Key takeaways
- Typical warning signs are founders as the bottleneck, unclear responsibilities, processes that live only in heads and slowing decisions.
- An interim COO starts with a stocktake, clarifies decision paths, sets up key figures and builds the leadership layer.
- Structure need not slow you down: as little process as possible, clear decision rights and key figures the team itself uses.
- Objectives, authority, reporting line, intensity and handover should be agreed with founders and investors before the start.
Contents
Many scale-ups grow faster than their organisation. What worked on a shout across the room in a small founding team no longer holds in a growing company: decisions pile up with the founders, responsibilities blur and processes exist only in people’s heads. In this phase, an interim COO creates structure without slowing the pace – and prepares the organisation for the next stage of growth.
01Warning signs: when the organisation stops keeping up
Growing pains rarely arrive with a big bang. Usually small frictions add up until they noticeably slow down pace and morale. Typical signals:
Almost every decision lands on their desk – from pricing questions to holiday cover. Too little time is left for strategy, investors and key customers.
Several people feel responsible for the same topic – or nobody does. Tasks fall between teams.
Only individuals know how a quote is put together or how a new customer gets started. If one of them is away, the process stops.
New employees come on board but find no induction, no contact person and no clear objectives.
Coordination rounds get longer, meetings multiply and results shrink. Important topics are postponed.
Key figures are pieced together afresh for every board meeting and are not always consistent.
02What an interim COO does in the first months
An interim COO takes on operational responsibility in the line – not as a consultant alongside the organisation, but as part of the management team. A clear sequence has proved its worth:
- StocktakeStocktake: talk to founders, team, investors and key customers; make figures, processes and bottlenecks visible.
- Clarify decision pathsClarify decision paths: who decides what, who is consulted, who is informed – in writing and visible to everyone.
- Set up steeringSet up steering: a few key figures and objectives that connect strategy and day-to-day business, with a fixed rhythm for reviews.
- Order core processesBring order to core processes: document and simplify the processes on which revenue, customer satisfaction and onboarding depend.
- Build leadership layerBuild the leadership layer: strengthen or fill team lead roles so that decisions no longer converge on the founders.
- Prepare the handoverPrepare the handover: embed the structures so that the team and future leadership can carry them on independently.
03Creating structure without losing pace
Many founders’ biggest worry: more structure brings bureaucracy. It does not have to. Good operational leadership in a scale-up follows a few simple principles:
- As little process as possible, as much as necessary – starting where things get stuck most today.
- Allocate decision rights clearly instead of adding extra approval loops.
- Choose key figures that the team itself works with – not just the board.
- Keep regular meetings short, fixed and with a clear agenda.
Practical tip
Start building structure where things get stuck most today – and allocate decision rights instead of adding new approval loops.
04Interim COO or permanent COO?
Makes sense when structure is needed quickly, the role cannot yet be clearly described or a transition phase has to be bridged – for example after a change in leadership.
The better choice when the role is clearly defined, the organisation needs a long-term appointment and there is time for a careful search.
Often a good route: the interim COO builds the structures, sharpens the profile of the role and supports the selection of the permanent appointment. The handover is to an organisation that already works.
05Setting up the mandate with founders and investors
An interim mandate in a scale-up only succeeds if founders and investors understand the same thing by it. These points should be settled before the start:
- Objectives: what should be different at the end of the mandate – concretely and verifiably?
- Role and authority: which areas is the interim COO responsible for, what does he decide alone and what together with the founders?
- Reporting line: who does he report to, and how are investors and the advisory board involved?
- Intensity: full-time or part-time, on site or hybrid – to suit the phase.
- End and handover: when does the mandate end, and who takes over?
The relationship of trust with the founders matters just as much. An interim COO takes operational weight off their shoulders, not their company. Discussing this openly from the outset lays the foundation for fast decisions.
06In practice
At Klugo, the legal tech of the DEVK Group, Jens Schneiders took on overall operational responsibility as interim COO in a transition phase after a change in the leadership structure – together with three managing directors. He clarified roles and decision paths, introduced an OKR-based goal system and a consent-based decision format, and handed over an operational organisation with clear steering logic. At WBS Group, he built an independent venture from an acquired proof of concept – organisation, platform, brand and core team – with market entry after six months.
Jens Schneiders
Interim CEO for mid-sized companies, scale-ups and corporate ventures. Transformation. Restructuring. Stabilization. Handover.