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Fractional COO Services

Operations leadership for teams that need traction, not more meetings.

We provide fractional COO support for founders and growing teams that need clear priorities, working workflows, and follow-through that does not depend on one person.

Schedule a Fit Call

Operating leverage

Growing teams rarely stall for lack of ideas. They stall because no one owns the decision, meetings end without next steps, and the founder is the default answer to every question. We set the weekly cadence, name the owners, and stay until the rhythm holds without us.

The Operating Rhythm

A recurring cadence that keeps execution moving.

Fractional COO support runs on a repeatable loop, not one-off advice. Each cycle compounds clarity, accountability, and momentum.

01

Weekly Priorities

Set the few things that actually move the business this week.

02

Leadership Meeting

A structured, time-boxed session that drives decisions.

03

Issue / Decision Log

Capture blockers and decisions so nothing gets lost.

04

Dashboard Review

Check progress, workload, and risk against the numbers.

05

Workflow Improvements

Fix the handoffs and processes causing recurring friction.

06

Accountability Follow-Up

Confirm ownership and close the loop before the next cycle.

Repeats every week, compounding traction over time.

Sound familiar?

When should a growing business hire a fractional COO?

Fractional COO support fits when cross-team priorities stall, ownership is unclear, and routine decisions keep returning to the founder. We provide ongoing operating leadership when the need extends beyond a single project or tool setup.

01

Too many priorities, not enough traction.

02

The founder is still the default problem-solver.

03

Meetings happen, but they do not create follow-through.

04

Work is spread across too many tools and channels.

05

No clear owner for cross-functional initiatives.

06

Reporting is inconsistent, reactive, or missing entirely.

Who this is for

Built for teams that need execution, not just advice.

Founders who are still the center of too many decisions.

Small teams growing faster than their systems.

Agencies, consultancies, and service businesses with delivery friction.

Teams with unclear ownership, weak reporting, or inconsistent follow-through.

Organizations that need senior operations support but are not ready for a full-time COO.

Businesses that need someone to translate strategy into execution.

Buyer questions

Do I need a fractional COO, a project manager, or an operations system buildout?

A fractional COO fits when you need ongoing leadership across priorities, people, and operating decisions. A project manager fits a defined initiative; a system buildout fits a defined workflow or tool problem. If several departments keep escalating decisions to the founder and nobody owns cross-team execution, the need is likely broader than a single project or software setup.

Compare the Operations System Buildout

What we do

What does fractional COO support include?

We establish priorities, ownership, operating reviews, reporting, and workflows across teams. The engagement scope defines which decisions and workstreams we lead and which remain with your internal leaders.

Operating Cadence

Install the weekly rhythm, meeting structure, and decision cadence that keep work moving without the founder driving everything.

Priority & Accountability Management

Define what matters, who owns it, and how follow-through is tracked, so important work stops slipping.

Workflow Improvement

Clean up handoffs, duplicated effort, and unclear roles into repeatable, dependable processes.

Reporting & Visibility

Build the KPI rhythm, scorecards, and leadership reporting that give you a clear view of priorities and risk.

Systems Alignment

Make sure tools, workflows, and ownership reinforce each other instead of fragmenting work across platforms.

Cross-Functional Execution

Keep multiple initiatives coordinated and moving forward without leadership losing visibility.

Buyer questions

What will you actually take off my plate as the founder?

We can take ownership of the agreed operating cadence, priority follow-through, issue tracking, and coordination across workstreams. We also help clarify which decisions belong with you and which should move to team leaders. The aim is to reduce routine dependence on the founder while keeping major business decisions visible and under the right authority.

Will HRE work directly with my managers, or just advise me?

In an execution engagement, we work with the leaders and workstream owners responsible for delivering the agreed priorities. That can include preparing operating reviews, resolving handoff gaps, tracking decisions, and coordinating initiatives. Founder sponsorship remains essential: your team needs to understand our role, the decisions we can support, and where approval still sits internally.

Packages

Which fractional COO engagement fits your business?

Start with a diagnostic and roadmap if you need to define the priorities, a 90-day sprint for hands-on execution, or an embedded partner for ongoing leadership. We scope involvement around your operating needs and leadership access.

