Lean Business Ops: Getting It Done in a Resource-Constrained Environment // BUSINESS 231

Monday, May 7th from 6:00 - 7:30 pm 

Michael Gruen, Entrepreneur in Residence, QLabs

With sufficient resources, a CEO performs three functions: make sure there's enough money in the bank, find people to execute the vision, and communicate that vision to all stakeholders. However, without ample resources, the executive team (C-suite and founders) often wear many hats, acting as everything between CEO and janitor. In most cases, the business of running the business interferes from the core business. In an agile environment, stuff gets missed, followups dropped, and time wasted. The word "operations" carries with it a sense of heavy bureaucracy... but it doesn't have to be that way. In fact, it shouldn't be that way.

In structuring your operations to work with you, not against you, you can keep your team agile and focused on core business growth, not the ancillary meta-business time-suck.

The course will address the following strategies to lean-out your business operations:

• Understanding the 80/20 rule
• Time-value of money
• Lightweight process management
• Time-blocking
• Communications strategy (stop e-mailing!)
• Outsourcing and resource management