---

name: business-ops description: "Business operations: strategy, technology, growth, competitive intelligence, support, finance, HR, legal, operations, sales, productivity, product management." user-invocable: false allowed-tools:

• Read
• Write
• Bash
• Grep
• Glob
• Edit routing: triggers:
  • "business strategy"
  • "build vs buy"
  • "vendor evaluation"
  • "competitive analysis"
  • "market landscape"
  • "brand strategy"
  • "pricing strategy"
  • "hiring plan"
  • "team structure"
  • "budget allocation"
  • "revenue model"
  • "go to market"
  • "product roadmap strategy"
  • "investor pitch"
  • "partnership evaluation"
  • "operational efficiency"
  • "customer acquisition cost"
  • "unit economics"
  • "business model"
  • "market fit" not_for: "micro library choices (use decision-helper), writing content, SEO of specific posts, or tactical marketing competitive analysis (use marketing) — this is executive strategy, not campaign execution. Code security audits, vulnerability scanning, or auth-flow reviews (use security) — only financial/accounting audit and SOX compliance. Code performance review (use reviewer-code) — this covers people performance reviews and HR operations. Software task specs, requirements, or plan-lifecycle management (use planning) — this skill prioritizes and tracks work, not specs. UX design methodology, wireframes, or accessibility audits (use design) — this handles product strategy, roadmaps, user research for feature prioritization." complexity: Medium category: decision-support pairs_with:
  • content
  • data

---

Business Operations

Thirteen modes covering executive strategy through daily productivity. Classify the request into one mode, load its reference, follow that reference's framework.

Mode Detection

| Mode | Signal | Framework | |------|--------|-----------| | STRATEGY | Market entry, partnerships, resource allocation, "should we" | FRAME -> ANALYZE -> DECIDE | | TECHNOLOGY | Build vs buy, vendor, SaaS, tech stack | TCO analysis -> Vendor scoring -> Decision | | GROWTH | Audience, SEO, brand, community, channel | Segment -> Channel-score -> Plan | | COMPETITIVE | Competitor, market landscape, differentiation | Map landscape -> Position -> Track | | EVALUATION | Feasibility, ROI, go/no-go, effort estimate | Feasibility score -> ROI model -> Verdict | | SUPPORT | Ticket triage, response, KB article, escalation | TRIAGE/RESPOND/KB/ESCALATE/RESEARCH | | FINANCE | Journal entry, reconciliation, variance, SOX | CLASSIFY -> GATHER -> PRODUCE -> VERIFY | | HR | Recruiting, performance review, compensation, hiring | DEFINE -> PIPELINE/EVALUATE -> DOCUMENT | | LEGAL | Contract review, compliance, NDA, DSGVO, GoBD | INTAKE -> ANALYZE -> FLAG -> OUTPUT | | OPERATIONS | Runbook, process docs, risk, vendor, change mgmt | SCOPE -> AUTHOR/ASSESS -> VERIFY | | SALES | Call prep, pipeline, outreach, forecast | RESEARCH -> PREPARE/ANALYZE -> OUTPUT | | PRODUCTIVITY | Task management, daily plan, meeting, standup | CAPTURE -> DECOMPOSE -> PRIORITIZE | | PRODUCT | Feature spec, PRD, roadmap, user research, metrics | UNDERSTAND -> GATHER -> GENERATE |

If the request spans modes, pick the primary. Note the secondary.

---

Shared Workflow

1. Classify the request into exactly one mode from the table.
2. Load the mode's reference file (see Deep References). Each reference contains full framework, sub-modes, phases, and deeper reference pointers.
3. Follow the reference's instructions. Do not improvise a framework when one exists.
4. Every mode's top-level reference also specifies an LLM failure-modes guardrail file. Load it alongside the main reference.

---

Executive Modes (STRATEGY, TECHNOLOGY, GROWTH, COMPETITIVE, EVALUATION)

Load references/csuite.md for the full C-suite framework. All five modes share the same 3-phase pattern:

Phase 1: FRAME -- Convert the question into a structured decision. Name the actual decision (users present symptoms; the real decision is broader). Identify irreversibility. Set time horizon. List 2-4 options. State what makes it hard.

Phase 2: ANALYZE -- Per option: upside (best realistic + expected), downside (worst realistic + recovery + irreversible losses), requirements, opportunity cost. Separate facts from assumptions. Quantify.

Phase 3: DECIDE -- Score options via weighted criteria. Present verdict with driving factors, risk mitigations, and reversibility assessment. Load mode-specific deep references for scoring matrices.

---

Support Mode

Load references/customer-support.md. Five sub-modes: TRIAGE (classify ticket, assign priority P1-P4, route), RESPOND (draft calibrated reply with tone matching emotional state), KB (convert resolution into publish-ready article), ESCALATE (build structured brief with impact assessment), RESEARCH (investigate history with confidence scoring).

Key guardrail: never fabricate ticket history, resolution steps, or customer quotes.

