Operators and Operations
"A company can seize extra-ordinary opportunities only if it is very good at the ordinary operations." Marcel Telles
I've been thinking about these terms lately, running 3 small businesses. Being labeled an 'operator' in the Army was a compliment. It meant that you had a keen understanding of how units functioned and the ability to run events. Not everyone had the grit, intelligence, and leadership to earn this label. In a military organization, or any organization for that matter, operators are at the center of all activity. They have their hands in everything which makes an event and an organization run.
The military staff is made up of several members - peers, each of whom contributes to supporting, guiding, and running the organization. Each has a title such as S-1 which is the personnel or HR officer. The 'S' stands for section and the number designator the focus of their effort. The operator in the staff is the S-3 and this person, while a peer with his or her counterparts, has primacy. He or she possesses informal authority over other staff members - first amongst peers if you will, because of their role in running the organization.
Operations are quite simply any activity conducted by a business. "This is an operation," I would hear from commanders, meaning the activity they were referring to required the planning and directing of any large activity to ensure success. There is a great burden on anyone in operations or with the title operator because essentially any verb associated with an organization, big or small, demands their attention and, moreover, if it falters, they typically receive the blame.
Good operators understand operations and they jump in with both feet and rally others behind activities anytime an organization does something. In a small business, operations can cover the gamut - finance, customer interface, technology, scheduling, logistics, marketing, and even human resource activities. If a small business if fortunate to have a person who manages finances, for example, operations still has a stake in understanding, and to some extent supporting or even guiding finance activities in their role of running the organization.
These terms and these people are important. Any organization, no matter how small, must have them. Sometimes the operator is the boss. Sometimes the boss has an operator such as a COO. Either way, that person and that function in an organization must have its fingers in everything, and, importantly, the authority or backing to get done what needs to get done. What is an operation in your organization? Who are your operators? Do they know they have this title? Do they understand operations? The success of your organization depends on it. Holler if I can help!
Make it Personal!
Rob
Rob Campbell