There will be a million hurdles and responsibilities, your GOAL is to get the work done with RESPECT!
leading a world class customer services operations team on a regional level with different languages is a difficult task due to language barriers, communication challenges and of course motivating them is challenging
Here are my 5 tips based on my personal experience leading teams across various markets
People
Processes
Budget
Delivery & Improvement
Agility
check out this post to learn more about Operations Manager
Now lets get into details
People
Understanding people and their needs is essential (both internal & external stakeholders)
Win the confidence of your team by solving their day to day concerns/problems (no matter how small the problem is, be there for them when they need you the most)
Hold regular one2one communications, share performances and document them (check Organizational Process Assets or talk to your Business HR to receive one)
Set clear expectations and don't promise on what you cant deliver (example: Salary increment/Promotions & Progressions)
Keep up your promises - this is a tuffy... as a People Manager you must keep your word
Well you cannot make everyone happy all the time but focusing on the People & your organizational goals will lead you and your team to success
key skills required: Leadership, Team building (trust building), Motivation, Communication, Influencing, Decision Making, cultural awareness, hiring, empathy, honest, Rewards & Recognitions
Processes
Knowing the actual work is critical to guide your team and provide ideas/suggestions - this will build teams confidence and help you manage & balance workload
Build and nurture subject matter experts - these resources will drive your operations to success and you can focus on the business improvement. However, do monitor and provide timely feedback
Share frequent performance updates, hold team huddles at least once a week, celebrate the new fiscal year with an All Hands meeting to present the updates, achievements of past year and show them the future - this also showcases the company culture and how interested you are in the process, involving your leadership team builds the confidence
Are you doing these All hands virtually here is - 15 Fresh Ideas For Your Next Virtual All-Hands Meeting
Budget
You cannot run the operations or a project without a well planned Budget
Prepare your Annual Budget estimates containing the projected revenue, headcounts, expenses (technology/software/Salary/Travel, overtime costs as per the local regulations & requirements)
Understand your organizational goals and targets and align it with the estimates, do call out the risks on meeting the targeted P&L
As an operations manager you must control the Attrition to avoid re-hiring and knowledge loss - 15 Effective Ways To Improve Talent Retention
knowing your team members compensation may give you a better understanding of their challenges, concerns. it differs from company to company and the Hierarchy you are in but holding this key information will help you understand and call out risks to your operations timely
Improvement
When the process improves there is an opportunity for your business to grow
Consistently aim to automate the redundancies in your operations via Six Sigma or lean related projects. for example:
Holding regular connect with your customer/Subject matter experts(SME's) will solve this problem, Identify the experts in your team and pose the problem your client is facing and seek ideas/suggestions.
Probe right questions as the team members may not have the idea on how to explain the solution but be open and brainstorm as you may know the required solution or the output
Collaborate with your Technology Solution Departments, this is the team in your company who builds Robotic Process Automations. They may have ready made solutions or they can custom build for you
You will get a million No's from your team that it cant be done but its your job to motivate and solve these problems and identify working solutions with cross functional teams
Agility
Being agile helps you to be more flexible and ready for change
Builds strong collaboration and team work
Always focused about the customer and the delivery
For SME's/team leaders who are aspiring to become a PMP or an existing manager facing hurdles, my personal recommendation is to study for PMP Certification this course provides you the foundation on
People - soft skills required to run the projects smoothly
Process - technical aspects
Business environment - connection between projects and organizational strategy
personally, this course helped me to improve my operations and my understanding towards the above foundations better.
What are your challenges running Operations? please leave your comments below
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