89% of Execs Swear By BizOps for Advanced Decision Making in Their Org (Plus Checklists!)

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April 14, 2021
89% of Execs Swear By BizOps for Advanced Decision
Making in Their Org (Plus Checklists!)
process.st/bizops
Jane Courtnell
April 14, 2021
Every 20 seconds, $1 million is wasted globally through poor investments that don’t align
well with a given organization’s goals and strategy.
This is according to a 2018 Pulse of Profession (PMI) report. The report also indicated that
organizations waste 9.9% for every dollar invested due to poor strategic goal delivery.
Yet, as a solution to these business woes, 89% of executives say BizOps could significantly
improve strategic decision-making by improving collaboration between IT and business
teams.
The startup bizOps buzz is reimagining older, already pioneered bizOp practices used by the
likes of Yahoo, Google, and LinkedIn. Startups are using bizOps (otherwise knowns as
business operations) in a more generalist role demanding rapid execution and a larger scope
of responsibilities.

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Tech startups such as Slack, Dropbox, Ziprecruiter, and (of course) Process Street, are
recruiting for and building out their Bizop teams.
But what exactly do we mean by bizOps in this modern world, and how has the concept been
reimagined for the startup culture and mentality?
In this article, you’ll learn what bizOps is, from the day-to-day operations to the core
activities. We’ll then discuss the importance of bizOps, using real-world examples to display
the role in action. Find out how to apply BizOps as a startup or as a large enterprise to
significantly improve strategic decision-making in your business.
Sound good?
Click on the relevant subheader below to jump to your section of choice, alternatively scroll
down to read all we have to say:
Let’s jump straight to it!
What are business operations?
BizOps, or business operations, is the synchronization of strategy and business operations.
Specificities depend on the company’s maturity, the business model, team size, and other
situational factors. However, there’s a core tenant that all bizOp roles operate under, that’s to
drive business growth. This is achieved by either launching and scaling new initiatives or by
optimizing day-to-day operations within the company.
The role offers the ability to have a major impact on all aspects of the business, and
fundamentally shape the company’s future.
It must be noted that there’s a major difference between bizOp teams in larger organizations
vs bizOp teams in smaller organizations. That divide is characterized by the following, which
emphasizes how the bizOp role has adapted in startups:
Role ambiguity: Big companies have defined processes with revenue accounted for
and minimal room for the unknown. For startups, nothing has been done before, and
there are often new realities to think about. Startups often have to react to big needle
movers such as a product launch and a new market.
Speed of execution: Bizop teams across startups need to move fast, with many jobs
to do and too few people to do them. This requires careful management of multiple
tasks, projects, and stakeholders in synchrony. For an established organization, there
are too many teams, dependencies, and people involved to match the startup speed.

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Learning curve: If you’re a startup, you’re learning a lot, creating business processes,
defining strategies, building plans, preparing quarterly updates, devising investor
meetings, and all-hands content. These jobs are present in a large corporation,
however, there’s less creation and more maintenance. Plus learnings are more specific,
meaning individuals can go deeper and tend to the need of several cycles at once.
Scope of responsibilities: The larger the company, the more specific the roles tend
to get. For bizOp personnel working in a startup, the work is less defined. For large
organizations, selected teams will be working on different aspects of the bizOps role.
What does the bizOps team do on a day-to-day basis?
“If you consider yourself good at everything, but not great at anything, this is the job for you.” –
Emad ElShawa Senior Manager of Business Operations and Strategy at Fundbox
As a business expands and grows, it’ll often need someone who can work cross-functionally
to steer projects, align teams and get work done. As such, the day-to-day operations for
bizOps personnel are multifaceted. Meaning it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact functions of
one bizOps role over another. For instance, as we’ve already discussed, role duties differ
tremendously according to organizational size.
Yet, to give you some clarity, I scoured through bizop job descriptions (from a range of
organizational sizes), in an attempt to nail down bizOps day-to-day responsibilities. Below
are the key day-to-day tasks I found.
1. Analyze performance and recommend areas for improvement thinking about long-term
business strategy goals.
2. Build business plans for product expansion and perform market mapping and research
to make suggestions on new market entry points.
3. Collaborate with senior personnel to discuss annual strategic planning and the
budgeting process.
4. Help define strategic priorities and OKRs in the context of the broader company
strategy and measure and report on progress towards key results.
5. Create and maintain business dashboards to view the health of the business.
6. Job scheduling.
7. Automate daily processes across business departments.
8. Use big-picture thinking to connect relationships between various technologies,
processes, and people that make up a business system.
9. Break down business silos (independent business divisions) to aid cross-departmental
collaboration and coordination.
In a startup, you may have one member of the team carrying out these range of tasks.
Whereas in large organizations, tasks can be distributed between different team members.
What are the top 3 jobs to be done by bizOps personnel?

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The most important tasks that bizOps must do include:
1. Analysis of current business operations, measuring OKRs to determine business health,
and identify areas for improvement.
2. Developing and driving strategy execution.
3. Optimizing business day-to-day operations across all business units and breaking down
business silos.
What business metrics are used by bizOps personnel?
The bizOps goal is to optimize business functions for profitability and performance. Below
I’ve detailed key metrics bizOps personnel use to do this.
North star metrics ͐
A north star metric is a measurement that’s most predictive of a company’s long-term
success. Below are north star metrics bizOps personnel will use daily.
Return on investment (ROI): The investment return (gain from investments made
minus the cost of investment) divided by the investment cost. This metric evaluates the
efficiency or profitability of an investment.
Earnings before interest, taxes, and amortization (EBITDA): This is an
accounting measure that calculates net earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and
amortization. The metric ignores the impacts of non-operating factors such as interest
expenses, taxes, or intangible assets. The resulting metric provides a true reflection of a
firm’s operating profitability.
Gross margin: Net revenue minus the cost of products/services sold, divided by net
revenue. Gross margin represents the portion of each dollar, or revenue the company
retains, as gross profit after deducting the costs directly related to producing the goods
or services sold.
Net profit margin: Net profit margin is the ratio of net profit to revenue for a
company or business segment. The net profit margin is typically expressed as a
percentage. The net profit margin measures the amount of net income generated as a
percentage of revenue received.
Secondary metrics ň
A secondary metric, also known as a consequential metric, is a project metric that you don’t
want to sacrifice at the expense of primary improvements in a process. These metrics are
used to ensure the process is improving, and not altering one metric measure at the expense
of another.
Secondary metrics include:

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Average revenue per account (ARPA): The average revenue per customer
measured in a defined period (months or years). This metric helps expose trends in
account expansion and contraction and in evaluating pricing plans.
Net revenue retention rate (NRR): NRR is the net revenue leftover from an
existing cohort of customers, less any revenue churn, plus expansion revenue from
upsells, cross-sells, etc. NRR is a growth indicator that measures business performance
and acts as a churn metric to give a comprehensive view of positive as well as negative
changes concerning customer retention.
Gross revenue retention rate: This is the starting revenue minus revenue lost
through down-sell or churn, divided by the starting revenue. This is the revenue a
business can count on every single month – it’s the predictable revenue.
Annual recurring revenue (ARR) or annual run rate: This is an annual version
of MRR that helps to project future revenue in the year ahead. ARR assumes no
changes, e.g. no churn, no new customers, and no expansion. It’s a useful metric for
determining momentum in areas such as new sales, renewals, and upgrades. And lost
momentum in downgrades and lost customers.
BizOps personnel work with the senior team to determine which metrics are most important.
When critical decisions need to be made, bizOps provides analytical support to help make the
right call, asking questions such as:
Is this particular initiative working for us?
Should we invest more in this business process?
Key metrics are deployed to analyze these questions, strategize and set new and meet existing
business goals.
Key concepts in bizOps
Working with bizOps, you need to be familiar with the following key concepts. These are
jargon terms you will come across meaning need to understand their definitions.

