You’ll probably agree with me that operations are one of the broadest (and most important) parts of any business. At its heart, business operations encompass everything needed to deliver products or services to customers smoothly and effectively. This includes setting clear policies and guidelines, building efficient processes, defining workflows, and managing teams while keeping them motivated and productive. Operations also involve managing costs, budgets and data, overseeing customer interactions, and ensuring compliance with laws and regulations. Clearly, operations touch upon every department and function within a company.

Given its comprehensiveness, prioritising what truly matters can feel overwhelming. Many businesses, not just those in the early stages, struggle to figure out what aspects of operations should take center stage. In this article, we’re talking about 10 operational areas that are absolutely crucial for driving business performance, boosting profitability, and ensuring long-term success. We’ll explain why each area should be a top priority for your business and outline key responsibilities for Ops teams to make an impact in each one.

Happy learning!

Client satisfaction

Our ultimate goals - long-term profitability, sustainability, and overall success - cannot be achieved without attracting, retaining, and growing our customer base. To do that, we need happy clients, because happy clients stay loyal and are eager to spread the word about our business. And the only way to ensure our clients are truly content is by measuring their satisfaction.

Feedback loop with chat bubbles and star ratings representing customer satisfaction as a top Operations priority.

The Operations team, whether working independently or alongside the Customer Success team, must implement the right tools to measure client satisfaction. From surveys and feedback forms to monitoring social media and online reviews, there are plenty of options. Whatever tools you choose, make sure they allow you to collect feedback regularly, so you can monitor client satisfaction levels closely and respond swiftly if issues arise. Speaking of which, the Operations team is also responsible for managing dissatisfied clients. This involves creating clear guidelines for addressing unhappy clients promptly and stepping in directly, if necessary, to resolve their concerns. After all, your business reputation is everything. One misstep can cost you years of trust.

Quality assurance

I don't need to convince anyone that quality and client satisfaction go hand in hand. No matter how great the packaging, how exceptional the customer service, or how fast the delivery, if the product fails to meet customer expectations, everything else becomes secondary. Ultimately, quality is the reason customers choose your products, and without the right measures to ensure top-notch standards, you risk ending up with unhappy clients, complaints, and returns. These issues can lead to wasted resources, increased costs, and operational inefficiencies. More importantly, they can result in the loss of customer trust and lasting damage to your brand's reputation.

The Operations team should oversee the implementation of robust quality control systems across the entire organisation. While I can’t give you specific measures tailored to your business, these depend on your industry, size, and offerings, there are some fundamentals to keep in mind. Establish clear quality standards and consider benchmarking them against industry frameworks like ISO. Embed quality control into every step of your product or service development process, from start to finish, with thorough testing and regular inspections. Train your team well so they prioritise quality in everything they do, and consider introducing specialised quality assurance roles. Don’t forget about your suppliers and partners. They need to understand your quality expectations and demonstrate they can meet them. Lastly, explore how technology can help you streamline quality control. Automated checks and real-time monitoring can make the process faster, more accurate, and more efficient.

Operational efficiency

Excellent quality and high customer satisfaction alone are not enough to thrive in today’s competitive environment. To truly succeed, businesses need a strong foundation that fosters resilience, scalability, and sustainable growth, and operational efficiency is key to achieving it.

So, what exactly is operational efficiency? It’s all about running your business smarter and more efficiently while maintaining or even improving quality and overall performance. Some of its core aspects include streamlining processes, optimising workflows, improving resource allocation and leveraging technology. And the benefits? Lower costs, less waste, more time saved, and enhanced productivity, just to name a few.

Circular arrows with icons for growth, technology, speed, and cost showing efficiency as a core Operations priority.

Identifying and implementing improvements and efficiencies is one of the most important responsibilities Ops professionals have. But how do you find them? Where should you start? We’ve put together a quick guide on how to make your business operations more efficient. Check it out! While I’d recommend adopting a structured approach with regular operational reviews, I understand that’s not always realistic, especially for smaller organizations. So start small. Focus on identifying just one area for improvement and tackle it. Once that’s done, move on to the next. You might be surprised at how much impact even small changes can have on your operational efficiency.

Cost management

In my experience, there’s often some overlap in responsibilities between Operations and Finance. While there’s no doubt that businesses need a dedicated Finance team with the right expertise to handle financial complexities, the Ops team should also play an active role, especially in one critical area: cost management.

As businesses grow and generate more revenue, cost management can be overlooked. That's a big mistake! With expansion comes rising costs, which can quickly spiral out of control if not managed properly. I’ve witnessed businesses spending thousands each month on unused software, purchasing new equipment while perfectly functional machines gather dust in storage, or paying for licenses of employees who have left because offboarding wasn’t handled properly. What a waste of money! Developing efficient cost management early on is a great business practice that will pay dividends as your company grows, keeping expenses in check and profitability on track. Our article on cost management, highlighting 10 actionable steps for Ops teams to keep costs under control, is the perfect place to start.

Risk management

How do you manage risks in your business? Or better yet, do you manage risks at all? If not, this is your cue to start. Every business faces a multitude of risks, and these risks only grow as your business scales. Ignoring risks or leaving them unaddressed is literally asking for trouble. It can lead to financial losses, legal troubles, and serious damage to your reputation. Can your business afford it? I know mine can’t!

