Like a surgeon
Okay, so the blog title was mainly an excuse to squeeze in a Weird Al song reference, but also, the word “operations” can feel quite vague. A quick Google suggests that operations can refer to many things - business operations, medical operations, or military operations. Thankfully, I am only responsible for one of those at FLP.
Earlier this month, I attended the Business and Operations Managers Empowering Excellence conference in London. I’ve been to many a Financial Planning conference over the years, but this was my first event specifically looking at operations in a wider sense.
We heard from a variety of speakers throughout the day including Nicolas Perdrier, the Operations Director of 3 Michelin-starred L’Enclume (now on my bucket list), and Tiago Da Costa, who had a 21-year career at Costa Coffee, working his way up from a store manager to Head of Operations.
For me, the biggest takeaways were around how the core elements of good operations were universal - no matter your industry or individual area of expertise.
To try and get multiple key notes into 5 bullet points, these are largely:
Optimise your client journey: The client experience begins before the first conversation. Review every stage and identify opportunities for improvement.
Invest in your people. Formalise company values and encourage innovation. Make the outcome clear, and give people the freedom to find the best route.
Ensure the leadership team have leadership skills. Technical talent is usually what gets you promoted, but it doesn’t tell you how to run a business.
Practice curiosity, humility, and tenacity. Ask the stupid questions out loud. Don’t assume you’re the smartest in the room. Be okay with failure, then try again.
Move from ‘fixer’ to ‘builder’. Retain visibility without keeping involvement. Stay close to the job, understand what needs to be done, but let other people do it. Building for the future is key, and the biggest cost is the work that never happens.
My operations role at FLP to date has been largely focused on fine-tuning the client experience and the supporting processes, but as an ex-paraplanner and lover of all things technical, I’ve definitely kept my fingers in several other pies.
As the FLP team grows, I’m equal parts nervous and excited to let go of some of my hats. They’re lovely hats, and I’m sure I’ll miss them. But, it’s time to pick up some new ones, and lock in on getting the business in the best possible shape for both now and the future.
(Pictured: My compliance hat, which I am very happy to be keeping.)