Bronze

Operations Diagnostic & 90-Day Roadmap

Starting at$2,500

Typical timeline: 1–2 weeks

For teams that need clarity before committing to ongoing support.

Schedule a Fit Call

What it includes

  • Founder / leadership discovery session
  • Review of current workflows, meetings, tools, reporting, and decision cadence
  • Identification of operational bottlenecks and ownership gaps
  • Review of current priorities, team structure, and active initiatives
  • Recommendations for operating rhythm and near-term improvements
  • 90-day execution roadmap

Deliverables

  • Operations diagnostic summary
  • Bottleneck and risk assessment
  • Priority map
  • Ownership / accountability recommendations
  • Meeting cadence recommendations
  • 90-day roadmap
  • Recommended next-step implementation plan

Best fit

  • You know operations are messy, but aren't sure where to start
  • You need an outside operator to identify what is actually slowing the team down
  • You want a clear roadmap before committing to a larger engagement
Best Starting Point

Silver

90-Day Fractional COO Sprint

Starting at$6,500/mo

Typical timeline: 90 days

For teams that need hands-on operating support to stabilize execution and build momentum.

Schedule a Fit Call

What it includes

  • Everything in Bronze
  • Weekly operating cadence with leadership or workstream owners
  • Priority tracking and accountability management
  • Workflow and process improvement
  • Meeting structure and agenda design
  • KPI / reporting rhythm development
  • Tool and system recommendations
  • Cross-functional coordination across key initiatives
  • Support for team handoffs, ownership, and follow-through

Deliverables

  • 90-day operating plan
  • Weekly priority tracker
  • Meeting cadence and agenda structure
  • KPI / reporting dashboard or scorecard
  • Workflow improvement recommendations
  • Ownership map
  • Issue / decision log
  • End-of-sprint recommendations

Best fit

  • You need more than advice, you need someone helping drive execution
  • The team has too many priorities and not enough operating discipline
  • You want to test fractional COO support before a longer retainer
Best for Ongoing Support

Gold

Embedded Fractional COO Partner

Starting at$10,000/mo

Typical timeline: Monthly retainer (3-month minimum)

For teams that need ongoing senior operations leadership without hiring a full-time COO.

Schedule a Fit Call

What it includes

  • Everything in Silver
  • Ongoing fractional COO support and operating cadence ownership
  • Leadership meeting facilitation
  • Cross-functional initiative management
  • Team accountability and follow-through
  • Workflow, systems, and process optimization
  • Hiring, role clarity, or resource planning support where applicable
  • Vendor, partner, or internal team coordination
  • Monthly leadership reporting and continuous improvement roadmap

Deliverables

  • Operating rhythm management
  • Monthly executive priorities and scorecard
  • Leadership meeting structure
  • Cross-functional execution plan
  • KPI / reporting cadence
  • Process improvement roadmap
  • Decision and issue tracking
  • Team ownership model
  • Monthly operating summary & continuous improvement backlog

Best fit

  • You need a senior operator embedded in the business
  • The founder or executive team needs to get out of day-to-day coordination
  • You want an ongoing partner to help run the operating system of the business

Buyer questions

How much does HRE's fractional COO support cost?

Our diagnostic and 90-day roadmap starts at $2,500. The 90-day Fractional COO Sprint starts at $6,500 per month, and the Embedded Fractional COO Partner starts at $10,000 per month with a three-month minimum. We scope the level of involvement around the operating priorities, leadership access, and execution support the business needs.

Compare packages

What is included at each tier.

Feature / DeliverableBronzeSilverGold
Operations diagnostic
Leadership discovery
Workflow review
Ownership mapping
90-day roadmap
Weekly operating cadence
Priority tracking
KPI / reporting rhythm
Meeting structure
Process improvement
Cross-functional coordination
Leadership meeting support
Monthly reporting
Ongoing execution support
Continuous improvement backlog

What fractional COO work can look like

What fractional COO engagements look like in practice.

Founder Bottleneck Relief

For founders who are still approving, coordinating, and tracking too much themselves.

