Chief operating officer (COO), operations director and operations manager - it’s just semantics at the small-medium business level. Ultimately, their responsibilities are the same:
Keep the business operating effectively and execute the vision.
The reality is that for many growing businesses, operations become complex long before there’s a budget for a full-time position. This is where the fractional operations manager and fractional COO step in.
A fractional operations manager is a senior operations professional who works with your business on a part-time or project basis. They bring the strategic thinking and execution capability of a full-time leader, without the cost or long-term commitment.
The “fractional” part simply means you’re buying a portion of their time and the outcomes that come with it.
Engagements are designed to be flexible by scaling up or down according to the needs of your business. They might start with a day a week to work through your strategy, before scaling up to execute on important initiatives during busy periods.
The scope can be variable too. In fact, one of the key benefits of the fractional model is that it acknowledges that growing businesses have a hundred shifting priorities. By embracing the ambiguity, a fractional operations manager has the flexibility to focus on the most important matters first.
That’s not to say project-based engagements are off the table, they’re just better suited to clearly defined scopes and outcomes.
The exact scope of a fractional engagement depends on your business size and stage, but the core value is consistent: it takes work away from the founder and builds operational stability.
In smaller businesses (5-20 people), a fractional operations manager typically owns most of execution and supports with strategy. They’re the person responsible for:
They’re the person you turn to if projects are slipping, customers are unhappy or there’s no roadmap in place. At the small business level, they’re usually also responsible for implementing the systems and software that enable the business to operate effectively.
In larger or more mature businesses, the operations manager title typically changes to that of the fractional COO. The balance between execution and strategy tends to shift too. With a team to deliver the work, a fractional COO is free to focus on:
They may support with some of the execution but will generally design the system, lead the people and be responsible for the outcomes. As part of the senior leadership team, they’re often working closely with other leaders such as the CEO, CFO, CPO and CTO.
But don’t get bogged down in the titles. The important thing is that you get an operations leader who oversees the everyday work and drives improvement projects. All the while acting as a trusted partner in your growth journey.
And for those looking for more concrete examples of what a fractional operations manager or COO might do, here’s a few common scenarios:
A fractional operations manager is a good fit when:
Ultimately, a fractional operations manager becomes the founder’s right hand. That means you should look for someone who complements your strengths rather than mirroring them.
For example, if you excel at creativity and ideation, hire someone who can put structure in place, work backwards from your goals, define a roadmap and implement the systems needed to get there.
If you’re more technically minded, you may need someone to own the customer experience or manage your people, whereas if you’re the face of the company and strong in networking and sales, it may be better to hire someone who can systemise your delivery and improve quality.
Operations support comes in many forms, so if you’re considering bringing in help, you’re likely weighing up the different options available to you. Here’s how fractional support compares:
A full-time hire is usually the right choice when you have stable budgets, predictable needs and enough ongoing work to fully occupy an operations leader. The trade-off is that the hiring process can be slow and it may take several weeks (or longer) before that person is fully onboarded and contributing at the level you need.
The fractional model avoids these challenges by prioritising flexibility and value for money. With a fractional operations manager, you get senior-level expertise quickly and without the commitment to a full-time salary. They tend to onboard quickly, offer an unbiased perspective and bring a breadth of experience across multiple industries that can be applied straight away.
An operations consultant typically provides strategic advice and specialist expertise, often delivering short-term improvement projects with well-defined goals or deliverables. The key difference between an operations consultant and a fractional operations manager is continuity and focus.
A consultant concentrates on advising on what to do and how to do it within a time-bound engagement, whereas a fractional operations manager provides ongoing operational leadership, staying embedded in the business and adjusting to shifting priorities as the company evolves.
A virtual assistant is primarily there to free up time a leader’s time through administrative, technical or creative support. They typically handle tasks such as inbox and calendar management, travel planning, system administration and content or marketing support, tailored to the needs of the client.
A virtual assistant and a fractional operations manager work best in combination: the fractional operations manager designs and improves the underlying ways of working, while the VA helps carry out and maintain those workflows, as well as supporting the founder on a more personal, day-to-day level.
Before engaging a fractional operations manager, it helps to list the key problems you want solved, the current state of your business and your goals moving forwards. This allows them to propose a structure for delivering those outcomes and to set expectations around what can be achieved within your budget.