Imagine 200 midsize cars lined up in a lot and set on fire. 20 seconds later, another 200 cars destroyed. And again and again for a whole year. The total loss would come to about $2 trillion. Sheer waste, right? But here’s the incredible part—businesses around the world are already wasting the same amount of money every year. 

According to a 2018 study by the Project Management Institute (PMI), organizations around the world are making good strategic designs but losing the plot when it comes to execution. The study found that 31% of all business projects fail to meet their objectives and only about half are completed as per planned deadlines. And ~10% of every dollar spent is wasted due to poor project management and ineffective implementation of strategic decisions.

This is exactly the kind of loss that could be avoided if organizations had well-structured, effective BizOps teams in place.

Business operations as a function sprung into existence in the early 2000s and in the last few years, has got shortened to the more buzzy ‘BizOps’. Large tech companies such as LinkedIn and Pinterest have grown the function to several hundred-person teams while fast-growing startups have a team that does the same functions but is sometimes called the Founder’s Office or CEO’s Office.  Yet, there is still confusion about the exact nature of the role and its value - leading to poorly implemented BizOps functions.

What is BizOps anyway?

For one reason or the other, BizOps has consistently defied efforts at definition. There is a widely-accepted understanding: that a BizOps team is a decision-support mechanism that helps with everything from optimizing day-to-day options to carrying out high-priority initiatives. But like most textbook descriptions, it doesn’t quite capture the essence of the function. 

We find that analogies work better to understand the scope of this vastly versatile role. Here are a few compelling ways we found in our reading, to describe the team of data-savvy, skilled generalists who make up BizOps.

• A special SWAT team that gets assigned to solve tough problems that fall between functions. 
• A team that helps the C-suite ‘see around the corners’.
• An internal consulting team that has more visibility into the business and more skin in the game than individual functions.
• A team that worries about everything that the founders worry about. 

In small to midsize organizations, the BizOps team itself is diverse, with members focused on strategy, data analytics, and program management. But in larger organizations, the teams may be split into BizOps, Corporate Strategy, and Analytics. Here’s how they are placed, from the most strategic to the most execution-heavy.

Corporate Strategy: Closest to the C-suite is the corporate strategy team, that guides big-picture decisions and strategies such as new product lines, geographical markets etc. 

BizOps: BizOps is the layer between strategy and execution. It involves getting stakeholder alignment, running change management, etc, for critical projects that involve multiple functions. 

Data Analytics: The team that digs into the details of the questions that the Strategy or the BizOps team asks. In short, if BizOps is the problem-setter, the analytics team is the answer-builder.

The different flavors of BizOps

The BizOps role can mean very different things at different organizations, but broadly, we can categorize them into three subtypes along a spectrum.

1. Incubation BizOps: At the inception of a business, BizOps is often a scrappy, fast-moving team of generalists who can roll up their sleeves, do whatever is needed to quickly scale a growing business, and jump nimbly from one problem to the next.‍

2. Embedded BizOps: As the team and business mature, an incubation BizOps team might metamorphose into an embedded BizOps team, where BizOps experts reside in different functions, working in tandem with function heads. 

3. Internal Consulting BizOps: In some organizations, BizOps functions as an internal consulting team, coming in for specific projects with a set finish line, and then withdrawing from the scene thereon.

When is the right time to build a BizOps Team?

Our take: Before you need one.

Startups shy away from making their first BizOps hire soon enough. Communication breakdowns and functional silos have crept in before they realize the need for a BizOps function that could have helped teams work in tandem.

Look at these indicators to tell you that it’s time to start developing your team.

Five telltale signs that your firm needs a BizOps Team

1. The need for systems and processes becomes apparent.

It is normal for early stage companies to not have repeatable processes and systems, while they experiment to figure out what works best. But as soon as you start scaling, it is critical to control the entropy by establishing consistent systems and records. For instance, setting up CRMs, HRIS, ERPs, etc. This is a great entry point for a BizOps team to come in and standardize processes.