Effective risk management helps to keep business operations running smoothly, ensuring that when bumps in the road occur, they can be dealt with swiftly. The Ops team, of course, should be at the centre of efforts to navigate risks. Given the breadth of business operations, they’re well-positioned to spot potential risks early and have the expertise and authority to tackle them quickly.

Icons of risks, safety, shield, and planning representing Icons of risks, safety, shield, and planning representing risk management as an Operations priority.

One of their main tasks should be conducting regular risk assessments to identify, mitigate, and respond to risks. They should also work with key stakeholders to develop a strong Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Plan. Some risks will inevitably materialise and turn into incidents, and your Ops team must be on top of managing them, ensuring the entire team is prepared and knows exactly how to respond. Last but not least is training; equip your team with the necessary knowledge, encourage them to share insights, and set up a forum for collaboration on mitigation strategies.

Compliance

Businesses today operate in an increasingly complex world shaped by globalisation, technological advancements, and evolving societal expectations. As a result, the list of legal and regulatory standards businesses must navigate is constantly expanding, and it’s only expected to grow at a faster pace. Adapting to new rules and regulations quickly is a must. The alternative - non-compliance - typically comes with severe consequences, such as hefty fines, legal action, reputational damage, and loss of trust from stakeholders. I’ll ask you again: can your business afford it?

The Ops team should oversee compliance, focusing on embedding it into daily processes, maintaining proper documentation to demonstrate adherence, and training teams to follow established procedures and guidelines. They should also conduct regular audits to identify and address gaps before they escalate, and lead the search for tools to automate compliance tracking, making audits faster and more efficient. Finally, with laws constantly changing, the Ops team, alongside key stakeholders, must stay informed about market developments to ensure your business is never caught unaware or out of compliance.

Team satisfaction

I’ve said it many times before, and I’ll say it again: your team is your greatest asset, driving your business forward. You need to take good care of them. When you do, you minimise the risk of team members leaving, which can be costly and disruptive, especially if it happens frequently or at scale. Fortunately, more and more businesses are recognising that today’s workplaces are no longer about simply managing teams but leading them. And leadership goes beyond policies and productivity metrics. It’s about prioritising your team’s well-being, providing clear responsibilities and career growth opportunities, and fostering a positive work culture. When you create an environment where your team feels valued, supported and engaged, they’re not just staying: they’re performing at their very best.

Illustration of team members with satisfaction ratings representing employee experience as an Operations priority.

How can the Ops team contribute to a positive and productive workplace? The first step should be addressing team pain points. Establish a feedback loop to regularly engage with team members, so you can understand their challenges and help resolve them. You should also collaborate with HR to define roles, streamline onboarding, and create training and development plans for your team. Finally, I can’t stress enough how important work culture is. Make sure to foster a great work culture in your company by promoting inclusivity, ensuring clear communication, supporting well-being initiatives, and celebrating achievements.

Supply chain management

Every business relies on suppliers, and their performance directly impacts your success. That’s why building a resilient, bulletproof supply chain is crucial. This means not only partnering with reliable suppliers who deliver materials, products, and services on time, at the right cost, and with consistent quality, but also ensuring your business is prepared to handle disruptions efficiently.

Your Ops team should collaborate closely with key departments - typically Supply Chain Management and Procurement - to foster strong relationships with suppliers and partners, ensuring your business secures the best prices, favourable terms, and reliable service. They should also develop contingency plans to prepare for major disruptions, such as delays, shortages, bankruptcies and excessively high costs. I’m sure you’ve realised that supplier diversification should be a key component of these plans. Successful supply chain management requires implementing the right systems and tools, leveraging technology for demand forecasting, inventory management, and real-time performance tracking.

Innovations

Innovating isn’t optional anymore. If you’re not innovating, you’re simply falling behind. While many businesses recognise the need for innovation, they often focus on their products and services. And that’s great! But true innovation goes beyond what you sell. It should also be embedded in how your business operates. Operational innovations drive efficiency and better results, and every business should pursue both at every stage of its journey.

Lightbulb with team and planning board representing innovation and collaboration as Operations priorities.

The Ops team should look into processes, workflows, systems and tools. Take advantage of the latest technologies. AI, automation, and integrations can all help reduce manual effort, minimize errors, save time, and enhance team performance. That’s just a starting point. Your ultimate goal should be to create a culture of innovation, where team members feel empowered to share ideas, experiment without fear of failure, and collaborate across departments. After all, we’re all naturally creative, and when teams come together, that’s when groundbreaking innovations usually happen.

Data-driven decisions

How does your organisation make decisions? Take hiring, for example. How do you decide when it’s time to bring someone new on board? Is it because you’ve won a few new projects and panic-hire to fill the gap? Or because your team is overwhelmed and complaining about workload? Maybe it’s just a gut feeling that now’s the right time because business has been going well lately. I’ve heard all kinds of answers to this question, but the only correct one is this: by analysing your business data.

Computer dashboard with charts, graphs, and balance scale representing data-driven decision-making as an Operations priority.”

The Ops team should aspire to build a data-driven organization where decisions are based on evidence and metrics, rather than instinct or intuition. This won’t happen overnight, so take it step by step. First, identify the key business KPIs and ensure they align with the company’s overall goals. Then, set the main team KPIs, and gradually introduce additional metrics to help your business make informed decisions. The role of the Ops team doesn’t end here. They must also implement processes and tools to ensure the data you're collecting is accurate. Another essential aspect is providing proper training for your team, so they know exactly how to make the most of the data available.

Next steps:

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10 operational priorities to help drive performance and growth