Good Questions to Ask a COO
Operations-focused prompts about execution, metrics, org design, and how to unblock teams at scale.
1What operating metrics do you watch daily vs. weekly?
Click to see why this works
What operating metrics do you watch daily vs. weekly?
Click to see why this works
Why this works
Separates heartbeat signals from review cadence.
2Where are our biggest throughput constraints?
Click to see why this works
Where are our biggest throughput constraints?
Click to see why this works
Why this works
Targets bottlenecks and queueing issues.
3What processes are ripe for simplification?
Click to see why this works
What processes are ripe for simplification?
Click to see why this works
Why this works
Reduces friction and cycle time.
4How do you align incentives across functions?
Click to see why this works
How do you align incentives across functions?
Click to see why this works
Why this works
Prevents local optimizations that harm system goals.
5What’s your approach to incident postmortems?
Click to see why this works
What’s your approach to incident postmortems?
Click to see why this works
Why this works
Learning culture and reliability engineering.
6How do you decide build vs. buy for tooling?
Click to see why this works
How do you decide build vs. buy for tooling?
Click to see why this works
Why this works
Cost, speed, and maintainability calculus.
7What org changes most improved execution lately?
Click to see why this works
What org changes most improved execution lately?
Click to see why this works
Why this works
Design choices that increased clarity and speed.
8What would make frontline work 10% easier this quarter?
Click to see why this works
What would make frontline work 10% easier this quarter?
Click to see why this works
Why this works
COO empathy for operators’ reality.
9Where do we accept tech or process debt—and why?
Click to see why this works
Where do we accept tech or process debt—and why?
Click to see why this works
Why this works
Explicit trade-offs and paydown plans.
10What is our escalation policy for cross-team blockers?
Click to see why this works
What is our escalation policy for cross-team blockers?
Click to see why this works
Why this works
Prevents stall and hidden conflicts.
11What experiment would you greenlight immediately?
Click to see why this works
What experiment would you greenlight immediately?
Click to see why this works
Why this works
Appetite for innovation within guardrails.
12How can I best report issues to be useful to you?
Click to see why this works
How can I best report issues to be useful to you?
Click to see why this works
Why this works
Formats info for rapid action.
Ops Conversations
Expert tips and techniques for getting the most out of these questions.