Fractional COO or a chief of staff?
The short answer: a fractional COO brings the judgement for part of a week; a chief of staff brings something different that is often confused with it. Here is what each one actually owns, what they cost on the same basis, and when to pick the other one.
What a chief of staff actually is
A full-time hire attached to the chief executive, carrying whatever the chief executive cannot carry this quarter.
What each one owns
| A fractional COO | A chief of staff |
|---|---|
| How the company actually runs: process, planning, accountability | Whatever the chief executive needs carried this week |
| The operating rhythm, and whether anybody keeps to it | Making meetings, decisions and follow-up actually happen |
| Fixing the function that is breaking, with authority to change it | Being the connective tissue between functions |
| Hiring and structuring the operations team properly | Proximity: in every room, every day, hearing everything |
What neither of them does
Neither owns a function's numbers. If sales are not landing or the product is late, that is a sales or a product problem, and putting an operations seat over it hides the issue rather than fixing it.
How each one fails
The fractional COO: Being hired to fix the chief executive's diary rather than the operating model, which is an expensive way to buy an assistant.
A chief of staff: Asking a chief of staff to restructure a function they have no authority over, which usually ends with a good person leaving.
What they cost, on the same basis
A fractional COO charges £700 to £1,300 a day, and most engagements run one to three days a week. A full-time salary, usually below an operations seat, plus the employer costs and the recruitment fee. The monthly and annual arithmetic for the fractional side, against a full-time equivalent, is on the cost page for this seat.
Pick a chief of staff when
- The problem is the chief executive's capacity rather than the company's structure
- You need somebody in the building continuously, hearing everything
- The work is coordination across functions rather than rebuilding one
We would rather say that plainly than win an engagement that was the wrong shape. Nobody pays us to list on the bench, so there is nothing in it for us either way.
When you want both
They sit well together. A fractional COO rebuilds how the company runs, and a chief of staff keeps it running between those sessions.
Common questions
Is a fractional COO cheaper than a chief of staff?
On a like-for-like basis it usually is, because you buy the days you need rather than all of them. A fractional COO runs £700 to £1,300 a day, most often one to three days a week. A full-time salary, usually below an operations seat, plus the employer costs and the recruitment fee. But cheaper is the wrong question if the work genuinely needs the other one.
When should I pick a chief of staff instead?
The problem is the chief executive's capacity rather than the company's structure You need somebody in the building continuously, hearing everything The work is coordination across functions rather than rebuilding one
Can I have both?
They sit well together. A fractional COO rebuilds how the company runs, and a chief of staff keeps it running between those sessions.