glossary

BizOps: What is it, and why is it such a hot topic?

What is BizOps?

BizOps is essentially a decision-making framework for business professionals use to make an organization run efficiently. It is built on the foundation of strategy and the key relationships between technology functions and - you guessed it, business operations (which BizOps is short for).

Whilst the business decisions within some companies can often be driven by ego or intuition, BizOps works only in data and facts to connect business functions, and is used by business leaders to ensure that a company runs smoothly and maintains effectiveness.

Types of business operations

Essentially, business operations are the activities that companies engage in as part of their daily business. It probably goes without saying, but the goal of any business operation is to increase profits and put the company in a better position.

Through intelligent decisions and effective strategy, these activities can be optimized to fulfill that goal and achieve success for the organization.

If we were looking into a retail business, for example, we would find four key business operations.

What are the four business operations?

Service

In business, service operation is responsible for delivering an effective strategy. Service encompasses a wide range of daily operations, including activities and processes that create value for customers.

Sales

When it comes to business operations, successful sales operations by a sales team are executed by accomplishing sales objectives through a number of functions and processes - data analysis, strategy, hiring, training, and forecasting, to name a few.

Marketing

Marketing is how you advertise a business to the outside world and draw in new customers by creating a call to action.

Implementing a sound sales and marketing strategy is key, as it can have a huge impact on the company's sales and overall finances.

Purchasing

A sound procurement strategy is essential in keeping your company's finances in check. Ensuring your purchasing is cost-effective and you're getting value for money has a positive impact on your bottom line.

An overview of BizOps

BizOps is active, and it is cross-functional. It aims to produce intelligent business initiatives for improvements, ensure smooth operation, and support company objectives.

Always forward-thinking, BizOps is widely accepted as the driving force behind future company success and identifies the best strategy and processes.

You could define BizOps as a set of key performance indicators, a philosophy, or a number of things in between.

Who is using BizOps?

Whatever you choose to define it, it is becoming an essential part of the strategy for companies all over the world. It is particularly prevalent within tech companies and startups.

BizOps teams everywhere are working as a decision support mechanism. Alongside this, they must ensure that the company continues to thrive through continuous improvement practices.

BizOps is bringing teams together

Teams have the ability to work cross-functionally to deep dive into the centralized data from different teams and business units. This analysis produces key results which are invaluable to the company's strategic planning efforts.

Most importantly, they are identifying any operational flaws or room for improvement, which overall will provide a roadmap for continuous improvement in terms of sales, performance, and finances.

What are the benefits of BizOps?

BizOps affords a company the ability to;

● Make more intelligent decisions

● Better support the organization's ability to execute initiatives

● Ascertain a clear view of where future priorities should rest

● Establish and maintain successful continuous improvement processes that drive growth, customer success, and increased profits

● Enhance transparency across all business units and clearly see the big picture and associated opportunities

● Support cross-team collaboration to enable the organization to run efficiently

● Deliver better results than ever, faster, by aligning strategic goals to technology practices and investments

● Foster relationships built on heightened levels of trust between the business and IT teams. This goes hand-in-hand with the ability to utilize this relationship to track, interpret and anticipate changes

Key performance indicators for BizOps success

Some of the metrics that you may use to measure business success in a BizOps environment are;

● ROI - Return On Investment

● MRR - monthly recurring revenue

● ARR - annual recurring revenue

● ARPA - average revenue per account

● EBITDA - earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation, and amortization

● Gross margin

● Gross revenue retention rate

● Net profit margin

● LTV/CAC - ratio of customer lifetime value/customer acquisition cost

● DRR - dollar revenue ret

● CCR - customer churn rate

● LTV - customer lifetime value

● CRR - customer retention rate

● VOC - voice of the customer

● CSAT - customer satisfaction

● Customer health score

● NPS - net promoter score

● AHT - average handle time

● FRT - first response time

● MTTR - mean time to resolution

● Operating margin

● Revenue per employee ratio

● Team effectiveness ratio

How to successfully implement BizOps in your organization

BizOps teams (or Business Operations teams) require the privilege of complete access to every unit's data.