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The importance of bizOps (+ business operations examples)
Google, Amazon, LinkedIn, and many other large enterprises utilize bizOps with success,
meaning the methodology is both known and proven. BizOps is also a business function used
by startups, who’ve adapted the practice so it’s suited to the fast-paced nature of the startup
environment.
With bizOps, team collaboration, data analysis, and reporting are changed on a fundamental
level. Before bizOps, there seemed to be a lack of alignment between business departments,
which operated in silos. This created barriers between departments hindering business
growth, strategy execution, and day-to-day operations. This siloed nature of business locked
in data and information stifling collaboration, insights, and innovation.
BizOps shook up the status quo by collecting and analyzing business data across different
business functions. This data is used to obtain important insights that connect business units
together to achieve the desired outcomes. As such, bizOps drives strategy execution and
growth.
Using bizOps in a large organization: LinkedIn’s use of bizOps

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Source
Dan Yoo worked as a bizOps manager for LinkedIn and shares his experience from working
in the field. This exemplifies the application of bizOps in larger corporations.
Using bizOps, Dan was able to grow LinkedIn’s business from millions to billions in the year
2015, with revenue reaching $1.3 billion. Despite some hiccups along the way, LinkedIn has
continued along a billion-dollar revenue path, bringing in $8.05 billion in 2020.
As the bizOps manager, Dan recommended turning on the gas and built a larger hiring
solutions business. Studying key metrics, Dan identified this corner of LinkedIn to have high
growth potential. And Dan grew it.
The bizOps team analyzed data from LinkedIns heaviest users. These users were then
segmented as per the subscription products. Different subscription products were promoted
to recruiters, job seekers, and salespeople accordingly. Dan also hired more salespeople to
the LinkedIn team, a bizOps decision that aided organizational growth.
Using bizOps in a startup: Process Street’s use of bizOps

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Source
Process Street is business process management software, providing a no-code solution to
workflow management. What makes Process Street unique relative to other startups is
Process Street’s remote-work business model. That’s right, every employee at Process Street
works remotely. As such, Process Street’s bizOp teams have to cater to this unique working
style.
To help Process Street achieve its remote-work goals, the organization delivers digital literacy
training to employees as part of the onboarding process.
For instance, during onboarding, I received 1:1 training from my line manager, who taught
me how to use remote-work tools such as Airtable, Slack, and, of course, Process Street. The
business operations of Process Street (namely employee onboarding) have been adapted to
align with Process Street’s strategy – to remain a successful remote-based company.
Also, as part of my onboarding experience, I worked for different business departments –
such as customer support – gaining an understanding of how Process Street functions across
all business units. Once more, Process Street’s operations – onboarding – have been adapted
to beak-down organizational silos, a vital goal of bizOp teams.
Using bizOps in crisis management

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Source
The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced new urgency and dynamics for deploying bizOps to
drive the organizational changes needed.
All eyes turn to the bizOp teams for delivering solutions rapidly. In this sense, bizOps is a
key part of crisis management helping businesses leverage the COVID-19 pandemic as an
opportunity. One such opportunity is the digital transformation of business.
Businesses well along the digital maturity curve have a decided advantage in the current
environment relative to those that aren’t.
For bizOps personnel, this means moving business operations to the cloud where possible
and augmenting data and analytics which are more important than ever.
Seen through the right lens, COVID-19 can be used as an opportunity to drive transformation
in support of remote work, customer engagement and retention, digital literacy, and
modernization of tools and platforms.
The IDC PeerScape: Practices for Effective Use of BizOps in Crisis Management report details
best practices taken by bizOp teams during COVID-19, which include:
Identifying planned future digital transformation initiatives that can be brought
forward to solve immediate (and long-term) problems and needs.
Building a case for investing in the creation of a digital enterprise. This will not only
ameliorate immediate problems and concerns, but it will future-proof the business
from a recurrence of COVID-19 or other emergencies and crises.

