Use ChatGPT as Your Interim COO: A Practical Framework to Systemize Your Operations

In the early stages of a company, operational friction is common.

Team meetings often end without clear ownership.

Projects get delayed not because of bad ideas, but because no one is managing execution. And leaders—especially founders—find themselves stretched thin trying to hold it all together.

Hiring a Chief Operating Officer may seem like the next logical step.

But in many cases, the need isn’t for another full-time executive. It’s for clarity, systems, and structured delegation.

With the right approach, ChatGPT can help you build exactly that.

A Systems-First Approach to Operations

Rather than defaulting to more hires or additional tools, consider this:

1. Start by feeding ChatGPT the operational data you already have:

• Weekly meeting transcripts
• Notion docs and project notes
• Slack exports or internal summaries

2. Then prompt it with:

Summarize this weekly ops meeting. What recurring issues are slowing us down, and how can we automate or delegate them?

This simple workflow can reveal deep operational insights often missed in the day-to-day grind.

What ChatGPT Will Do for You

Treat ChatGPT like an interim executive—fast, impartial, and consistently structured. Here’s what it can deliver:

1. Identify Bottlenecks

ChatGPT will analyze your meeting notes or team activity logs to surface:

• Recurring issues
• Missed handoffs
• Delays caused by unclear ownership

2. Create or Improve SOPs

If your team is repeating tasks without clear documentation, ChatGPT can turn meeting patterns, Slack threads, or informal processes into formalized, step-by-step SOPs.

These can then be reviewed, tested, and implemented across your team.

3. Recommend Delegation Flows

Based on who is mentioned in your meeting notes or project updates, ChatGPT can recommend:

• Logical owners for recurring responsibilities
• Tasks that can be shifted or automated
• Areas where decision rights are unclear or overlapping

Make It Smarter Over Time

The more context you provide, the more precise the insights become.

Consider uploading:

• Role descriptions and org charts
• Company operating principles
• Retrospectives or post-mortems
• Internal onboarding materials

With this background, ChatGPT can synthesize not just task-level issues but also broader patterns across your company’s operations.

Additional Prompts to Guide Strategy

Use these prompts to refine specific workflows:

• Review our last three retrospectives. What recurring themes suggest process gaps or team inefficiencies?
• Here’s our current onboarding doc. How can we improve it for clarity and efficiency?
• Based on this sprint retro, what recurring themes should we address with automation?
• Review these team conversations and suggest clearer workflows.

When to Use This Method

This approach is especially useful if:

• You’re experiencing early signs of operational debt.
• You want to reduce decision-making overhead.
• Your team is growing and roles are becoming unclear.
• You’re not ready to bring on an operations hire but need structure now.

Free Resource: The ChatGPT Operations Prompt Library

Want a fully built prompt library to implement this system for your team?

Download the free Notion template here:

Access the Operations Prompt Library →

(Free version, ready to duplicate directly into your Notion workspace)

Final Thought

The best operations leaders bring clarity, consistency, and accountability.

Those qualities don’t need to wait for a full-time hire.

With the right systems and a structured use of AI, you can begin creating them today.

Start with what you already have: your notes, your processes, and your team’s communication.

Then use ChatGPT as an analytical and organizational partner to elevate how your company operates.