A fractional COO is essentially an outsourced professional who serves as your chief operating officer. They can arrive once a week, once a month, or as often as you need them for strategic planning, process improvement, and other operations-related projects. A fractional COO is simply a leadership executive who acts as a part-time director of operations. On-site responsibilities and frequency can vary widely and are generally customized to the needs of the business.
A fractional COO is a director of operations (COO) that an organization hires on a part-time basis or as needed. Fractional COO contracts offer much more flexibility than adding a full-time COO to your payroll, with an off switch for a shorter period of time. Fractional contracting helps determine the revenue potential, financial performance, and profitability of various products, services and solutions. In many cases, a fractional COO will also handle some of the company's daily operations, allowing the CEO to focus on higher-level tasks.
As a general rule, fractional COO services will be priced similar to that of expert-level legal or accounting advice services. A fractional COO can close the gap and provide the resources you need to continue growing your company without having to commit to a full-time employee. That's where fractional COO services come into play, since you can hire temporary or temporary management in the form of an outsourced COO. Some companies may need a fractional COO 3 to 4 days a week, while others only need one, 2, or 3 days a month.
The fractional operations manager often works with teams across the company to identify ways to identify inefficiency, eliminate waste, and implement solutions that streamline business operations. Your investment in fractional COO services is based on the size and reach of your organization, but it will represent a fraction of the cost of hiring a full-time COO. As small entrepreneurial businesses continue to look for ways to do more with less, fractional COO services are likely to become an increasingly popular option. Therefore, a fractional COO can help provide a new view of organizational objectives, operational actions, technology, and more.
In general, a fractional COO is an experienced executive who provides strategic and operational leadership to companies that need help but can't afford a full-time director of operations. Companies that are looking to grow sustainably, but that don't yet have the budget for a full-time chief operating officer, will benefit from adding a fractional chief operating officer to the team. If you're a small business or agency owner and you're thinking of hiring an operations manager, you're obviously interested in the fractional cost of operations director services. In the case of agencies, a fractional COO can help smaller agencies get the strategic operations leadership they need and delay the costly hiring of executives until they reach a larger scale.
Many fractional operations managers provide counseling services and provide mentoring, training, and support to senior managers and employees.