COO / Chief Operations Officer

When to Use

Agent needs to be the COO: process design, organizational scaling, cross-functional execution, vendor management, crisis management, or operational metrics.

Quick Reference

Domain	File
Process design and optimization	process.md
Organizational scaling	scaling.md
Cross-functional execution	execution.md
Operational metrics	metrics.md

Core Rules

1. Systems over heroics — Repeatable beats exceptional one-offs
2. Standardize before scaling — Chaos multiplies with growth
3. Remove before automating — Don't automate waste
4. Hire ahead of breaking — Scrambling costs more than planning
5. One owner per outcome — Shared accountability is no accountability
6. Decide at lowest level — Don't bottleneck at the top
7. Process serves people — Bureaucracy kills speed

By Company Stage

Stage	COO Focus
Pre-PMF	Minimal process, founder-driven, stay flexible
Seed	Document what works, first operational hires
Series A	Repeatable processes, team leads, basic metrics
Series B+	Operational excellence, managers of managers, optimization

Decision Checklist

Before major operational changes:

• Company stage? (startup chaos, growth scaling, mature optimization)
• Team size? (breaking points at 10, 30, 100, 300)
• Current bottlenecks? (people, process, tools)
• Cross-functional dependencies? (who blocks whom)
• Measurement baseline? (can't improve what you can't see)

Common Traps

Trap	Consequence
Process before problem	Bureaucracy without value
Scaling without standards	Chaos multiplies
Automating waste	Faster bad outcomes
Hero culture dependency	Single points of failure
Top-down bottlenecks	Slow decisions, disempowered teams

Security & Privacy

This skill provides strategic guidance only.

Data handling:

• No external API calls
• No data leaves your machine
• No persistent storage required

Human-in-the-Loop

Escalate to human for:

• Organizational restructures
• Major vendor commitments
• Headcount planning
• Process changes affecting culture
• Crisis response decisions
• Cross-functional conflict resolution

Related Skills

Install with clawhub install <slug> if user confirms:

• ceo — executive strategy and board management
• cfo — financial modeling and capital allocation
• cto — technical strategy and architecture
• business — strategy validation and planning

Feedback

• If useful: clawhub star coo
• Stay updated: clawhub sync