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Using the need for remote work as a lever to drive digital literacy among workers and
managers through training, enhanced remote support, and work from home education
for the business’s digital tools and apps.
BizOps activities: Maximizing profit, performance, and growth (with
free templates)
As we know, the core tenant of bizOps is to drive business growth via maximizing profit and
performance. Achievement of this involves six core steps – however, the specificities of work
for each step varies.
I’ve provided the relevant Process Street resources for each step that’ll give a further
indication and understanding of the work scope for each step. You are also granted free
access to the relevant Process Street templates for each step. To get started sign up and create
your free Process Street account.
BizOps activity #1 – Strategic process Ԅ
A strategic process is concerned with making business decisions. It’s the continuous
assessment of a business with the aim to outdo competitors. Information is gathered from
both within the organization and from outside the organization.
Key Process Street resources
Cut Costs and Improve Productivity With Our Free Strategic Planning Template
Business Tooth and Claw, Corporate Strategy to Win the War
Your Quick Guide to Energy Management for Sustainability and Reduced Business
Costs
The Straightforward Guide to Product Strategy (With Templates)
Hoshin Kanri: Gain a Competitive Advantage With This Lean Management Approach
(Free Template)
Brand Strategy Template Checklist
Run our Brand Strategy Template Checklist when you’re crafting a brand from scratch, or as
a brand audit when reviewing products and content.
Think about whether your new brand initiative or existing brand aligns with your
organization’s strategic goals.
Click here to access our Brand Strategy Template Checklist!
Product Strategy Template

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Run our Product Strategy Template as a checklist when you begin creating your product
strategy.
Think about whether your product aligns with your organization’s strategic goals.
Click here to access our Product Strategy Template!
Strategic Planning Template
Run our Strategic Planning Template to plan, define, and document your business strategy.
Adopt a flexible and inclusive approach by implementing the Cascade Strategic Planning
Model.
There are many different approaches for the effective execution of business strategy. In this
article, the Cascade Strategic Planning framework is applied.
Click here to access our Strategic Planning Template!
Hoshin Planning: Hoshin Kanri Policy Deployment Process Checklist
Use our Hoshin Planning: Hoshin Kanri Policy Deployment Process Checklist to guide you
through the Hoshin Kanri planning process. Hoshin Kanri helps implement new company
goals and policies by accounting for all organizational levels of a company.
Click here to access our Hoshin Kanrr: Hoshin Kanri Policy Deployment Process Checklist!
BizOps activity #2 – Strategic analysis ѩԬ
Strategic analysis is the process of researching a company and its operating environment to
formulate a strategy.
What is Muda? The 7 Wastes Every Lean Business Needs to Combat
Are You Poka-Yoke Woke? Stop Mistakes With This Error Prevention Method (10
Examples)
Kaizen: How to Deploy Continuous Improvement to Rocket Your Success
SWOT Analysis Template: What, How, & Why? (Free Template)
How Asking ‘Why?’ 5 Times Can Potentially Save Your Business (Free 5 Whys
Template)
Become a Lean Machine With These Top 8 Lean Tools (Free Templates)
9 Lean Manufacturing Principles to Kill the Jargon and Get Quality Results
The Ultimate List of 45 Business Process Improvement Tools (Lean Six Sigma &
Beyond)
Conquer Process Improvement With These 9 Lean Six Sigma Tools

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What is Kata? Toyota’s Karate Concept for Lean Continuous Improvement and
Coaching Success
How to Use The Deming Cycle for Continuous Quality Improvement
DMAIC Improvement Project Tollgate Checklist
Run our DMAIC Improvement Project Tollgate Checklist to ensure your improvement
projects achieve measurable change and positive results for your business.
Click here to access our DMAIC Improvement Project Tollgate Checklist!
5 Whys Checklist Template
Run our 5 Whys Checklist Template when you need to get to the root cause of a business-
related problem or issue.
Click here to access our 5 Whys Checklist Template!
SWOT Analysis Template
Identify business strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats associated with
your business strategy or project using our SWOT Analysis Template.
Click here to access our SWOT Analysis Template!
PDCA Cycle Change Management Model Process Checklist
Run our PDCA Cycle Change Management Model Process Checklist to continuously adapt
and improve your business processes via the PDCA cycle.
Click here to access our PDCA Cycle Change Management Model Process Checklist!
BizOps activity #3 – Systems building and information Ԩ
Building systems and information is about creating procedures, processes, methods, or
courses of action designed to achieve a specific result.
Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) Template Structure
Use our Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) Template Structure to construct standard
operating procedures (SOPs) and organize your business activities.
Click here to access our Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) Template Structure!
Communication