This allows them to cleverly craft decision support systems and perform both quantitative and qualitative data analysis. It is through these results that they have the tools to optimize daily operations.

For instance, with data at their fingertips generated by; finance teams, product managers, sales reps, product teams, sales teams, and everyone in between - the sky's the limit.

Knowledge is power, and armed with key data and a number of success-measuring metrics at their disposal, BizOps teams can develop one successful strategy after another.

Agility is key when it comes to business operations. It is the strategic hub of the company and the support center which drives business units to achieve their goals.

The sooner a BizOps team has access to data insights, the better. This means they can design and implement new business initiatives for improvement as soon as possible.

Building the best Business Operations Team

As BizOps involves liaising with business stakeholders from all levels, exceptional communication skills within the business operations team are essential. Business acumen and a strategic mindset are also qualities to look for in these roles.

When hiring, you need to ensure the new teams are made up of people who are capable of optimizing day-to-day performance.

It is also important that they can engage in cross-functional collaboration with other teams. They need to be capable of developing strategies and answering questions that could make or break your company's future success.

There is no need to rush the BizOps recruitment process. Work with human resources to find the ideal candidates. It will be well worth it in the long run.

Key qualities of a BizOps team member

To be successful in the world of business operations as a BizOps professional, there are some vital skills and qualities that you will require;

● Project management skills to conceptualize and implement strategies that get results. The ability to lead, collaborate and negotiate with key players is paramount. This, of course, goes hand-in-hand with the ability to deliver project-based work on time and within budget

● Exceptional communication skills and an influential personality. You will spend much time liaising with cross-functional stakeholders of all levels, addressing their interests and concerns. It's also important to be able to align key stakeholders to a common goal.

● The ability to solve problems that arise in a timely fashion is a key requirement. You will need to adapt and respond in a prompt manner to any unexpected barriers to success with an innovative solution

● An analytical, data-driven mind is a vital asset to the world of BizOps. Your day will revolve around qualitative and quantitative data. You will need to possess the ability to harness the results from analyzing data into solutions for future problems

● A sound understanding of the cross-functional team operations of the business units and daily business processes in order to prioritize the areas that require attention

BizOps as a career path

Venturing down the BizOps career path provides a unique insight into project management. As a business professional, it is fascinating to see entire projects from conception through implementation.

It is a highly desirable position to be in - to have the opportunity to view the company and its data processes from every angle.

If you don't shy away from a challenge and possess exceptional problem-solving skills, BizOps projects may be for you. A role in a BizOps team means being on the frontline of the company.

In biz ops teams, it's imperative that you are ready to tackle any issues head-on. You could also potentially be the first person to develop exciting new innovative solutions that will save the day.

A role in a biz ops team means playing a fundamental role in whether or not a business is successful. This comes with a wide range of responsibilities, challenges, and unique experiences.

Your future in a BizOps role

It may be your forever job that you turn into a career as a business operations manager. If that is the case, one thing is for sure. You'll always be busy.

Business operations managers work constantly, and continuous improvement will always be on your mind. Be prepared to eat, sleep, and dream about key success metrics and business strategy.

With performance management playing a key part, as a biz ops manager, you would ensure you have hired BizOps team members that know how to achieve the best results.

Alternatively, a business operations role could be a stopover on your way to another field of business. In any case, the insight you will gain in a BizOps role is invaluable.

Where you can work in BizOps

So, if you're wondering how to get a role in BizOps, there are plenty of options. You could take a role in one of the larger tech companies, where your team would likely be supervised by a Business Operations manager or business leader.

On the other hand, if you were interested in joining the business operations department of a startup organization, things would look a little different. You would be operating in a BizOps role within a team, similar to internal consultants.

In a role such as this one, you would be involved in every element of the business, working on exciting new projects and processes.

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