

Should You Hire A COO? - eladgil
http://blog.eladgil.com/2013/02/should-you-hire-coo.html

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ChikkaChiChi
This article seems to lump the concept of a COO and a President together. In
our environment the President handles M&A, HR, partnerships, etc. while
Operations is responsible for establishing processes, inter-department
communication, project management, and the like.

In my opinion, a COO should be there to introduce and maintain discipline and
structure where there may be none. They should be able to:

1\. Establish responsibility, accountability, recognition, and reward for the
employees.

2\. Define procedures for as much as possible of the day-to-day eventualities
within a company.

3\. Be the intermediary in communication breakdowns that can occur between the
executives and the staff.

4\. Lead projects that are directly related to the well being of the company's
infrastructure

5\. Provide the structure required to be successful, but the understanding to
not limit the challenges and will of your creative teams

6\. Master of risk analysis

7\. Develop an understanding and proficiency in the "Why's" of each part of
the company, not necessarily the "What's"

8\. Learn to be the Devil's Advocate to the CEO without being a douche about
it

The last one is important. You better trust your COO to keep your head on
straight because the higher your status as a company climbs, the less likely
others will be to be honest about what they are really feeling. A COO should
always try and be the opposing voice if only to make sure that two sides to
every situation are represented.

Personally, I don't think every company needs a COO; especially startups.
There is something to be said about the Wild West atmosphere playing fast and
loose can bring, and a COO is there to keep the part a little under control.
But if you DO need one, then remember how important your decision will be in
selecting the right candidate.

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ericwu01
Great post, COO's can help scale an organization and optimize company
processes. Should definitely compliment and help execute on the CEO's vision.

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rey
This was a useful post. It gave me a lot to think about when I hire my own
COO.

