How to Succeed in Operations

Operations roles provide an oversight and guidance to the functions of a company. A watchful eye of sorts. This is a job that requires a few different aspects to one’s personality to do efficiently and successfully. Through my research into this job role, I have formed some opinions on what I think is necessary to perform well in this job. Here are five personality traits I believe to be important for anyone in an operations role.

1 - Leader Mentality

Because this job deals with the inner workings of a company. There’s a lot of interaction with other departments, and because one of their main responsibilities is making sure everything is running smoothly within the company and between different departments, leadership plays a big part in this job. In an operations role you have to be able to inspire others and bring everyone together over a common goal for your company. In order to do this, you need to be a good leader.

2 - Attention to Detail

In an interview with operations manager Michael Berndt, I asked him what it took to be successful in this role. The first thing he said to me was “You need a lot of attention to detail to properly oversee things”. In this job role you have a lot on your plate. There are many different things you constantly have to keep an eye on and each one of those things is important to the success of the company. Missing important details can result in improper execution of your responsibilities and be detrimental to the company. Therefore, it’s important to pay close attention to those details

3 - Creative Mindset

When asked what it takes to be successful at his job, Michael Berndt also said, “I also personally think you should have a “think outside of the box” mindset because you need to find creative ways to solve problems”. When problems arise in everyday functions of a company, an operations team has to be there to deal with them, and sometimes they have to think of new and creative ways to solve those issues. That’s why it’s important to have that creative mindset, and be able to think outside of the box.

4 - Multitasking Ability

With this job comes many responsibilities, many things you will be put in charge of, many things that all require a lot of attention at the same time. To be able to deal with everything being thrown your way, it’s important that you’re able to multitask, at least to some degree. This will help you stay on top of everything you need to without getting overwhelmed.

5 - Dedication

Just like any job out there, this one takes dedication to do things right. However, in some cases it can be a little more intense than others. During our interview, Mr. Berndt explained that he often finds himself working long hours that can cut into his personal life. With many challenges like this arising in the professional environment. It’s important to stay focused and dedicated to your work to succeed in your job.

There are many things that make a great operations worker, these five barely scratch the surface. However they can give you a good look on what it takes to do a good job and perform well in this role.

-Braden Schmidt 10/27/19