An operations manager is directly responsible for the day-to-day operations of an organization or one of its departments and that unit’s decision-making. They ensure that the business functions without operational bottlenecks that can cost valuable time and money.
Businesses, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations—among others—employ dedicated operations or general managers to oversee their activities. These managers need to have an excellent grasp of management and leadership skills. The role of an operations manager includes but isn’t limited to managing various departments like information technology (IT), finance, project management, manufacturing, and marketing.
At its core, the role of an operations manager is to ensure that key processes and practices are implemented effectively throughout an organization. For instance, they may monitor and train personnel, manage quality assurance, and develop workflows and processes across large and small organizations.
Simply put, operations managers or chief operating officers (COOs) are in charge of maintaining and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of a company’s employees and processes. More specifically, they work on mapping out strategies, enhancing performance, acquiring resources, and ensuring legal compliance.
Operations management might be fulfilled by just one person in a small business. In a larger organization, the COO function will likely involve numerous staff members with specializations in different areas, but the operations manager maintains the overall responsibilities across the diverse roles.
This article covers what you need to know about operations management—from the responsibilities and skills of an operations manager to how you can successfully hire one.
Operations manager responsibilities
At a top-level, an operations manager’s job is to ensure that all departments within an organization work smoothly and in alignment, thereby producing the desired results for the company. This includes addressing critical performance improvement opportunities such as:
- Ensuring safety
- Driving better client satisfaction
- Implementing more efficient workflows
- Reducing costs
As for the job profile, the work of an operations manager is multifaceted. They’re entrusted with a wide range of key responsibilities. Let’s look at some of the primary responsibilities of an operations manager.
1. Develop, implement, and review processes and procedures
All work operations are processes. Operations managers deal with processes across a wide variety of functional workflows, from manufacturing to sales and everything in between.
For example, an operations manager in a business producing physical goods will take the initiative, execute, enforce, and assess rules and procedures for equipment use, standard work, inventory management, and shipping.
Operations managers constantly monitor different processes within the organization and develop ways to make them more effective. If a company faces difficulty getting new employees onboard, an operations manager might drive the study and improvement of the onboarding process to make training and deploying new employees more timely and more effective.
2. Assist with budgeting and planning
Operations managers oversee financial management, planning, operational systems and controls, and the organization of fiscal documentation. In this role, they would manage capital, budgeting, financial reporting, cost-cutting, and other elements that impact an organization’s cash flow.
They also collaborate closely with the inventory team to conduct an analysis and ensure that the company’s inventory is used effectively to minimize inventory carrying costs that eat into the company’s profits.
3. Identify quality control issues and offer ways to improve
Manufacturing, performance, quality, and customer service standards are implemented and regularly refined by operations managers. They’re also expected to perform audits and handle quality control issues.
An operations manager has accountability for on-site safety incidents. They are often the first internal point of contact for customers with concerns about product or service quality. They communicate client concerns to the operations team and design solutions to resolve complaints and maximize customer satisfaction. In addition, operations managers offer operational data and insights for establishing and evaluating improvement strategies and tactics.
4. Formulate strategic objectives for different departments
Other primary responsibilities of an operations manager include overseeing and improving the human resources (HR), IT, and finance departments’ performance and efficiency. They accomplish this by ensuring smooth workflows within each department and establishing easy and lucid communication channels between them. Often departmental operations managers work together to eliminate “silo” suboptimization to create a coordinated value stream across the greater organization.
5. Help ensure the company remains legally compliant
Operations managers are directly responsible for establishing a safe, healthy, and inclusive work environment. They also manage contracts and pricing and serve as the principal point of contact for utilities and local government departments, including fire, police, health, and safety.
All legal compliance mandates and notices are directly sent to a company’s operations manager, who is expected to ensure that the company abides by them.
6. Recruit, train, and supervise staff
Operations managers may also be entrusted with significant human resource management responsibilities like recruiting, training, and disciplining employees.
They may also be asked to help with employee appraisals by communicating job expectations and monitoring and reviewing job contributions.
7. Examine data and help forecast any long-term planning
Operations managers regularly analyze data that can help them assess inconsistencies and take subsequent remedial action. They also assist in predicting the company’s requirements, preparing a yearly budget, and planning future spending.
