Should You Hire A COO?

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.

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

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