Operating Cadence Buildout

For teams that need better weekly priorities, meeting structure, decision tracking, and follow-through.

Workflow & Ownership Cleanup

For teams with unclear roles, duplicated work, handoff issues, or inconsistent delivery.

Scaling Support

For businesses adding clients, services, staff, or systems without enough operational structure.

Execution Across Initiatives

For leadership teams that need someone to keep multiple projects moving without losing visibility.

Buyer questions

What makes HRE's fractional COO support different from advisory consulting?

We stay involved in turning the agreed priorities into operating routines and follow-through. Our work connects leadership decisions to named owners, usable systems, and the capacity to deliver. That can mean helping a manager improve a recurring process as well as helping the founder assess the next growth initiative. The scope defines what we lead and what your team owns.

Systems we commonly build

The systems that keep running after we leave.

Fractional COO support is more than advice. We build the systems that make execution visible, repeatable, and less dependent on any one person.

PMO

Project and operations management with owners and status.

Executive dashboards

Leadership visibility into workload, risk, and delivery.

CRM

Contacts, pipeline, and follow-up in one shared system.

KPI reporting

The metrics leadership needs, tracked and reported.

Onboarding

Repeatable, role-based onboarding and offboarding.

SOP library

Documentation connected to daily execution.

Decision logs

A record of decisions, owners, and rationale.

Meeting cadence

A rhythm of reviews that keeps the team aligned.

Operating rhythm

The recurring cadence that keeps execution on track.

How we work

A phased operating model, not just advice.

We assess the operating reality, define priorities and ownership, install the rhythm, then drive execution and continuous improvement.

Phase 1

Assess the Operating Reality

Review priorities, meetings, workflows, systems, reporting, and ownership to find what's actually slowing the team down.

Phase 2

Define Priorities & Ownership

Establish the operating cadence, priority tracker, ownership model, meeting structure, and reporting rhythm.

Phase 3

Install the Operating Rhythm

Stand up the weekly cadence, accountability, and follow-through so execution becomes consistent and visible.

Phase 4

Drive Execution & Improve

Manage priorities, track issues, improve handoffs, and create leadership visibility, then continuously refine.

Buyer questions

How much of my time will this require, and how available will HRE be?

Expect a weekly operating review plus time for decisions and escalations; we agree on participation, meetings, and access before the engagement starts. You will need to make time for priorities, decisions, and escalations; our involvement depends on the package and scope. We define the working cadence and expectations so both sides know how operating reviews, follow-up, and time-sensitive issues will be handled.

The first 30 days

What an engagement looks like out of the gate.

Days 1–10

Diagnose

Review priorities, meetings, workflows, systems, reporting, and ownership.

Days 11–20

Structure

Define operating cadence, priority tracker, ownership model, meeting structure, and reporting rhythm.

Days 21–30

Execute

Begin managing priorities, tracking issues, improving handoffs, and creating visibility for leadership.

Buyer questions

What happens during the first 30 days of a fractional COO engagement?

We begin by identifying where execution breaks down, then establish priorities, owners, and a working review cadence. The early work typically examines recurring decisions, stalled initiatives, management meetings, and reporting gaps. By the end of that initial period, the team should have a clearer way to surface blockers and follow through, with specific deliverables agreed in the scope.

Optional add-ons

Targeted sprints to extend the engagement.

Workflow / PM Tool Buildout

from $3,500

For teams that need their operating cadence implemented inside ClickUp, Asana, Monday, Smartsheet, Notion, or another tool.

SOP Cleanup Sprint

from $2,000

For teams that need outdated or inconsistent processes simplified and turned into usable workflows.

Dashboard & Reporting Buildout

from $1,500

For teams that need leadership visibility into priorities, workload, KPIs, blockers, or project health.

Hiring / Role Clarity Support

from $2,500

For teams that need help clarifying roles, responsibilities, onboarding structure, or operating gaps before hiring.

Meeting Reset Sprint

from $1,500

For teams with too many meetings, unclear agendas, weak follow-through, or poor decision tracking.

What you'll receive

What you'll have in place.

