Chief Operational Officer is a position at the executive level in any firm and they need to carry out all the duties assigned in the best ways possible. These duties are based on the long and short term objectives of the firms which hire them for their services. Their main job is to deduce strategic plans which should be followed to achieve the desired goals. They may be supported by a lot of other equivalent companions who are responsible for the other sectors of the company at the same level.

As an executive, the chief operations officer has direct likes with the CEO and the board of directors. He is answerable only to them and no one else. While the objectives are formulated by the stake holders, they take suggestions from the COO who has more knowledge about the residing market situation and whether they can be achieved. If feasible, they want the results subject to a dead line set on mutual agreement. Everything has to be carried out by adhering to the policies of the company at all times and also keeping its reputation in mind. There is a requirement of some good quality employees to carry out these plans for which regular recruitment drives have to be conducted by them. Remember, a good general is only good till his men can fight.

With the same analogy, the operations officer needs to keep his employees motivated at all times. This can be done by providing relaxations or added benefits. If the welfare of the employees is kept in mind, the effective work always increases. The manager has to be strong, motivating, confident and knowledgeable all at the same time. They need to keep a check on the way things are carried out in the company and all problem areas need to be paid attention too. These increase with the increase in the scope of the domain. A COO of a small firm may not have as much workload as that of a larger firm.

There can be many activities taking place in the company at any given point of time. In the best of the cases, these works would be taken care of by the lower level managers who would be reporting to the chief operational officer. The reporting can range from sales of the products and services to the purchase of materials, the number of hours of work done in a day to the salary release at the end of the month. These are duties which are common to all firms, whether big or small. The bigger firms may want long term strategies whereas the smaller firms may require only short term strategies to meet their needs. Every operation has to be done with reference to the total budget and the caliber of the company.

Generally, there are a lot of meetings involved in the schedule. The times may be flexible but they are long and exhausting. Chiefs enjoy huge offices with their personal secretaries at their call. Along with it comes a huge pay package which more than makes up for the lost time.