The Omnipresent COO

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How can I ensure the work being executed by my operations (field, distributed, remote) teams are being executed to the desired expectations, and at the right time?

This is a question I have asked myself every monday morning for the last 8 years. When my team and I are going through the list of repeat tasks and one-off deliverables and measuring the progress towards completion of specific business objective, which the distributed team of 200+ are supposed to execute and deliver on each week. Not an easy task. Perhaps the most difficult part of this process was trying to ascertain the level of quality of exectution of a given task/deliverable.

See - I am the COO of a distribution business and I need to know that all the pieces of the organism are doing what they need to do, when they need to do it, and to the standards expected. Needless to say, when you have many field and remote teams, as I do, this is difficult to ensure.

I recently started using OnSpace, an operations management software that I can configure to specific use-cases unique to our company.

One of the features that has helped me ensure that my remote and field teams are executing tasks to the desired expectations and at the right time is the form-builder and checklist or task management features. With this, I can create custom forms and checklists that my team members can easily access and fill out on their own, or when prompted to do so.

For example, when we are receiving a new shipment of goods, I can create a form that includes fields for the quantity, type of goods, and any special instructions for handling the shipment. I can then share this form with my team members responsible for receiving and unpacking the shipment. They can access the form on their smartphones, fill it out in real-time, and submit it to me for review. This way, I can ensure that the shipment was received according to our standards and that any special handling instructions were followed. They can include different forms of data: images, locations, text, even bio-metric and this helps us adapt, for instance; when an incoming product is damaged, we can instantly capture details of the damages along with an image which we can forwad to the supplier for immediate action/follow-up.

Similarly, I can create checklists for my team members to use when performing routine tasks such as inventory management, order fulfillment, and Health and Safety checks. These checklists ensure that every step of the process is completed to our standards and that nothing is missed.

The form-builder and checklist features have been a game-changer for me as a COO. It has allowed me to stay in control of a large and distributed team and ensure that everyone is working towards the same goals and standards. With this OnSpace, I can track progress, identify areas for improvement, and provide feedback to my team members in real-time.

Overall, OnSpace form-builder and checklist features are an essential tool for any COO looking to manage a remote, field or distributed teams effectively. It can help you stay organized, increase productivity, and ensure that every task is completed to the desired expectation and at the right time.