using a combination of business process software tools and business process techniques.
They can then provide the necessary guidance to select the right resources and tactics to shed light on the areas that are in need of improvement.
Generally speaking there are four main areas that a business can focus on in its quest to streamline operations: communications, costs, risk, and time.
Streamlining operations can communication
Communication affects every level and aspect of business. While most employees and managers have a sense of where breakdowns and inefficiencies in communication lie, a Fractional COO can guide you to the right solution for your business’ specific needs.
Costs in relation to business processes
Costs are directly related to the efficiency of business processes. Costs can be streamlined once improvements in efficiency are made. Costs can often be lowered by automating or outsourcing processes but also by eliminating unnecessary or duplicative steps or replacing a process altogether.
Risk management and operational excellence
A Fractional COO can help your business perform risk analyses and tailor a risk management plan that optimizes communication while minimizing time and money spent. Risk comes in many forms, and a Fractional COO can help you weigh your options, especially in circumstances where a faster or lower cost process, though initially appealing, may introduce unintended consequences and potential liability.
A COO, like Bhuva Shakti – founder of Bhuva’s Impact Global – also has the capabilities of integrating machine learning and AI in risk management.
Operational improvement also helps time management
The element of time will always be linked to productivity, but because time is a resource, it can also be linked to a business’ efficiency. A Fractional COO can help you evaluate why specific processes require a certain amount of time and can help develop a plan to reduce the time that it takes to complete a task or to help introduce slack and, in turn, lower risk and liability.
How a Fractional COO can help streamline operations
Hiring a Fractional COO to streamline operations has many benefits for a startup or a small- or medium-sized business. Below are some of the advantages that accessing the knowledge and expertise of a seasoned Fractional COO will bring to your organization.
If your start-up is struggling with understanding the role of a COO in a scale-up, read on to learn more about how someone like Bhuva Shakti of Bhuva’s Impact Global can help you!
Fractional COOs offer cost-effective advice
A Fractional COO can provide guidance for startups and small- and medium-sized businesses at an affordable price point for a predetermined length of time. They can be hired at an hourly rate or on a project basis, and compensation can be made in the form of cash, equity, or a combination of both.
These part-time operations officers have multidisciplinary experience
In choosing a Fractional COO, it is crucial to find someone who has achieved success in your industry but who also has a broad perspective from working with other fields.
Why? A Fractional COO who has been successful across industries is your best resource for discovering novel approaches to solving unique problems, like those faced by startups working in emerging industries.
Understanding fractional COO rates depends on many factors, like your location, your fundraising stage, and your industry. If you want to learn more about rates from Bhuva’s Impact Global, then you should contact us today!
Part-time COOs have networks you can tap
Having seen a gamut of problems across many players, a Fractional COO knows where to go for solutions. If additional training is necessary to increase your employees’ productivity, a Fractional COO will likely have had experience with multiple educational providers and can make a recommendation you can trust.
Assistance with ESG and CSR reporting
Whatever steps are taken to streamline operations will directly influence your organization’s impacts on environmental sustainability and society. A Fractional COO who is well versed in ESG and CSR reporting can also help communicate your gains. They can also suggest how to manage and mitigate risk and as well provide guidance on how to file both mandatory and voluntary reports, as well as set up the protocols necessary to collect data for these reports on a real time basis.
In summary, a Fractional COO can provide a backbone of experience from across many sectors using tried and true methodologies and tactics to streamline operations while positioning a startup or small business for scale or expansion into new markets. The process of optimizing operations with the guidance of a Fractional COO can also help businesses prepare for voluntary and/or mandatory ESG and CSR report filings.
Bhuva’s Impact Global is here for you! Bhuva is a board director equipped to handle your operational challenges and can consult on ESG and CSR related issues. Take advantage of Bhuva’s expansive knowledge, skills, and expertise and see how your business can not only thrive today but become capable of anticipating the changes of tomorrow.
Book a consultation to begin the journey of streamlining your operations today.
This blog post can also be found on Bhuva Shakti’s LinkedIn newsletter “The BIG Bulletin.” Both the BIG Bulletin on LinkedIn and the BIG Blog are managed by Bhuva’s Impact Global. We encourage readers to visit Bhuva’s LinkedIn page for more insightful articles, posts, and resources.
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