Mastering Business Operations: How to Become a Great COO in the AI Industry
Every business has its top-level team, and the chief operating officer is one of the top-level managers at most companies. Following the path to become a COO is no small feat but joining the upper echelon of company management is certainly possible. Follow these tips, and you may find yourself with the COO title sooner than you’d think.
Get a Solid Educational Base: The Bachelor’s Degree
Going to school to study business is a great way to start on the path toward becoming a COO, and the absolute minimum education suggested would be a bachelor’s degree. The preferred areas of study are all business-related, of course, and the best choice for rounding out your business knowledge is a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. Studying these subjects should give you a solid understanding of business, management, and the realities of the working world.
Double Down on Education: The Master’s Degree
Although it is possible to become a COO without a master’s degree, the additional education and effort involved in obtaining a master’s degree go a long way toward impressing the companies you may wish to work for in the future. Once again, business administration is the most important area of expertise, so obtaining an MBA (Master of Business Administration) degree is paramount to your success. This educational realm will cover teamwork, guiding co-workers effectively, economics, and statistics, which are all the bread and butter of a COO’s responsibilities.
Look at the Big Picture: Understand Business Process Design
As the COO of a successful company, it will be your job to look at the business as a complete process from top to bottom. Knowing how to meet goals through efficient and sensible work design is a must, as is solving problems within the business structure. When you are capable of looking at your company’s resources and designing plans that utilize those resources effectively, you will be that much closer to becoming a great COO.
Give Honest Assessments: Evaluating Your Operations Strategies
Naturally, a chief operations officer is in charge of business operations. Part of operating a business is determining which processes are working and which are not and taking steps to work on streamlining the processes that work. When you determine that a process is not working as well as it should, it is your job to figure out why and assess whether it is worth working on to improve that process. Finding the processes that push the company ahead in a lucrative and progressive way is your ultimate goal as a prospective COO, so make sure you can mesh corporate goals with your operational strategies.
Keep the Peace: Foster Positive Human Resource Policies
The most important aspect of any company is its treatment of employees, and a good COO can motivate employees to meet goals while growing their knowledge and skillsets. A good COO will also lead by example by partaking in productive and effective communication; this will encourage employees to do the same, and the flow of information will improve, along with morale.
It is possible to become a COO if you follow the guidelines above, and if you master these behaviors, you may even become a great COO.
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Joshua Crawford | Managing Director | PROPRIUS