2. Executive teams are swamped.

As the business scales, tasks that were originally done by the founding team start getting missed and rightly so because this team is now focused on growth and scaling up. This is the right time to bring in an early stage BizOps hire (ideally a multiutility generalist) to pick up the slack and stay on top of things such as:

• Compiling board decks/investor decks
• Managing contractors and tools
• Driving the agenda and prepping for quarterly reviews
• Tracking and reviewing financial plans

3. Cross-functional coordination begins to break down.

Communication across functions becomes challenging as companies scale. Marketing may deliver bad leads to sales. Engineering may fail to communicate hiring needs to HR. Customer feedback is not routed through to Product. When these failures occur, consider it time to hire a dedicated BizOps resource to act as a cohesive force between these different units and ensure that the right data-led insights are communicated in a timely way between teams.

4. Data begins to burgeon.

As the data from your new business starts trickling, and then flooding in - user behavior data, website analytics, customer feedback etc - there’s suddenly so much you can, and should do with it. The analytics team can certainly put the data together and find insights but the more fundamental question to ask is: which problems should we solve first? What questions do we want answers to? (Also read: How to design a data environment that evolves with your business)

With every function having different priorities (for Sales, immediate deal closure is >> than say, on-brand communication),  you need a BizOps team to see the bigger picture, prioritize objectives, drive analytics projects, and help the teams find answers.‍

5. Nascent functions begin to develop.

The first teams to achieve stability are typically product, engineering, sales and marketing teams. As the other, supporting functions begin to develop - HR, finance, customer success - it is often time for a BizOps team to spring up, to decide how to develop and scale these functions. 

When in doubt, start sooner rather than later. The right early-stage BizOps team can turbocharge your business. As your business matures, these team members become your most reliable special ops personnel, the ones who know how to get stuff done.

The BizOps Team Hiring Mix

Here are three attributes common to the best in the BizOps business.

1. They are analytical, unbiased, data-first thinkers. And in today’s data-driven milieu, prior experience in data visualization and analytics is a strong bonus.

2. Since they have to work as the connective tissue across functions, they need to be skilled at stakeholder management, and good at using soft power to influence and guide decisions. 

3. They are generalists with a solid understanding of the big picture of business, and the nitty gritty as well. In broad strokes, while they may not necessarily be outstanding at one particular aspect, they need to be pretty good at everything.

Setting up a BizOps Team: Hurdles & Solutions

Like with any other team, setting up your BizOps unit comes with its share of growth pangs.

Resistance to change: Since BizOps roles are cross-functional and inherently a little more nebulous than, say a well-defined sales or marketing role, there might be resistance to the creation of such a team. What will it mean for decision making - will it delay or hasten them? Will it create unnecessary overheads? Who calls the shots when there is a conflict of opinion? Getting leadership buy-in and setting expectations with various stakeholders is key to the smooth functioning of a newly minted BizOps team.

The problem of integration: This team needs to collaborate with various functions like finance, marketing, product, etc. Integrating into the existing culture while introducing new processes can be a source of friction. To facilitate smooth integration, start by conducting integration workshops that involve members from all relevant departments. These workshops can help in understanding mutual goals and the role of BizOps in achieving them.

If you can find BizOps champions with different teams (there will always be those folks with vision who’re able to see the benefits of an internal SWAT team like BizOps), loop them in to act as intermediaries. Most importantly, foster open communication and feedback loops so that any concerns/issues surface early on and get addressed.

Hiring challenges: At times, because of the lack of a clear definition of BizOps, hiring for the role can be more difficult than for more universally understood roles. Make sure that your business needs and JDs are clearly communicated to your recruitment teams. Even better, be directly involved either by tapping into your own network or by seeking personal recommendations from your connections.

Once hired, ensure that there is a structured onboarding process tailored for BizOps roles, which includes training on the specific tools and methodologies used by your company, as well as sessions to understand the interplay between different departments. This will help in attracting and retaining the right talent for your BizOps team.

If you’ve been through this journey with your organization, what experiences have you had building a BizOps A-team? We’d love to hear your take.