The operating artifacts and systems you keep, whether the engagement is a sprint or an ongoing partnership.

Operating cadence and meeting rhythm

Priorities and accountability system

Executive and manager dashboards

KPI and reporting framework

Documented SOPs and workflows

Role and responsibility clarity

90-day operating roadmap

Leadership handoff and coaching

Buyer questions

How do we know whether fractional COO support is making a difference?

We agree on measures tied to the problems you hired us to address. These could include fewer decisions waiting on the founder, more reliable priority completion, shorter handoff delays, or consistent leadership reporting. The scorecard should show whether execution is improving and where intervention is needed, rather than simply recording meetings held or documents created.

Related service lines

Need a project-based build instead?

Fractional COO support is ongoing operating leadership. For a one-time systems build, explore our operations buildouts.

Operations System Buildouts

Fixed-scope Bronze, Silver, and Gold workflow, SOP, and tool implementation across ClickUp, Monday, Asana, Notion, and more.

View buildout pricing

Download the Fractional COO Engagement Guide

A sample operating plan covering what fractional COO support is, the Bronze/Silver/Gold packages, a sample 90-day engagement model, the first 30 days, common workstreams, and a fit checklist.

A note on pricing

Pricing shown represents typical starting points. Final scope depends on team size, operating complexity, number of active initiatives, meeting cadence, systems involved, reporting needs, and the level of hands-on execution required. Each engagement is scoped with clear priorities, milestones, and expectations before work begins.

Questions

Common questions about fractional COO support.

What does a typical 90-day engagement look like?

We diagnose the operating reality, define priorities and ownership, install the weekly rhythm and reporting structure, then drive execution and refinement. Deliverables include a 90-day plan, priority tracker, meeting cadence, KPI scorecard, ownership map, and end-of-sprint recommendations.

Do you replace our internal leadership?

No. We work alongside your leadership team to create clarity, distribute ownership, and build execution discipline. The goal is to make your team more capable, not to create dependency on us.

What if we only need help with one area?

We can scope targeted support for specific areas like meeting reset, workflow cleanup, dashboard buildout, or role clarity. These are often handled as add-on sprints or scoped into a Silver engagement.

Can you help us grow without immediately hiring a full-time COO?

Yes. Fractional support can help clarify what the business needs from operations leadership while improving execution now. We can connect growth plans to role ownership, workforce needs, delivery capacity, and process improvements. If the workload later warrants a full-time role, the operating structure gives you a clearer basis for defining that hire.

Can you work with our current tools, or do we have to move everything to ClickUp?

We can work with your existing tools when they support the operating model. The first question is whether people can see priorities, own commitments, and report reliably. A tool change may help, but it brings migration and training work. We recommend it when the operational benefit justifies the effort, with implementation scoped explicitly.

Let's see if we're a fit.

Start with a Fit Call to align on priorities, operating challenges, and the right level of fractional COO support for your team.

Schedule a Fit Call

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Testimonials

Operators and executives who've worked with Harry.

Leadership and execution feedback from clients and program teams.

Named endorsements are published with permission and linked where available. All others are anonymized.

Harry connected innovation to impact. He made AI real for leadership, turning proof-of-concept into production and skepticism into demand. In a time when vendors are promising their customers that AI will solve all their problems, Harry created realistic and contextualized examples of AI solutions and presented them flawlessly with an executive presence that established trust and credibility.
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Justin O'Neill

Executive Program Director, LMI

AI implementation leadership
Harry is simply one of the best program managers and leaders I've had the opportunity to work with. In all of his work, it immediately becomes evident just how much he cares about the people on his teams and the products that he delivers to clients. He does not avoid the hard problems, he seeks them out and addresses them head-on.
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Mark Mellott

President, VOSB/HUBZone government consulting & healthcare-focused company, Mellott & Associates

Program & delivery leadership
Working with Harry has been a major value-add. He's extremely knowledgeable, understands how the process really works, and moves fast while providing thoughtful, objective feedback. Without Harry's involvement, we'd likely be months behind. His support realistically saved us two to three months of effort.

Blake

Owner/Operator, Florida-based SDVOSB business

GovCon proposal support

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