---

Finance Mode

Load references/finance.md. Six sub-modes: JOURNAL ENTRY, RECONCILIATION, VARIANCE, STATEMENTS, AUDIT/SOX, CLOSE. All output is working material for qualified professionals -- not financial advice.

Key guardrails: never fabricate account codes, balances, or transaction details. Source all numbers from user-provided data. Always state GAAP/IFRS basis.

---

HR Mode

Load references/hr.md. Nine sub-modes: RECRUITING, PERFORMANCE, COMPENSATION, OFFER, INTERVIEW, ONBOARDING, ORG-PLANNING, PEOPLE-ANALYTICS, POLICY.

Key guardrails: source compensation data from user-provided or public databases. Focus on skills, behaviors, outcomes -- not demographics. Include legal review disclaimer on binding language. Ask for jurisdiction before compliance advice. Minimize PII retention.

---

Legal Mode

Load references/legal.md. Six sub-modes: CONTRACT (clause-by-clause GREEN/YELLOW/RED analysis), COMPLIANCE (regulation checklist with German compliance for DSGVO/GoBD/TDDDG), NDA (triage classification), RISK (severity x likelihood matrix), WRITING (structured legal documents), VENDOR (agreement inventory and gap analysis).

Key guardrail: analysis support only, not legal advice. All binding language needs qualified counsel review. Load references/legal/german-business-compliance.md for German-specific regulation.

---

Operations Mode

Load references/operations.md. Nine sub-modes: RUNBOOK, RISK, VENDOR, PROCESS, CHANGE, CAPACITY, COMPLIANCE, STATUS, OPTIMIZE.

Key patterns: RUNBOOK uses SCOPE -> AUTHOR -> VERIFY with prerequisite checklists. RISK produces severity x likelihood matrices. CHANGE follows RFC -> REVIEW -> IMPLEMENT -> VERIFY. All operations docs require rollback procedures.

---

Sales Mode

Load references/sales.md. Seven sub-modes: CALL-PREP, PIPELINE, OUTREACH, COMPETITIVE, FORECAST, CALL-SUMMARY, RESEARCH.

Key patterns: CALL-PREP researches prospect then builds agenda with questions. PIPELINE applies health scoring and flags stale deals. OUTREACH personalizes from research (never generic templates). FORECAST uses weighted probability with scenario analysis.

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Productivity Mode

Load references/productivity.md. Six sub-modes: TASK (decompose and prioritize), PLAN (daily/weekly time blocks), MEETING (optimize or eliminate), STATUS (structured updates), REVIEW (weekly retrospective), GOAL (OKRs).

Key patterns: vertical slicing for task decomposition (shippable slices, not horizontal layers). 1/2/4-hour time buckets. Tasks over 4 hours need decomposition.

---

Product Mode

Load references/product-management.md. Eight sub-modes: SPEC (PRD with acceptance criteria), ROADMAP (Now/Next/Later prioritization), STAKEHOLDER (structured updates), RESEARCH (synthesis with thematic analysis), COMPETITIVE (battle cards), METRICS (funnel/cohort/retention analysis), SPRINT (backlog grooming with capacity), BRAINSTORM (Socratic exploration).

---

Error Handling

| Error | Response | |-------|----------| | Too many options (5+) | Eliminate obviously inferior first. Get to 2-4. | | Not enough information | Identify 2-3 critical unknowns. Recommend research sprint. | | Analysis paralysis | Reversibility test. If reversible, recommend best option with checkpoint. | | Emotional attachment | Name the pattern. Ask: stress-test, or genuinely evaluate? |

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Deep References

All references contain >100 lines of domain-specific frameworks, templates, and guardrails. Load on demand per mode.

| Mode | Primary | Sub-references | |------|---------|----------------| | STRATEGY | references/csuite.md | references/strategic-frameworks.md, references/decision-matrices.md | | TECHNOLOGY | references/csuite.md | references/tco-framework.md, references/vendor-evaluation.md | | GROWTH | references/csuite.md | references/audience-segmentation.md, references/channel-evaluation.md | | COMPETITIVE | references/csuite.md | references/competitive-mapping.md, references/market-positioning.md | | EVALUATION | references/csuite.md | references/feasibility-scoring.md, references/roi-frameworks.md | | SUPPORT | references/customer-support.md | references/customer-support/*.md | | FINANCE | references/finance.md | references/finance/*.md | | HR | references/hr.md | references/hr/*.md | | LEGAL | references/legal.md | references/legal/*.md | | OPERATIONS | references/operations.md | references/operations/*.md | | SALES | references/sales.md | references/sales/*.md | | PRODUCTIVITY | references/productivity.md | references/productivity/*.md | | PRODUCT | references/product-management.md | references/product-management/*.md | | Cross-cutting | references/content-funnel.md, references/trend-analysis.md, references/risk-assessment.md, references/estimation-techniques.md, references/migration-planning.md | Shared frameworks |