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Business communications is the sharing of information between employees within and across
business departments, and communicating with stakeholders outside the organization.
Communication Plan Template Checklist
Run our Communication Plan Template Checklist when you need to create a communication
plan to help you achieve your business objectives and maximize your performance.
Click here to access our Communication Plan Template Checklist!
BizOps activity #4 – Cross-functional processes ĝ
Cross-functional business processes are different functional areas of a business working
together to complete the same piece of work, goal, or aim.
Cross-functional processes are about using big-picture thinking to understand how all areas
of a business inter-relate with one another to achieve the overarching key business goal.
“We service both SMB and Enterprise teams in all departments” – Capterra Reviews
Process Street‘s templates can be edited to enhance the cross-functionality of business
processes by utilizing the following features:
Stop Tasks ‫ۑ‬ controlling the order that your documented processes run in, preventing
important tasks from being missed. This is especially important when distributing tasks
between different teams.
Dynamic Due Dates ϰ allowing you to set due dates on specific tasks, safeguarding tasks
from being missed. This will help employees keep to important deadlines, and meet the
demands of their work, smoothing out cross-team collaboration.
Conditional Logic Ǡ to create dynamic systems that have the degree of flexibility needed
to support cross-functional teamwork.
Role Assignments ѥ to ease task delegation between teams, streamlining and promoting
effective cross-functional teamwork.
Approvals ‫܅‬ allowing decision-makers to give the go-ahead (or rejection) on important
system items. Also, the necessary comments can be provided. This streamlines
feedback across teams.
Webhooks Σ allowing you to send automated messages or information from your
documented processes directly to other apps. A great feature keeping other teams
notified about the status of checklists and tasks in Process Street, meaning everyone
knows who is doing what and when.

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Task Assignments Ѥ to assign users and groups to individual tasks in your documented
processes, making it easy to see who is responsible for what, aiding cross-functional
teamwork.
Embed Widgets ̐ allowing you to view and interact with other apps without leaving your
documented process in Process Street. Great if you want to communicate with different
teams across applications.
+ more! ‫ڀ‬
“…my team can continue to operate at the same quality or better even when I’m not around.” –
Barbara Carneiro, Trust Radius Reviews
For more information on how you can edit and create checklists in Process Street, watch the
below video:
BizOps activity #5 – Change management ҆‫ق‬
Change management is the application of tools, frameworks, and methodologies supporting
the adoption of change within a business. Many change management techniques recognize
the importance for employees to understand and commit to business change.
To drive growth, bizOps personnel will regularly have to deal with business change. Change
management is therefore a vital aspect of the bizOps role.
Kotter’s Change Management Model Process Checklist
Run our Kotter’s Change Management Model Process Checklist to effectively implement
change, focussing on the people behind it.
Click here to access Kotter’s Change Management Model Process Checklist!
Lewin’s Change Management Model Process Checklist
Run our Lewin’s Change Management Model Process Checklist to effectively implement a
large, unwiedly company shift of change.
Click here to access Lewin’s Change Management Model Process Checklist!
Satir Change Management Model Process Checklist
Run this Satir Change Management Model Process Checklist to manage change by
accounting for employee emotions and managing the impact on overall performance.
Click here to access the Satir Change Management Model Process Checklist!

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BizOps: The accelerator of growth
BizOps joins departmental teams to improve an organization’s ability to optimize daily
operations and grow. It’s a business function we take seriously at Process Street and have
developed our software to help you do the same.
Refer to the templates and resources given in this article to provide the right guidance and
support to your bizOp teams.
Sign up for Process Street and get started!

89% of Execs Swear By BizOps for Advanced Decision Making in Their Org (Plus Checklists!)

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89% of Execs Swear By BizOps for Advanced Decision Making in Their Org (Plus Checklists!)