Fractional COO Services
A senior operating leader for part of the week, sometimes called a part-time or outsourced COO, without the cost of a full-time executive and with no long term contract. We fix how decisions get made, who owns what and how your people perform.
Most owners arrive at this point the same way.
The business has grown past what one person can run. Every decision still lands on your desk. Your managers are busy, but the business is not moving any faster. You need senior help, and a full-time chief operating officer is a large salary for a role you are not sure you need five days a week.
Fractional leadership
Built around what you are missing
Not every business needs the same gap filled. Some need a senior operator. Others need a whole function they cannot yet staff in house. You can start with one and add others as you grow.
Fractional COO
- A senior operating leader inside your business for part of the week.
- Best for owners who are still the bottleneck on daily decisions.
Fractional Leadership Executive
- Senior leadership for a specific gap, such as a department with no head.
- Shaped around the problem rather than a job title.
Fractional Talent Solutions Team
- Hiring support without building an in-house recruiting function.
- Draws on the Carbone Leadership executive recruitment practice.
Fractional Marketing Team
- A marketing function you can switch on without hiring a department.
- Available on its own or as part of a wider fractional engagement.
Fractional Billing Team
- Billing and accounts receivable handled for you.
- Keeps your team on clients rather than collections.
A fractional COO is often the best place to start, because part of the role is working out which of these functions needs support next.
What a fractional COO does for your business
Runs the operation
- Owns the operating plan: the few priorities that matter for the next 90 days, each with an owner.
- Sets the measures, so a problem surfaces in week two instead of at quarter end.
- Repairs the workflows that leak time, from hiring to reporting.
Develops your people
- Runs one leadership meeting where decisions get made and problems get owned.
- Defines who owns what, so work stops falling between people or landing back on you.
- Holds your managers accountable and coaches them through one-to-ones and honest feedback.
Our approach
We start with people, not processes.
Most providers of fractional COO services start with systems and processes. A business that is stuck is rarely short of a process. It is short of clear ownership, the right people in the right seats and leaders who make decisions without checking first. When the problem turns out to be structural, the work connects directly to our organizational development practice.
Fractional COO, interim executive or full-time hire
All three put a senior leader in your business. The difference is how much of their time you get, for how long, and what you pay for it.
| Fractional COO | Interim executive | Full-time hire | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time in your business | Part of the week, agreed up front | Full time | Full time |
| How long | Ongoing, reviewed regularly, no long term contract | A fixed period, often to cover a vacancy | Permanent |
| Cost model | An agreed monthly fee | A day rate or monthly fee for the period | Salary, bonus, benefits and equity |
| What they do | Build the operating rhythm and the team | Keep the business steady until a permanent hire starts | Run operations long term |
| Best when | You need senior leadership but not five days a week | A key leader has left suddenly | The business needs it every day and can carry the cost |
A fractional chief operating officer is also not a consultant. A consultant advises and leaves. A fractional COO sits inside your leadership team, makes decisions and owns the results.
Signs your business is ready
Fractional leadership fits owner-led businesses of roughly 10 to 200 employees that have a management layer in place but are not yet running it well. If two or three of these sound familiar, a conversation is worth having.
Decisions
- Every important decision still waits for you.
- You want to step back from daily operations, and nobody is ready to step in.
Structure
- Growth has outpaced the structure, and roles have blurred.
- Your managers work hard, but priorities change every week.
Leadership
- A key leader has left, and you are covering the gap yourself.
- You tried to hire a senior leader before and it did not work out.
Not every business needs a COO. If your team is smaller, or you mainly need someone to keep projects, schedules and people on track, a fractional operations manager may be the better fit, and it can grow into a fractional COO role later.
How it runs
How an engagement works
Every engagement runs in three phases, and you will know what the next one costs before it starts.
01
Discovery
Two to three weeks
We start with your people, using our behavioral alignment and leadership placement assessment to find where the friction sits.
02
Action plan
About a week
We come back with a plan you can see: the priorities that matter, who owns each one and how progress gets measured.
03
Implementation
30 to 90 days
Your fractional leader runs the rhythm and coaches your managers. When it holds, we hand it to your team or help you recruit a permanent leader.
What fractional COO services cost
We do not publish rates, because the right arrangement depends on your business. A ten person company that needs two days a month and a 150 person company rebuilding its whole leadership layer are not the same job. We quote you properly after a short conversation, free of charge.
Time
How many days a month your fractional leader spends in the business.
Scope
One leader, or a wider team such as talent, marketing or billing support.
Stage
Your team size and how much of the operating structure needs rebuilding.
There are no long term contracts. Engagements are reviewed as the business changes, and the time goes up or down with it.
Results we have delivered
We keep client relationships confidential. What we can share is where we have worked: Carbone Leadership has placed and developed leaders across hospitality, construction, healthcare, professional services, manufacturing and private enterprise. Owners come to us because the business has outgrown the way it is run, and leave with a leadership team that makes decisions without them.
Frequently asked questions
What do fractional COO services include?
A senior operating leader for part of the week. They own the operating plan, set the measures, run the leadership meeting, clarify who owns what and hold managers accountable. The aim is to take daily decisions off the owner's desk.
What does it cost?
We quote a monthly fee against an agreed number of days, and we do not publish a rate, because it depends on the days, the scope and the size of your business. A short consultation is free and ends with a figure.
Do you require a long term contract?
No. There are no long term contracts. Engagements are reviewed regularly and the time adjusts as the business changes.
How quickly will we see something change?
Discovery runs two to three weeks, the action plan takes about a week, and implementation runs 30 to 90 days depending on the outcomes you are after.
What size of business is this for?
Most of our fractional work is with owner-led businesses of roughly 10 to 200 employees that already have managers in place.
What is the difference between a fractional COO and an interim COO?
A fractional COO works part of the week on an ongoing basis. An interim COO works full time for a fixed period, usually covering a vacancy until a permanent hire starts.
Is a fractional COO the same as a consultant?
No. A consultant advises and then leaves. A fractional COO sits inside your leadership team, makes decisions and is accountable for results.
Is a fractional COO the same as a part-time or outsourced COO?
Yes. Part-time COO, outsourced COO and fractional COO all describe the same arrangement: a senior operating leader who works in your business for part of the week, on an ongoing basis, and owns the results. Fractional is simply the term most firms use now.
What happens when we need a full-time COO?
We help you hire one. Our recruitment practice runs the search, and your fractional COO helps define the role and hands the work to the new leader.
Do you only work with businesses in South Florida?
No. We are based in South Florida and work with businesses across the United States. Fractional leadership can be delivered on site, remotely or as a mix of both.
Ready to take daily decisions off your desk?
Tell us where the business is stuck, and we will tell you honestly whether fractional leadership is the right fit. If it is not, we will say so.