The First 90 Days of a New COO: A Field Guide
A new COO has about ninety days to earn trust and find the real constraints. A week-by-week guide for the hire and the founder.
By Maia Lafortezza, Founder and managing partner , 2 min read
A new chief operating officer has about ninety days to earn trust, find the real constraints and agree with the founder on who owns what. A new COO has about ninety days to earn trust and find the real constraints. A week-by-week guide for the hire and the founder.
Weeks one to four: listen and map
Meet every manager, walk the main workflows end to end and read the last six months of numbers. Resist fixing anything visible in the first month; the goal is a map of where work actually gets stuck and who the team trusts to unstick it.
Weeks five to twelve: agree and deliver
Write down, with the founder, which decisions now belong to the COO, then deliver two visible improvements the team has been asking for. Early credibility comes from removing a known irritation, not from launching a transformation programme.
How we apply this with clients
In client work this usually becomes one priority on the quarterly plan, with a named owner and a measure the leadership team reviews every month. Our leadership partners start with a short diagnostic of where the business is today, then agree the smallest change that will make a visible difference within ninety days.
Key takeaways
- Spend the first month mapping, not fixing.
- Write decision ownership down with the founder.
- Deliver two quick improvements the team already wants.
Want to apply this in your business? Book a discovery call with a Maia Lafortezza partner.
Maia Lafortezza
Maia Lafortezza founded the firm in 2019 after nearly two decades across corporate finance, strategy consulting and operations. She began her career in transaction advisory, led growth and operating-model projects for mid-market and family-owned companies, and then served as chief operating officer of a European industrial group through a period of rapid expansion. Today she leads the firm's strategy and leadership practices, advises founders and boards directly, and writes on operating models, decision rights and building companies that last. She works in English, Italian and French.
More from Maia
Discussion