Top 10 mistakes new Operations Managers should be careful not to do
When you're new to a company, optimize for your long term success, not short term points.
Hey folks 👋, Bala here with another issue of OpsWorld. If it's your first time here, we generally write about technology and how it impacts the world of Operations.
Before we begin,
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When you hire a new mid level Operations leader, they can super energized and start making changes and implementing policies in their first month. This is often detrimental to themselves and to the company. Here are top 10 things that new Operations Managers should be careful not to do.
Don’t make any Major Decisions in the first month. When you’ve just joined the company, you have limited knowledge about why things work the way they do. Taking some large decision in the first month is often detrimental. You can provide your suggestions if it was indeed an ongoing plan and was being driven by someone else in the team already. Or, if the decision is going to impact you down the line, buy some time till you get the context.
Preparing a roadmap and plan for the team. This is often a mistake I’ve seen where people share their road map the 3rd day they’re in the company. Seems so silly but mid-level leaders often want to impress their bosses and end up doing this when they have absolutely no idea how the company works.
Not talking to your frontline teams is probably one of the biggest mistakes you can do. New managers often have the enthusiasm to prove themselves to management that they often forget one of their key stakeholders. Your frontline team can give a better sense of how things work than all of management put together. I would suggest go to the field or factory and spend all your time there. Do the delivery, audit the products until you’re clear why things work the way they do.
Implementing policies from their previous companies is so easy to get those cookie points. It makes you seem smarter since you’re bringing actionable insights from the industry. But I would wait till you get the context of the current company.
Studying the competitors is often good but not relevant in the first month. Understand the customer, customer needs, the operations team, ops team needs before you jump on to customers. Not worth spending your first month studying competitors.
Do not take up targets in the first quarter. You need to make mistakes, stumble and find your way if you really want to do things the right way. Great leaders often create a policy where no targets are set in the first quarter. You’re simply not ready.
Don’t buy and implement software you’ve seen in your previous company. The use cases are often different. Wait till you know more.
Hiring new people is the same as buying software, only that you’ll probably do irrevocable damage in the medium term.
Sitting in the office relates to the “Talk to your frontline teams” point. You’re not going to understand the business by setting up meetings and sitting in your office. Go to where the action is.
Last, not shutting up in meetings. I’ve done this quite a lot when I was younger. Please, please stop your gyans in meetings. You don’t know enough yet. Even if you do, stay silent and understand how the teams work internally. This is going to be very important to gauge how this company works, the decision making process etc.
While this context is mainly for Operations, this works for most roles in a company. The agenda here is to optimize for your long term success within the company. You’re not doing yourself any favor by doing these in the first month.
Did you find this useful? If so, consider sharing it in your network. If there is a specific topic in Operations that you want me to address, do let me know in the comments.