Ops quick wins &
the one-page KPI dashboard.

Who this is for

COOs, Ops leaders and team managers who need measurable improvements in cost-to-serve and delivery performance without a heavy transformation program.

1) Quick wins: the top 10 levers

1. Intake triage: clarify SLAs & ownership; kill "misc" queues.
2. Batching & WIP limits: smaller lots, fewer items in progress.
3. Standard work: turn tribal knowledge into one-page SOPs.
4. Template replies/tasks: macros for the top 20% of requests.
5. Defect logging: visible rework reasons; fix the top 3.
6. Handover rules: RACI + checklist before passing work.
7. Calendar blocking: focus blocks for deep-work windows.
8. Skills matrix: cross-train to remove single-threaded owners.
9. Demand shaping: tighten eligibility / form fields / guardrails.
10. Obvious automation: 3–5 no-code jobs (alerts, status, sync).

2) The 30/60/90-day plan

• 0–30 days: baseline KPIs, map the flow, implement intake triage, launch SOPs v1.
• 31–60 days: WIP limits, defect logging, automation pilots, skills matrix.
• 61–90 days: scale what works, renegotiate SLAs, publish the dashboard to execs.

3) KPI model

Keep it lightweight and comparable week over week:

• On-time delivery (OTD) = % tasks/orders delivered on or before the promise date.
• Cycle time = average start→finish per type (exclude waiting for customer).
• SLA attainment by queue/type.
• First-time-right / defect rate = % items without rework.
• Backlog health = items over SLA + aging distribution.
• Cost-to-serve = FTE hours × loaded rate per item / order.

4) Dashboard layout (one-pager)

• Top bar: OTD, cycle time, defect rate, cost-to-serve (vs. target).
• Trends: 8-week sparklines for each KPI.
• Bottlenecks: queues with the worst SLA & aging.
• Wins this week: 3 bullets (automation saved X hours; defect Y removed).
• Risks / help needed: escalations, cross-team dependencies.

Download: KPI dashboard (Google Sheets)

5) Instrumentation

• Start with an operational export (CSV/Sheet) daily; automate later.
• Create a data dictionary (how we timestamp, what counts as done).
• Tag defect causes in the ticketing tool; keep the taxonomy under 12 items.
• Use unique IDs for items to avoid double counting across systems.

6) Review cadence

• Weekly, 30 min: KPI review, wins, top 3 blockers, next experiments.
• Monthly, 60 min: trends vs. targets, SLA resets, resourcing decisions.
• Quarterly: re-baseline cost-to-serve; publish the 3 biggest improvements.

7) Common risks

• Too many KPIs → pick six that move the business.
• Counting "busy work" → measure outcomes, not activity.
• Data hygiene ignored → implement a weekly data check.
• One-off wins → keep an experiments backlog with owners.

Templates

One-page KPI dashboard · SOP template · Defect log (Sheets) · 30/60/90 plan · Ops experiments backlog