Important operations manager skills
Since an operations manager’s role is complex and multifaceted, they must be versatile and possess a solid skill set to meet the requirements of such a broad job with wide-ranging responsibilities.
1. Proven experience as an operations manager or similar role
Operations management is a higher-management role within most organizations. Employers usually prefer applicants with years of experience in similar leadership roles.
Diverse work experience helps ensure that the applicant is qualified for a high-profile, cross-functional job and can be entrusted with the company’s resources.
2. Strong interpersonal and communication skills
Since this profession demands a lot of social engagement, operations managers must have excellent interpersonal skills, such as empathy and leadership. Without strong abilities to work well with people, monitoring and managing the various departments within an organization and addressing staff and operational needs can be challenging.
An operations manager must have excellent communication skills to mitigate conflict and prevent errors. Additionally, they may be required to use their written communication skills daily while interpreting technical data, generating reports, and interacting with employees.
3. A degree in business, operations management, or a related field
A bachelor’s degree in business administration, operations management, or a related discipline is a huge plus in this role. Project management, finance, statistics, accounting, and behavioral science are just some of the studies that can be put to use in this very diverse job.
Operations managers must learn the company’s daily operations and any other aspects that will help them communicate and delegate successfully. Employers often believe that having a bachelor’s degree in business or operations management can better hone these skills.
4. Expert-level organizational skills
An operations manager must have vital planning and management skills to keep up with their job. Managers may also need to keep track of project documentation, data, funds, and project time frames to be effective in their position.
This requires them to use their keen eye for detail and spot potential problems before they become major issues. They also need to design solutions to keep teams and organizational processes on track.
5. Data-processing skills
An operations manager is also in charge of gathering performance data, processing reports, and communicating their significance to other staff.
6. Ability to manage budgets
Operations managers are directly accountable for the financial performance of their companies. A good manager can make forecasts and budgets, as well as analyze profit and loss accounts and balance sheets.
7. Strong problem-solving capability
Workers’ conflicts, delays in performing tasks, system malfunctions, and other issues may affect operational management. Operations managers have to use their problem-solving skills to determine the root cause of problems, evaluate options to correct the issues, and implement solutions.
Managers must also have conflict resolution skills, which are necessary for adjusting to new situations. Being able to overcome obstacles and employ proper techniques is essential.
How to be successful as an operations manager
We explore some of the best practices that operations managers can use to succeed in their roles.
1. Emphasize appropriate metrics
Operations managers are tasked with a wide range of duties, from increasing capacity while reducing costs to ensuring new processes are implemented smoothly.
An operations manager needs to emphasize the appropriate metrics to determine how best to address problems or pursue enhancements in a department’s performance. Best practices include setting key performance indicators (KPIs) at a top-level and cascading to aligned metrics for each level of the operation.
2. Invest in keeping up with technology
Technological systems make gathering and crunching data more accessible. They can also help discover workflow bottlenecks much quicker than traditional processes. Operations managers benefit from implementing new, innovative technological systems that can automate tasks.
3. Delegate competently and confidently
Competent and well-mentored employees rarely require micromanagement. An operations manager should offer the team some breathing room after delegating tasks and giving workers the tools needed to do their jobs well. However, they should also be able to identify team members who are struggling and take appropriate steps to help them fulfill their targets.
4. Prioritize high-quality production
In a competitive marketplace, a high-quality product or service can significantly benefit companies. High-quality techniques boost productivity and assure a superior final result, whether from manufactured physical goods to software and valued services.
5. Develop a high level of stress tolerance
An operations manager will often face challenging situations, so learning to perform well under immense pressure is often essential for success. The ability to keep stress from turning to distress is important, not only for the business but also for the health of the individual manager.
Find top-rated operations managers
Operations managers are crucial to the long-term success of a company. They play a key role in ensuring that things are moving smoothly and business goals are being met. In a sense, they’re the go-to people for most problems.
Are you looking to hire an experienced operations manager for your next job? Upwork can help. Search for highly skilled independent operations managers who can support you in leading your business to success.
