The Business Operations (BizOps) function is a decision-support mechanism that responds to the need for greater cross-functional collaboration to ensure the operational excellence of a company.
It is a data-driven approach that connects the day-to-day operations of an organization to turn information from business activities into actionable insights.
Business Operations teams have unlimited access to each department’s data, which allows them to define business processes, execute strategies, and hit business goals.
Why is BizOps becoming a growing strategic function?
As markets become increasingly competitive, companies must ensure that they are operating at an optimal level while still providing a high-quality service. With larger, globalized organizations, specialized professionals work collaboratively with business stakeholders to drive business growth in a more strategic way.
As a result, BizOps has emerged as one of the most sought-after leadership roles within many organizations and is valued as a critical component of any successful business strategy.
Modern companies consider Business Ops an integral part of their overall business plan, as it helps define the direction of an entire company and supports business owners with future prioritization.
A Business Operations leader also exposures every aspect of the company and enables business partners to tackle new challenges.
The BizOps role
A BizOps team member is responsible for finding gaps between challenges and capabilities. They manage the operations of all business units, define improvement strategies, and support the actual execution of strategic initiatives. By using data to define the company’s key performance indicators (KPIs), they are able to focus on what moves the needle and drive greater impact.
They typically work closely with the CEO and other business leaders within the organization, ensuring that processes, policies, and systems are in place to support growth and the smooth operation of the entire company.
While BizOps could refer to a wide variety of company activities, all of them will, typically, fall into either of the following three categories:
Internal Operations Management: it covers the day-to-day management of an enterprise.
External Operations Management: it deals with external customers and suppliers.
Strategic Operations Management: it involves strategic planning, organizational design, strategy formulation, decision-making, and policy implementation.
5 must-haves for being a successful BizOps professional
Analytical Thinking: be able to harness qualitative and quantitative analysis to design and implement improvement strategies.
Problem-Solving: proactivity in the search for innovative solutions to a wide range of business problems, and rapid response capacity toward unforeseen events.
Communication: be able to engage with key stakeholders by understanding their interests and concerns while working together around a common business goal.
Cross-Functionality: the ability to understand how cross-team collaboration works across the business and identify areas for operational transformation.
Project Management: the capacity of not only defining but executing business strategies, which includes the process of leading and negotiating with teams and delivering initiatives on time and within budget.
