COO SKILLSETS

Number 1-3 (You’re not sure if your COO knows what you want. You’re always arguing or there is frustration over which direction to go.)

Number 4-6 (You have occasional problems with your COO about your vision. You have disagreements over direction in front of employees. Your COO doesn’t know how to prioritize work to hit your vision.)

Number 7-9 (Your COO seems to be on the same page as you. There are the occasional bumps in the road. Your team sees you as aligned.)

Number 10-12 (You have complete trust due to being on the same page. Your COO refers back to your Vivid Vision frequently. You share the vision frequently with employees, customers and suppliers.)

Number 1-3 (Your COO has no plan. You & your COO are on different pages. Business areas are confused or frustrated. No expenses are planned for. You feel like your COO is winging it.)

Number 4-6 (Your COO has an OK plan on paper but its rarely looked at. You’re not sure the plan is even accurate any more. Your COO is better than they used to be at planning though.)

Number 7-9 (Your COO’s plan is in writing. It’s reviewed quarterly. Most people know the details of it. You have a fairly ad-hoc process for reviewing it with your COO and leadership team.)

Number 10-12 (Your plan is managed from Asana (or similar) and is referred to weekly by the leadership team. Your COO considers cross departmental dependencies. Your COO considers Money, People & Time requirements for projects.)

Number 1-3 (Your company has only Cs and Bs working for it. Your managers are not trained in interviewing. You use Craigslist mostly for job postings. Your people quit frequently.)

Number 4-6 (Your people are mostly good hires. Your COO always promotes from within. Your COO feels like it’s a hard labor market to find good people.)

Number 7-9 (Your company has solid Bs on the team. Your managers have some basic interviewing skills. You’re hopeful that your Cs will improve or quit. Your COO & Managers occasionally do reference checks on new hires.)

Number 10-12 (Your COO does in-person 360 group feedback reviews. Your COO Top Grades all staff every six months. Your COO has a Virtual Bench of hires in place. Your managers are all trained & certified in interviewing.)

Number 1-3 (Your company runs unorganized meetings and people hate attending them. Your COO has no idea how to run effective meetings. Your COO isn’t even sure what meetings the company needs to even have.)

Number 4-6 (Your COO hasn’t been trained on running meetings, nor have employees. Your company’s managers are pretty good at running meetings. Your COO isn’t sure what to do differently or how to run them better.)

Number 7-9 (Your COO runs meetings pretty well. Your company has some fixed meeting rhythms. Your employees have had some casual training around how to run meetings or participate in them.)

Number 10-12 (Your managers and employees have all read the book Meetings Suck. No time is wasted in meetings. Your company meetings have a strong focus on outputs. They are fun and high impact. People take pride in opting out of attending them if they don’t need to be present.)

Number 1-3 (Your company has no budget to work from. Your financial statements are occasionally produced but not regularly. Your COO isn’t even sure what to look at when they have them.)

Number 4-6 (You have a rough company budget. Your numbers are OK but you worry there are mistakes. Financials aren’t timely. Your COO isn’t sure what to look at or how to read financials.)

Number 7-9 (Your company Financials are timely and accurate. You review financial KPls regularly. Your cash flow is good.)

Number 10-12 (Your COO has rolling past & future 12 month budgets produced to manage by. You & your COO have a good eye on cash flow. You have open book financials for all employees.)

Number 1-3 (Your COO has no idea where they stack up against other COOs nor do they know how to improve. Your COO feels stuck, overwhelmed & useless at times. Your COO is way over their head and has no idea where to turn.)

Number 4-6 (Your worries they will get replaced or made redundant. Your COO thought they were smart until now. You COO knows that they have lots to learn, but aren’t sure where to start.)

Number 7-9 (Your COO turns to books for learning. Your COO has sporadic training sessions in house. Your COO attends occasional conferences or courses. Your COO doesn’t have a formal personal growth plan.)

Number 10-12 (Your COO is always growing as a leader. Your COO focuses their learning on their 6-12 month objectives. Your COO is part of a mastermind for COO & book clubs.)

Number 1-3 (Your COO feels alone. Your COO has no one to regularly turn to. Your COO has no idea where to actually go for help or what to start learning.)

Number 4-6 (Your COO is not sure where to turn for help. Your COO doesn’t think they can find anyone to help you. How much will it even cost?)

Number 7-9 (Your COO turn to others occasionally for guidance. Your COO knows where they need to improve. And they feel supported in their role.)

Number 10-12 (Your COO has a TOP 50 list of mentors they call on regularly. Your COO leverages the wisdom of the crowd. Your COO reaches out to leaders they read about in the media for advice.)

Number 1-3 (Your company culture could be described as “Beige”. Your company “doesn’t really have a culture”. Your COO has never really given culture much thought. Your COO thinks culture is just for tech companies.)

Number 4-6 (Your culture is pretty good. Your employees only rarely complain. Your COO has no idea where you stack up against other companies. Your COO has lots to improve on.)

Number 7-9 (Your people are happy working with your company. Your employees never complain. Your COO makes sure the company has lots of perks. Your COO finds Recruiting new hires isn’t that hard.)

Number 10-12 (Your company has an award winning culture. Your COO leverages tools like TINYpulse, and your company has strong Glass Door ratings. It’s easy to recruit A Players.)