How to Prioritize Time and Resources as a COO: 6 Effective Strategies
In the fast-paced world of business, Chief Operating Officers face the constant challenge of effective time and resource management. This article presents a comprehensive guide to prioritization strategies, drawing on insights from industry experts. Discover six powerful approaches that can help COOs streamline operations, boost efficiency, and drive business success.
- Implement Structured Quarterly Roadmap with Daily Checks
- Balance Impact and Effort for Strategic Prioritization
- Focus on Revenue, Efficiency, and Risk Management
- Prioritize Safety, Commitments, and New Business
- Address Immediate Pain Points in Trade Business
- Align Priorities with Company-Wide Objectives
Implement Structured Quarterly Roadmap with Daily Checks
I rely on a structured quarterly roadmap combined with a daily priority check. Each department submits key initiatives with expected impact and resource requirements, which I rank using a simple scorecard: urgency, strategic value, and cross-departmental dependencies. This lets me visualize conflicts and allocate attention where it drives the most ROI. I block focused time for high-impact initiatives while keeping short, structured touchpoints with teams handling ongoing operations.
For example, during a recent product launch, marketing needed extra support for a campaign, engineering faced deployment delays, and support required workflow updates. Scoring each initiative objectively helped me reassign resources without disrupting timelines. This framework keeps competing demands transparent and prevents reactive firefighting, allowing me to maintain strategic oversight while ensuring departments stay aligned and accountable. It's a balance between structured prioritization and flexible responsiveness.
Balance Impact and Effort for Strategic Prioritization
In my role at Spectup, prioritizing is more about context than rigid rules. I try to start each week by listing everything that truly moves the needle for our clients and the business, then align department requests against that.
One framework I lean on is a simple "impact vs. effort" grid. If a task has high impact and low effort, it jumps to the top; high effort, low impact often gets delegated or delayed. I remember a week where investor sourcing, internal hiring, and a critical client deck all landed at once. It felt like juggling chainsaws.
Using this grid helped me say no to less urgent things without guilt, freeing time to focus on what mattered. Another trick is time-blocking by department needs: dedicated slots for client strategy, team check-ins, and operational fixes so no one monopolizes the day. I also rely heavily on one of our team members to flag when something is truly urgent versus just loud. The key is transparency: everyone knows how priorities are set, which cuts down on frustration. It's not perfect, but it keeps the ship moving without burning out.
Focus on Revenue, Efficiency, and Risk Management
I use a simple filter to prioritize: Will this make us money, save time, or cause damage if ignored? That's how I sort competing demands without overcomplicating it.
We run lean, so every team has valid needs. However, if something doesn't clearly move the needle on revenue, efficiency, or risk, it gets pushed. I meet with leads weekly for fast check-ins. No long meetings, no decks. Just what's blocking progress and what's critical now.
What works is consistency. Say no often, stay close to the numbers, and don't chase shiny problems. It keeps the whole team moving in the same direction.
Prioritize Safety, Commitments, and New Business
My competing demands all come from one department that matters: the job. I'm the one who answers the phones, does the quotes, manages the workers, and still gets my hands dirty. It's a constant battle to prioritize.
My strategy isn't some fancy framework or a business school concept. It's a simple, on-the-job hierarchy of needs that you learn pretty quickly in this trade.
First, you always drop everything for an emergency. A client with no power, a smoking fuse box, a genuine fire hazard—that gets dealt with immediately, no questions asked. You don't put that off for a quote or a minor job. Safety and a client's well-being always come first, and a business that doesn't understand that won't last long.
Second, you prioritize committed work. These are the jobs we've already quoted for, the ones the client is expecting us to be at. You have to be reliable and follow through on your word. That's a core part of your reputation. This might mean working late or shuffling other jobs around, but you get it done.
Third, you make time for new business, like quotes for new jobs. This is what keeps the business running in the long term, but it never comes before an emergency or a job you've already committed to.
I don't have a spreadsheet for this. It's all in my head and on the whiteboard in the truck. For example, a few weeks ago, I was halfway through a complex quote for a big re-wire job. The phone rang, and it was a client with no power. They had an ancient circuit breaker that finally gave up. I had to stop what I was doing and run straight to their place. That re-wire quote could wait. The family with no lights and a freezer full of food couldn't.
My key strategy is to always let the job itself tell you what to do. The emergencies and the pre-booked work are the ones that keep you on the straight and narrow. By focusing on safety and honoring your commitments, you build a reputation for reliability that's worth more than any corporate framework. It's the most effective way to manage your time and your business.
Address Immediate Pain Points in Trade Business
The "COO" title and "different departments" concept don't really apply to a business my size. We have crews in the field, an office manager, and myself. So when it comes to prioritizing, it's not about a big corporate framework; it's about what's going to get the job done and keep our clients happy. The way I prioritize is by using a very simple rule: what is leaking?
I mean that both literally and figuratively. A roof with an active leak is always, always the top priority. Everything else gets put on hold. That's the most important thing for our business. After that, I look for the next "leak"—is there a process in the office that's slowing down quotes? Is there a job site that's having a communication problem? Is a truck breaking down and costing us time?
My strategy is to address whatever is causing the most immediate pain or risk to the business. I don't use a complex framework. I talk to my people every morning. I ask the crew leaders what they need and what's slowing them down. I ask my office manager what's holding up paperwork. I'm constantly looking for what's "leaking" and I plug that hole first. It's an approach that's grounded in the reality of a trade business. You can't stick to a five-year plan if a storm just ripped off a dozen shingles on a client's house. You have to be responsive. That's how we prioritize. You fix the biggest problem first, then you move on to the next one. It's simple, but it works.
Align Priorities with Company-Wide Objectives
One strategy I use is a priority alignment framework that focuses on company-wide objectives rather than departmental demands. Every request from a department is evaluated against three criteria: strategic impact, urgency, and resource availability. If an initiative doesn't align with overall business goals or doesn't meaningfully move the needle, it either gets deferred, delegated, or re-scoped.
To make this work, I hold weekly cross-functional alignment meetings where department leads share priorities, dependencies, and potential roadblocks. This transparency helps surface competing demands early and allows us to collectively decide where resources will have the greatest impact. By tying every decision back to company objectives, I avoid getting pulled into "who shouts the loudest" scenarios and keep the organization moving in the same direction.
This framework has reduced friction between teams, improved accountability, and helped leaders understand the "why" behind prioritization. It also creates a culture where collaboration replaces competition, which makes resource allocation far more effective.
