High-leverage operations create speed with control. Establish operating cadence, OKRs, and a PMO for priority work. Instrument leading indicators that predict retention, margin, and cash.
Operating Cadence
Establish a rhythm of meetings and reviews that keep teams aligned and accountable:
- Daily Standups: 15-minute team syncs on priorities, blockers, and dependencies
- Weekly Team Reviews: Progress against OKRs, metrics review, decision-making
- Monthly Business Reviews: Cross-functional alignment, resource allocation, strategic adjustments
- Quarterly Planning: OKR setting, roadmap planning, resource planning
Keep meetings focused, data-driven, and action-oriented. Cancel meetings that don't add value.
OKRs (Objectives & Key Results)
OKRs align teams around measurable outcomes:
- Objectives: Qualitative, inspiring goals (e.g., "Become the #1 choice for SMB sales teams")
- Key Results: Quantitative, measurable outcomes (e.g., "100 paying customers, 80% NPS, 3.5x LTV:CAC")
- Initiatives: Specific projects or activities that drive key results
Set OKRs at company, team, and individual levels. Review progress weekly, adjust quarterly. Aim for 70% achievement—too easy means you're not ambitious enough, too hard means you're setting up for failure.
PMO (Project Management Office)
A PMO ensures priority projects are executed well:
- Project Portfolio: Centralized view of all active projects, status, resources, and risks
- Standardized Processes: Templates, workflows, and best practices for project execution
- Resource Management: Capacity planning, allocation, and conflict resolution
- Risk Management: Identification, mitigation, and escalation of project risks
Start simple—track projects in a spreadsheet or lightweight tool. Scale to dedicated PMO as complexity grows.
Standard Work & Playbooks
Document recurring processes to reduce errors and speed execution:
- Sales Playbooks: ICP, messaging, discovery questions, objection handling
- Onboarding Playbooks: Customer setup, training, success milestones
- Support Playbooks: Common issues, escalation paths, resolution times
- Hiring Playbooks: Job descriptions, interview processes, evaluation criteria
Keep playbooks living documents—update as you learn and improve.
Dashboards & Metrics
Instrument leading indicators that predict business outcomes:
- Board-Level Metrics: Revenue, ARR, MRR, churn, CAC, LTV, unit economics
- Operational Metrics: Pipeline, conversion rates, support tickets, NPS
- Leading Indicators: Product usage, engagement scores, expansion signals
Build dashboards that update automatically. Review weekly, investigate anomalies, and take action.
Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs)
QBRs align teams and drive strategic decisions:
- Review OKR progress and identify blockers
- Analyze metrics and trends
- Make resource allocation decisions
- Update strategic priorities and roadmap
- Document decisions and action items
Keep QBRs focused on decisions, not just reporting. Use data to inform choices, not justify past actions.
Common Operations Mistakes
- Too many meetings or meetings without clear purpose
- OKRs that are too vague or too numerous to track
- No standardized processes, leading to inconsistent execution
- Dashboards that don't update or aren't trusted
- Not reviewing metrics regularly or not acting on insights
Next Steps
Operations excellence enables sustainable growth. We help startups establish operating cadence, OKRs, PMO, and dashboards that scale.
See our Operations Consulting services for process improvement, PMO setup, and operational excellence support.