Fractional COO
Looking for a fractional COO? Check what you actually need first.
Owners usually start looking for a fractional COO when operations feel out of control. Sometimes an ongoing executive is the right answer. Often the real problem is narrower: a few processes nobody has written down, or a workflow that eats hours every week. Those can be fixed as a defined project, for a fixed fee, without adding an executive to the payroll.
What does a fractional COO do?
A fractional COO is a part-time operations executive who runs day-to-day operations, builds processes and holds the team accountable, usually for a few days a month. According to KPI’s operations team, much of that work is process documentation and workflow fixes, which can often be scoped as standalone projects.
When you need a COO, and when you need a fix.
| If this is the problem | You probably need |
|---|---|
| Nobody is accountable for operations at all | An operations leader, part-time or full-time |
| The team doesn’t know the right way to do key tasks | SOP Documentation |
| New hires take months to get up to speed | Training Programs |
| Work gets done, but through manual copying, checking and chasing | Workflow Automation |
| You started fixing processes and it never got finished | A defined project with a handover |
How we can help.
SOP Documentation
For work that lives in people’s heads. Record a task and we write the SOP, or we interview and watch your team and document a whole workflow. Either way you get instructions a new person can follow, and a team that uses them.
Training Programs
For new hires who take months to get up to speed, and teams who learned the job from whoever was around. We turn your processes into onboarding and training your people actually finish.
Workflow Automation
For work that involves too much copying, checking and chasing. We map the workflow, cut the steps that don’t need to be there and connect or build the tools to handle the rest.
AI Solutions
For teams that think AI could help but don’t know where to start. We find the tasks where AI earns its keep, then build the assistant, app or automation and hand it over.
Questions
Questions.
Does KPI provide fractional COO services?
We focus on defined process documentation and workflow automation projects, not ongoing executive roles. If you need an operations leader in the seat, we’ll tell you that honestly. If the real need is getting key processes documented or a workflow fixed, a project is usually faster and cheaper.
How much does a fractional COO cost compared to a project?
A fractional COO is an ongoing monthly cost for as long as the engagement runs. A process or workflow project is a fixed fee for a defined result, after which you own everything we built. For a specific operational problem, a project usually costs less overall.
Can a project fix problems a COO would normally handle?
Many of them. Documenting how key work gets done, clarifying who owns what and removing manual steps are core operations work. What a project won’t do is give you ongoing leadership, so if nobody owns operations at all, solve that first.
What keeps going wrong?
Tell us about the process or task that needs fixing. We’ll tell you honestly whether it’s a project, and roughly what it would take.
No long-term contracts. If we’re not adding value, you stop paying us.