Being a Chief of Staff means keeping one eye on the big picture—and the other on all the moving parts. But when daily operations are chaotic or unclear, even the most strategic CoS can start to feel a bit cross-eyed.
Here are seven practical ways you can strengthen day-to-day operations, bring more calm to the chaos, and increase your impact across the leadership team.
1. Make Leadership Meetings More Useful
Leadership team meetings shouldn’t be endless status updates or parking lots for unresolved debates.
Try this:
- Build a standard agenda that includes decision-making time, blockers, and forward-looking discussions.
- Create a shared tracker for follow-ups and owners.
- Clarify which topics belong in 1:1s, team meetings, or async updates instead.
🛠 Tool to try: Weekly “Decide / Discuss / Share” agenda template.
2. Streamline Board and Investor Updates
Board meetings can become a scramble—especially when content is scattered and data is inconsistent.
Try this:
- Create a running “Board Book-in-progress” doc that’s updated monthly.
- Standardize a set of KPIs and narrative slides.
- Keep a shared FAQ so execs stay aligned on key messaging.
🛠 Pro tip: A monthly check-in with each exec to prep Board slides in advance saves huge time (and stress) later.
3. Bring Structure to All Hands Planning
Organization-wide meetings can be inspiring—or confusing. A wise Chief of Staff will ensure they’re aligned with strategic goals.
Try this:
- Build a quarterly All Hands cadence that ladders up to your strategic priorities.
- Assign a theme to each quarter (e.g., “Focus,” “Clarity,” “Momentum”).
- Keep a running doc of team questions and themes to address live.
🛠 Tool to try: A 3-month rolling comms calendar to avoid reactive planning.
4. Fix What’s Frustrating Everyone
As Chief of Staff, you probably hear about it first: the redundant form, the clunky tool, the unclear process.
Try this:
- Create a shared “Pain Points” board where teams can surface low-grade operational friction.
- Pick one to fix per month.
- Involve the team in redesigning the solution.
🛠 Framework to try: “Simplify → Standardize → Automate.”
5. Align Talent & HR Cycles with Your Operating Rhythm
Planning and performance cycles shouldn’t live solely in HR’s world. A Chief of Staff can challenge misaligned timelines and build smarter connections between people processes and the organization’s strategic rhythm.
Try this:
- Sync performance reviews and promotions with your planning and communication cycles—so feedback, recognition, and goal-setting feel timely and connected.
- Make sure hiring plans reflect current team capacity and evolving priorities.
- Partner with People/HR to clarify role ownership, especially when new initiatives or reorgs create ambiguity.
🛠 Checklist to try: “Org changes to clarify before next planning cycle.”
6. Map Decision Rights & Reduce Approval Fog
Are people waiting around for a decision that no one owns?
Try this:
- Build a simple decision rights map (e.g., “Who decides, who consults, who’s informed”).
- Use it during planning or launches to reduce delays.
- Socialize it early—especially in cross-functional work.
🛠 Resource to try: DACI or RAPID decision-making frameworks.
7. Track Progress Without Micromanaging
Execution doesn’t improve just because you’ve named a priority. You need visibility.
Try this:
- Introduce weekly or bi-weekly sprint check-ins.
- Use a simple shared doc or dashboard to track what’s in motion.
- Celebrate small wins to build momentum.
🛠 Culture tip: “Done is better than perfect” is your friend here.
Final Thought:
You don’t need to overhaul everything at once. Pick one area. Improve it. Then move to the next.
Day-to-day operations bring strategy to life—and your work as Chief of Staff can unlock incredible leverage across the org.