What I Look at Every Week as a COO in a Project-Based Business
Strategy matters.
But rhythm is built weekly.
Here’s what I review — every single week — to prevent volatility from becoming chaos.
1. Capacity vs Committed Work
I don’t ask:
“How busy are we?”
I ask:
“Are we over- or under-covered for the next 8 weeks?”
I review:
- Staff utilisation %
- Contractor dependency %
- Leave impact
- Project overlap peaks
- Idle capacity risk
If utilisation spikes above sustainable levels, quality drops next.
If it drops too low, margin evaporates.
Balance is engineered.
2. Forecast vs Actual (Relentlessly)
Every live project must show:
- Original margin
- Revised forecast margin
- Actual cost to date
- Forecast cost to complete
- Revenue recognised vs billed
No surprises at project close.
If margin moves, I want to know the week it moves — not the month after.
3. Variation Velocity
Unapproved variations are silent margin killers.
Each week I ask:
- How many variations are raised?
- How many are approved?
- How many are sitting?
- What’s the dollar exposure?
Speed of commercial closure protects cash.
4. WIP & Billing Discipline
Cash lags when billing lags.
I review:
- Work completed but not invoiced
- Invoices raised but not certified
- Certified but unpaid
- Average days to certification
If billing slips by 30 days, your working capital gap expands materially.
Operations owns billing rhythm — not just finance.
5. Procurement Lead Times
Material delays cause:
- Programme extensions
- Overtime
- Liquidated damages risk
I track:
- Long lead items
- Supplier risk exposure
- Price volatility
- Purchase order timing vs cash curve
Procurement timing must align with billing timing.
6. Team Energy & Burn Rate
COOs who ignore human energy create turnover.
Each week I assess:
- Overtime creep
- Rework rates
- Safety indicators
- Supervisor capacity
- Cultural tension points
Operational stress is visible early — if you look.
7. Sales → Ops Alignment
The biggest breakdown I see in project businesses?
Sales thinking in quarters.
Operations thinking in weeks.
If cadence is misaligned:
- Projects launch without capacity
- Margins are assumed not modelled
- Timelines are optimistic not engineered
Every pipeline review must include:
- Resource modelling
- Cash curve preview
- Margin stress test
Before signature.
The COO Bottom Line
Project businesses don’t need more hustle.
They need:
- Predictable cadence
- Disciplined forecasting
- Structured commercial governance
- Real-time operational visibility
Stability is not luck.
It is engineered rhythm.
And that’s the COO’s job.