30-60-90 day plan for COOs

A 30-60-90 day plan for a new COO should start by agreeing decision rights with the CEO, then build the KPI tree and the operating cadence that connect the company's targets to each function, and finish at day 90 with one measured cross-functional improvement and a draft of the operating plan prepared with the CFO. The COO is judged on how the functions work together rather than on any one site's numbers, so the plan is about the operating system of the company: which meetings run, which metrics they use, and who decides what.

This plan is for a CEO or board hiring a chief operating officer. For a manager running one site or function, see the 30-60-90 day plan for operations managers; for the listening tour every executive runs, see the 30-60-90 day plan for executives.

Which kind of COO is this hire?

"COO" covers several different jobs. Settle which one this is before the start date, because the first 90 days look different for each.

The 30-60-90 day plan

30-60-90 day plan — [Name], Chief Operating Officer, [company]
Reports to: [CEO]    Start date: [date]
Functions reporting to the COO: [operations, supply chain,
  customer service, HR, IT, other]
Sites: [N]    Headcount in COO functions: [N]
Operating plan cycle: [fiscal year, budget due to board on date]

DAYS 1-30 — Agree the mandate; learn how the company runs
Goals:
- Write a decision-rights page with the CEO: what the COO decides
  alone, decides with the CEO, or recommends
- One-to-one with every leader in COO functions and with peers
  (CFO, sales, product); visit the main sites and listen in on
  customer service
- Trace two processes that cross departments end to end, such as
  order-to-cash and customer issue to resolution
- Build a KPI tree: company targets down to the measures each
  function controls, with data sources
- List every regulatory and contract deadline the COO functions
  carry in the next two quarters
Deliverables by day 30:
- Decision-rights page agreed with the CEO
- KPI tree with a 12-month baseline; top cross-functional problems

DAYS 31-60 — Install the operating cadence
Goals:
- Start a weekly business review and a monthly operating review
  with fixed metrics, fixed dates and written decisions
- Choose one cross-functional problem; name an owner and a measure
- Review the operating plan assumptions with the CFO
- Assess each function leader: strengths, gaps, succession
Deliverables by day 60:
- Two review cycles run with decisions logged and followed up
- Improvement plan with a baseline, a target and a date

DAYS 61-90 — Deliver and plan
Goals:
- Deliver the first measured cross-functional improvement
- Draft the operating plan for the COO functions with the CFO:
  volume, capacity, headcount, cost, capital
- Propose leadership changes, if any, with the evidence
Deliverables by day 90:
- One improvement measured against the day-30 baseline
- Operating plan draft reviewed by the CEO and CFO

Check-ins: weekly with the CEO; day 30, 60 and 90 reviews.

How should a new COO build the operating cadence?

The cadence is the COO's main tool: it decides which problems get attention and how fast decisions move. A common shape, adjusted to the company's size:

Keep the decision log in writing. A cadence where the same issue appears every week with no recorded decision is a sign the meetings are reporting, not running, the business.

Which legal sign-offs and notices can land on a COO?

Two federal rules commonly reach the COO's desk at companies with physical operations, checked as of October 2026:

• OSHA annual summary certification. Where an establishment must keep OSHA injury and illness records, 29 CFR 1904.32 requires a company executive to certify the annual summary after reviewing the OSHA 300 Log. A company executive includes an officer of the corporation, the highest ranking official at the establishment, or that person's immediate supervisor, and the summary must be posted from February 1 to April 30. A COO is often the officer who signs, so the safety data behind it belongs in the day-30 baseline.
• WARN Act notice. The federal WARN Act regulations at 20 CFR Part 639 require employers with 100 or more employees (counted as the rule defines) to give 60 calendar days' notice of plant closings and mass layoffs. Footprint and consolidation decisions in the day-90 operating plan need this timeline built in; the Department of Labor's WARN page links the federal rules. Some states set stricter rules: New York's WARN Act, for example, applies to private businesses with 50 or more full-time employees in the state and requires 90 days' notice.

Industry rules, such as food safety, transportation or environmental permits, add their own deadlines. Confirm them with counsel and the compliance or safety lead; this is not legal advice.

Which measures should a new COO baseline?

Baseline the measures that sit under the company's targets in the KPI tree. The standards below are examples only.

What does "on track" look like at day 30, 60 and 90?

A filled example

How should a CEO use this plan in the final interview?

Give COO finalists the same brief: which functions the role owns, the company's targets, the sites, and one known cross-functional problem. The guide on how to evaluate a 30-60-90 day plan in an interview explains the brief and the rubric. A strong COO plan asks about decision rights first, spends time where the work happens, and commits to one measured improvement rather than a program of initiatives. Questions that test it:

• "Where would you and I most likely disagree about who decides?"
• "Which meeting would you cancel first, and what would replace it?"
• "Sales and operations blame each other for late deliveries. What do you do in your first month?"
• "Walk me through how you would build next year's capacity plan with our CFO."

The interview guide for operations roles covers the rest of the loop.

What should the CEO ask at the 30, 60 and 90-day check-ins?

• Day 30: Which decision did I make this month that should have been yours? Which function leader worries you?
• Day 60: Which decision from the reviews has not been carried out, and why? What is the improvement worth if it works?
• Day 90: What would you stop doing next year? What do you need from me to deliver the operating plan?

What the CEO owes a new COO

• Written decision rights, and the discipline to send decisions back to the COO once agreed.
• An explicit statement to the leadership team about what now goes through the COO.
• A shared view with the CFO of the operating plan numbers and who owns them.
• Honesty about the role's future: whether it is a successor role or a permanent number two.

Common mistakes

• Unclear decision rights. Leaders keep going to the CEO, and the COO ends up as a messenger.
• Too many initiatives. None gets measured; the function leaders cannot tell which ones matter.
• Running the company from dashboards. Cross-functional problems show up in handoffs that reports rarely show.
• Treating finance as a later partner. An operating plan the CFO has not shaped will not survive the budget.

Adapting the plan

• Manufacturing and distribution: add plant and warehouse visits in week one and use the plant manager plan as a guide to site-level baselines.
• Software or services company: the "sites" are customer onboarding, support and delivery teams; trace a customer from signed contract to live service.
• COO who also owns finance or technology: combine this plan with the CFO plan or the CIO plan, and agree which areas wait.

The general structure for any role is in the 30-60-90 day plan template for new hires.