Decoding the BizOps Skillset: Beyond Spreadsheets and Analytics

We’re Not Just Spreadsheet People

Let’s get one thing out of the way: BizOps is not just an army of spreadsheet jockeys and dashboard dwellers.

Sure, we live in data. But if that’s all we did, we’d be a glorified analytics team. The truth is, BizOps thrives in the gray zones. We walk into rooms where no one knows who’s in charge, figure out what needs to happen, and make it happen. And that requires a lot more than clean SQL.

What BizOps Actually Does

Our latest research paints a clear picture of what BizOps teams spend their time on. The top responsibilities, as ranked by practitioners themselves, reflect a role that straddles operations, strategy, and execution.

Here’s what leads the list:

• Process Optimization (73%): We find the friction, smooth it out, and build scalable systems. Whether it’s a bloated sales workflow or a chaotic onboarding process, we turn mess into machine.
  
  
• Project Management (64%): When a cross-functional initiative is stuck in limbo, we become the owner by default. We run point, align stakeholders, and drive outcomes.
  
  
• Strategic Planning (55%): BizOps often owns the quarterly planning cycles, leads OKR development, and ensures the company’s goals are more than just a PowerPoint slide.
  
  
• Internal Consulting (45%): We diagnose business problems, model scenarios, recommend solutions, and then help execute them.
  
  
• Analytics and Business Intelligence (45%): Of course, we still dive into the numbers. But dashboards are a means to an end, not the end itself.
  

These responsibilities aren’t arbitrary. They reflect the connective role we play, bringing clarity, structure, and motion to parts of the business that otherwise stall.

The Surprising Skills That Matter Most

If you think being great at BizOps means being great at VLOOKUPs, think again. When we asked teams to rank the skills that actually lead to success, one stood above the rest: Cross-functional Communication (82%).

Here’s the full rundown of what matters:

• Cross-functional Communication (82%)
  
  
• Project Management (64%)
  
  
• Process Design (45%)
  
  
• Internal Consulting (36%)
  
  
• Change Management (36%)
  
  
• General Spreadsheet Modeling (9%)
  
  
• Data Analysis (9%)
  
  
• SQL / Data Querying (9%)
  
  
• Financial Modeling (9%)
  
  
• Experiment Design (9%)
  

Yes, you read that right. Spreadsheet modeling and SQL skills each came in under 10 percent.

Why Soft Skills Win in the End

The reason soft skills dominate is simple: BizOps operates in ambiguity. We’re asked to lead cross-functional initiatives, unblock org-wide bottlenecks, and influence decisions without ever being the formal decision-maker.

As Dan Yoo put it, we often need “executive-level sponsorship from the top” because we lead by influence, not authority.

Or in the words of Danyelle Merino, VP of BizOps at ShiftMed:

“We own problems that lack a clear owner and are cross-functional. If you’ve ever left a meeting thinking ‘that was a waste of time,’ BizOps should be the team that solves that.”

To do that, we need to listen deeply, communicate clearly, and navigate politics without making it political.

Technical Skills Still Matter, Just Not the Way You Think

Now, let’s not throw out the dashboards with the bathwater. Technical chops like data analysis, financial modeling, and no-code automation are still essential. But here’s the catch: they’re table stakes.

Everyone assumes we can build the model. The question is, can we use it to drive alignment? Can we turn analysis into a decision, and that decision into action?

That’s where great BizOps teams separate from good ones.

The Modern Orchestrator

BizOps isn’t a team of lone wolves or spreadsheet wizards. It’s a team of translators, orchestrators, and problem-solvers. We connect people, processes, and technology, and we do it without waiting for permission.

In today’s fast-moving, data-deluged companies, that blend of soft and hard skills isn’t just useful. It’s indispensable.

If the business is an orchestra, BizOps is the conductor. And we’re just getting warmed up.

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