Weekly leadership meeting
A fixed weekly meeting where the leadership team can review priorities, numbers and blockers. It can replace scattered check-ins and give decisions a home.
The role explained
What Does a Fractional COO Do?
What does a fractional COO do? A fractional COO is an experienced operating executive who works part time for a company. The role turns the founder's plans into routines: leadership meetings, KPIs, accountability, process improvement and technology decisions.
On this page
- What is a fractional COO?
- What does a fractional COO do?
- The problems that bring founders to this role
- How a fractional COO differs from a consultant
- Is a COO higher than a CFO?
- The 90-Day Scale-Up Operating System in three phases
- What the founder does alongside a fractional COO
- What a fractional COO does not do
- Wayne's Fractional COO engagement in brief
- Frequently asked questions
What is a fractional COO?
A fractional COO is a senior operating executive who works part time for a company. The company buys an agreed share of the executive's time instead of hiring a full-time employee.
COO stands for chief operating officer, the executive who runs day-to-day operations. The word fractional refers to the fraction of a working week given to each company. That covers the whole fractional COO meaning.
A full-time COO covers the same functions across a full working week. The guide to fractional versus full-time compares the two models in detail.
What does a fractional COO do?
A fractional COO runs the operating side of the business: meetings, metrics, processes and accountability. Wayne's own Fractional COO engagement lists eight areas. Each card below describes one in general terms.
Operating system
The set of routines, roles and measures that lets the company run without the founder in every decision. The COO designs it and keeps it in use.
KPI management
Choosing the few numbers that show whether the business is healthy. The COO then reviews them on a fixed rhythm so problems can surface early.
Strategic execution
Turning the founder's strategy into projects with owners, dates and results. A plan that stays in a document does not change the business.
Process improvement
Finding broken handoffs, duplicate work and steps that add nothing, then redesigning them. Technology comes after the process is clear.
Team accountability
Giving each manager clear results to own and asking about them regularly. Accountability without clear ownership can turn into blame.
Founder advisory
Acting as a senior sounding board on hiring, priorities and trade-offs. The aim is to help the founder step back from day-to-day decisions.
Technology and AI decisions
Deciding which systems the company needs, which tools to retire and where AI belongs. Tool choices follow the operating model.
The problems that bring founders to this role
Founders often look for a fractional COO when growth has created complexity that the current structure cannot absorb. Problems also sit in layers. A technology problem may really be a process problem, and a process problem may really be an accountability problem.
Wayne groups the symptoms into three problems.
- The founder is the bottleneck: everything comes back to the CEO and decisions are not getting made.
- The company has outgrown its systems: too many spreadsheets, broken handoffs and no clear KPIs.
- Everyone is talking about AI, but nobody knows where to use it: experimentation everywhere and no AI strategy.
How a fractional COO differs from a consultant
A fractional COO differs from a consultant in where the work happens and who owns the result. A consultant typically studies the business from outside and delivers recommendations. A fractional COO usually works inside the operating rhythm and takes on responsibility for agreed results.
My own approach sits on the second side. I don't believe in delivering a strategy document and walking away. I work alongside the leadership team. The first job is to understand how the business actually operates and what is getting in the way of growth. Then I build a practical plan and help execute it.
I've spent more than 25 years helping organizations turn ambitious plans into businesses that actually work. The about page covers the background.
Is a COO higher than a CFO?
A COO is not higher than a CFO by default. Both are C-level officers who usually report to the CEO, and each leads a different function. The order between them varies by company, so there is no universal ranking.
| Role | Usually leads | Typical focus |
|---|---|---|
| CEO | Overall direction and results | Vision, strategy, key relationships |
| COO | Day-to-day operations and execution | Process, people, KPIs, delivery |
| CFO | Finance and reporting | Budgeting, cash, reporting, risk |
The 90-Day Scale-Up Operating System in three phases
Wayne's main product is the 90-Day Scale-Up Operating System. It runs in three phases.
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Diagnose, weeks 1–2
Assess strategy, organization, leadership, processes, technology, revenue operations, KPIs, AI opportunities and founder bottlenecks. The deliverable is the Scale-Up Diagnostic. It is a concise executive assessment of what is broken, why, what matters and what to fix first.
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Design, weeks 3–4
Create the 90-day priorities, operating cadence, KPI dashboard, accountability structure, process priorities, technology priorities, AI opportunity map and leadership responsibilities.
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Implement, weeks 5–12
Help execute the weekly leadership meeting, KPI rhythm, process redesign, AI pilots, automation and team accountability. Also vendor management, technology decisions, hiring and organizational changes, and strategic initiatives.
What the founder does alongside a fractional COO
The founder still has work to do alongside a fractional COO. The role works best when the founder shares real numbers and hands over real decisions.
- Share the true financial and operating numbers, including the uncomfortable ones.
- Agree the priorities for the period and stop adding new ones without discussion.
- Attend the weekly leadership meeting and let it settle the agenda instead of side conversations.
- Hand over decisions in agreed areas, and back the COO in front of managers.
- Keep ownership of vision, product and important relationships.
What a fractional COO does not do
A fractional COO does not replace the founder's vision. Direction, product and important relationships stay with the founder.
Nor does the role replace the managers who run each function day to day. It builds the rhythm around them and holds them to it.
A company that hides its numbers can get little from the role. Honest data is the starting point for many fixes, and the founder has to supply it.
The role is not a fit for every company. If the workload fills every working week, a full-time hire fits better. Read when to hire a fractional COO to test the fit.
A fractional COO is no shortcut around decisions. It organizes and drives them, but the founder still has to let some of them go.
Wayne's Fractional COO engagement in brief
Wayne's Fractional COO engagement is his primary offer, at approximately 1.5 days per week. It includes a weekly leadership meeting, an operating system, KPI management and strategic execution. Process improvement, team accountability, founder advisory and technology and AI decisions round out the list.
For pricing, and for how a monthly fee differs from a salary, see what a fractional COO costs.
The engagement suits founder-led companies where the founder is still deeply involved and senior operational leadership is missing. If that sounds familiar, you can start a conversation.
Frequently asked questions
What does a fractional COO do?
A fractional COO runs the operating side of a company on a part-time basis. That covers leadership meetings, KPIs, process improvement, team accountability, founder advisory and technology decisions. The role turns the founder's priorities into routines that the team can repeat.
What does fractional COO mean?
Fractional COO means a chief operating officer who works for a company part time instead of full time. The word fractional refers to the fraction of a working week given to that company. The executive often serves more than one company at once.
Is a COO higher than a CFO?
A COO is not higher than a CFO by default. Both are C-level officers who usually report to the CEO. The COO leads operations and execution, while the CFO leads finance and reporting.
How is a fractional COO different from a consultant?
A fractional COO works inside the operating rhythm, while a consultant typically advises from outside. A fractional COO usually carries responsibility for agreed results, and a consultant often hands over recommendations. Wayne Fraser describes his own approach as working alongside the leadership team and then helping execute the plan.
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