Mastering Biz-Ops: A Generalist's Guide to Navigating Business Operations with Rachel Nazhand
Jan 31, 2024
auto_awesome
Rachel Nazhand, a biz-ops expert, discusses the evolving nature of business operations, emphasizing understanding various company divisions and success metrics. She explores non-linear career paths, the power of storytelling for organizational change, problem-solving skills in the tech-first work environment, and the importance of accountability tools for generalists.
Business operators focus on high-impact tasks driving efficiency through IT systems and agile methodologies.
Storytelling is crucial in guiding organizational change by engaging audiences and emphasizing collective vision.
Deep dives
Defining Business Operations in a Tech-Centric World
Business operations, for Rachel, is a centralized group shaping company efficiency through a tech-based approach, combining IT systems and agile methodologies. Unlike the do-it-all role of the past, business operators today focus on high-impact tasks driving company success by creating efficient ecosystems. Their role includes IT, project management, policy implementation, and agile adaptation to keep companies ahead.
Starting a Career in BizOps
For those interested in biz ops, understanding a company's divisions, success metrics, and business changes is crucial. Rachel recommends starting with diverse experiences to build a foundation, including customer-facing roles or a service-based background. Knowing how to drive change and adapt to different company needs is key. Asking investigative questions and offering solutions to identify value are essential when pursuing biz ops.
Nurturing Change Through Storytelling
Storytelling is a powerful tool in driving change within organizations. By highlighting pain points, explaining solution approaches, and providing clear outcomes, storytellers can guide others towards embracing change. Rachel suggests emphasizing comfort and reliability in storytelling to engage and motivate audiences. She recommends aligning stories with solutions and creating a sense of collective vision for successful change management.
Evolving Roles and Opportunities in BizOps
The evolving landscape of business operations sees alignment shifting towards CEO or CFO roles for business operators, indicating closer integration with top leadership. Additionally, CIO roles are gaining prominence, especially in tech-enabled companies, as system-oriented operators play a critical role in platform consolidation and PMO focus. Predictability and measurable impact are becoming more valued, driving a shift towards strategic contributions in business operations.
In this insightful episode of Generally Curious, we dive deep with Rachel Nazhand, a seasoned expert in business operations (biz-ops). Rachel shares her unique perspective on biz-ops, emphasizing its evolving nature and critical role in modern companies. She discusses the importance of understanding various business divisions and their success metrics, and the value of pattern recognition and problem-solving skills in biz-ops. Additionally, Rachel explores career progression in non-linear paths, the significance of storytelling in driving organizational change, and the evolving landscape of work in tech-first environments.
This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in the dynamic field of business operations and its impact on company success.
Get the Snipd podcast app
Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
AI-powered podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode
Save any moment
Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways
Share & Export
Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more
AI-powered podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode