Building Human Relations: How an Operations Manager works in 2026

The Human Connection Operations Manager foster

In the late twentieth century, psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan defined crucial principles for human motivation. In their self-determination theory they argued that people thrive when three basic psychological needs are met: autonomy, competence and relatedness. That last need — relatedness — is fundamental at work. In short: Humans perform best and grow when they feel genuinely connected to others and as part of something larger than themselves.

Fast‑forward to 2026. Walk into any manufacturing plant, logistics hub or retail warehouse and you will see that idea come to life on the shop floor. There, the operations manager stands at the centre of a living web of relatedness, linking frontline workers tightening a valve on the night shift with the executive reviewing quarterly targets three time zones away. If that link disappeared, communication would splinter, safety would wobble, and efficiency would grind down like a well‑oiled machine slowly seizing up for lack of care.

Today, as organisations stretch across multiple sites and continents, the relationship between an operations manager and the people they serve has never been more critical or more human. Gallup's State of the Global Workplace report confirms why: around 70% of the variance in team engagement is directly shaped by the manager, yet global engagement has dropped to just 21%. This makes it an operations manager's defining task to close that gap. By building trust and everyday connection, they become the key role that empowers frontline workers to succeed and, in turn, company's to progress. So how does a modern operations manager best facilitate the longevity of their business?

This article explores the daily operations of the people who keep business moving, why the role matters more than ever, and how modern digital tools like Flip are redefining what is possible as they point to the potential of digital communication and the future of efficient managements.

What Is Operations Management — Essential Skills For Driving Efficiency

Operations management is the discipline of designing, overseeing, and rethinking the processes that turn raw inputs into finished goods and services. The operations manager sits at the heart of this modern discipline, orchestrating people, processes, and technology to keep operations running safely and efficiently across sites and shifts. As a holistic observer of multiple processes the job comes with a deceptively simple question: How do we deliver the right thing, at the right time, at the right cost, without compromising safety or quality?

In European and UK manufacturing, logistics, and retail, these leaders work closely with frontline workers to secure seamless operations, balance production targets, quality, compliance, and costs while responding to real-time issues on the shop floor. Their multifaceted responsibilities range from workforce planning and resource allocation to continuous improvement and data-driven decision-making.

Operations managers in manufacturing handle physical inventory while service managers coordinate the capacity to meet real-time demand. Therefore, successful operations managers require a mixture of technical expertise and soft skills such as leadership, communication skills, as well as financial acumen.

A Day in the Life of an Operations Manager

Discover how Flip empowers different roles across your organisation — from communications to HR to operations here.

Before Dawn: Setting the Stage for Business Operations

The day of an operations manager begins early. Before most office workers have reached for their first sip of coffee, the manager is already reviewing overnight performance data, scanning incident logs, and checking staffing levels across sites. As the daily operations and production processes of manufacturing companies do not pause for bank holidays or time zones, neither does the person responsible for them.

A typical morning might include:

- Reviewing production output against targets and flagging deviations.

- Checking maintenance schedules to ensure critical equipment is serviced on time.

- Confirming that shift handovers have been completed cleanly, with no open safety items.

- Scanning supply-chain updates for potential disruptions, such as late deliveries, raw-material shortages, or logistics bottlenecks.

Each of these tasks sounds like a routine on its own. Together, they form a complex, interlocking puzzle that must be solved afresh every twenty-four hours. The ability to absorb large amounts of information quickly and decide where to focus attention first to promote operational efficiency is one of the defining traits of outstanding operations managers.

Mid-Morning: Risk Management on the Factory Floor

By mid-morning, the operations manager is typically on the floor. Risk management is not an abstract, boardroom concept in this role. For the experienced operations manager it is tangible, physical, and immediate. May it be a wet walkway near a loading bay, a forklift with an expired inspection sticker, or a new starter who has not yet completed their safety induction. Operations manager not only have to be proactive and identify inefficiencies at the work space, they also have to find timely resolutions before possible risks become real incidents.

In fast paced environments such as manufacturing and logistics, safety is non-negotiable. Here the operations managers chime in. They are responsible for ensuring smooth running of quality standards, compliance with health-and-safety regulations, conducting regular audits, and fostering a culture in which every employee feels empowered to flag a hazard without fear of reprisal. Besides that, they coordinate safety briefings, track completion of mandatory training, and maintain audit-proof documentation, often across multiple sites simultaneously.

The job, however, involves more than technology and machines. The best operations managers understand that risk management is also a people discipline. When frontline workers trust their manager, they speak up sooner. When they feel disconnected, small problems fester into costly ones.

Late Morning: Wearing the Project Manager Hat

For operations managers no two days are the same. On any given morning, they might also be acting as project managers who oversee the installation of a new production line, managing a facility relocation, or coordinating a system rollout across several plants.

Project management within operations demands a blend of technical knowledge, stakeholder management, and relentless attention to detail. Timelines are tight, budgets are scrutinised, and the margin for error is slim. An operations manager's aim is to keep cross-functional teams aligned, resolve resource conflicts, and communicate progress to senior leadership, while ensuring that day-to-day production continues uninterrupted.

Afternoon: Strategic Planning and the Bigger Picture

After a working lunch the afternoon shifts towards strategic planning. This is where the operations manager lifts their gaze from the immediate and looks at the broader picture.

Strategic planning in operations might involve:

- Analysing production data to identify long-term trends and capacity constraints.

- Evaluating new technologies or process improvements that could reduce waste and increase throughput.

- Developing workforce plans to address upcoming retirements, seasonal demand fluctuations, or expansion into new markets.

- Collaborating with finance, procurement, and HR to align operational goals with broader business objectives.

The operations manager is uniquely positioned for this work because they see both the granular detail and the big picture. Ultimately, their synoptic view makes them understand how those micro-level realities feed into macro-level performance.

An Operations Manager's Key Responsibilities at a Glance

If you are considering a career in this field, or are looking to hire for the role, it helps to see the key responsibilities laid out clearly:

- Production oversight: Managing end-to-end workflows from raw material intake to finished product dispatch.

- People management: Recruiting, training, and developing frontline teams; managing performance and fostering engagement.

- Safety and compliance: Ensuring adherence to all relevant health-and-safety legislation and industry standards.

- Budget management: Controlling operational expenditure, identifying cost savings, and reporting on financial performance.

- Quality assurance: Establishing and maintaining quality-control processes that meet customer and regulatory expectations.

- Continuous improvement: Applying lean, Six Sigma, or other methodologies to drive efficiency gains and reduce waste.

- Cross-functional coordination: Working with HR, finance, supply chain, and senior leadership to align operations with business strategy.

- Technology adoption: Evaluating and implementing digital tools that enhance productivity, communication, and data visibility.

Problem Solving: The Skill That Never Clocks Off

Smaller businesses and start‑ups, in particular, If there is one competence that underpins everything an operations manager does, it is problem solving. Equipment failures, supply disruptions, staffing shortages, quality defects, or regulatory changes? The list of potential challenges is endless and they rarely arrive one at a time.

The effective identification of problems in operations requires a structured approach. First, you locate the root cause, not just the symptom. Then you gather data before jumping to conclusions, then involve the people closest to the issue. Afterwards you implement a fix and follow up to ensure it holds. It also requires composure. Frontline teams take their cues from their manager. A calm, methodical response to a crisis builds confidence whereas a panicked one erodes it.

The ideal operations managers also practise proactive approaches. This means, they use data, pattern recognition, and frontline feedback to anticipate issues before they materialise. That is where technology becomes a powerful ally to improve performance standards and a daily companion to foster collegial bonds.

The Loyal Digital Companion: How the Flip App is Redefining Plant Management

For all its variety, the operations manager's day has historically been plagued by a single, persistent frustration: fragmented communication. Critical information lives in spreadsheets, WhatsApp groups, notice boards, email threads, or — worst of all — people's heads. When you are responsible for multiple plants and hundreds of frontline workers, that fragmentation is not merely inconvenient, it is dangerous.

This is where the Flip App enters the day of the manager and fundamentally changes and organises the ways information are exchanged and saved.

Flip is an AI-powered employee experience platform purpose-built for frontline teams. It unites internal communications, HR self-services, and operational workflows in a single, mobile-first application that every employee can access. There is no corporate email address or desktop computer required. For operations managers juggling safety, efficiency, and engagement across dispersed teams, it acts as a digital command centre and a genuine companion throughout the working day.

Reaching Every Worker, Instantly

One of the most powerful features for operations managers is Flip's targeted communication engine. Need to alert the night shift at Plant B about a change to safety guidelines? Push a notification directly to the relevant team, targeted by site, role, or shift pattern — no phone trees, no bulletin boards, no hoping someone reads the notice. Real-time notifications via push messages, chat, or comments ensure teams are immediately informed about new instructions, schedule changes, or urgent updates.

Digitising Safety and Compliance

Flip allows operations managers to create digital checklists for safety inspections, equipment checks, maintenance routines, and daily start-up procedures. The manager can assign, track, and complete tasks directly on a mobile device, with every action time-stamped and logged for full traceability. With this option they can also submit incident reports in under a minute, with photos and location data, that are automatically routed to the right person. This function replaces the paper-based processes that 81 per cent of frontline workers still rely on and slashes process times by up to 75 per cent.

Automating Repetitive Workflows

Flip Flows is the platform's no-code workflow engine. It enables operations managers to digitise day-to-day processes such as incident reports, equipment orders, vacation requests, and onboarding tasks. The result? Up to 40 per cent of manual tasks automated, freeing managers to spend more time where it matters: on the floor, coaching teams and driving continuous improvement.

Empowering Frontline Workers with AI

With Ask AI, Flip's built-in AI assistant, frontline workers can get instant, verified answers to questions about company policies, standard operating procedures, and safety protocols, drawn directly from the organisation's own Knowledge Base. No more waiting for a manager to be available, no more guessing.

Strengthening the Human Connection

Perhaps most importantly, Flip bridges the gap between operations managers and the people they lead. Features such as instant messaging, voice and video calling, surveys, polls, and company-wide recognition programmes create a continuous feedback loop that makes every employee, feel seen, heard, and valued, regardless of location or shift pattern. As one of Flip's clients emphasises about the app's game-changing impact: "Our app is not just for information: it's a new way of leadership."

When operations managers can communicate clearly, respond quickly, and involve their teams in decisions, the relationship between the frontline and leadership strengthens. And as Deci's and Ryan's theory suggested decades ago, it is social relatedness that motivates individuals and that determines whether the whole system holds together.

Additionally, Flip’s live translation and multilingual interface allow operations managers to share an update once and have frontline workers read it instantly in their preferred language, across news posts, chats, and workflows. DeepL-powered translation and AI-supported content tools reduce misunderstandings, strengthen safety communication, and help international teams feel genuinely included in the company’s culture and day-to-day conversation. A brand client points to this optimisation of communication with Flip:

A Role for the Future

The operations manager role is evolving rapidly. As organisations digitise, decarbonise, and decentralise, the demands on the people who keep business operations running will only increase. But so will the tools available to them.

Platforms like Flip which is trusted by companies such as Bosch, REWE, MAHLE, McDonald's, and GLS, with engagement rates above 95 per cent represent a new generation of technology designed not to replace the human element, but to amplify it. Facilitating better communication across channels, Flip gives operations managers the visibility, speed, and reach they need to ensure safety, drive efficiency, and empower every frontline worker to do their best work while also feel seen.

If you are the kind of person who thrives on variety, thinks on your feet, and genuinely cares about the people around you, operations management might just be the most rewarding career you have never considered. And with the right digital companion in your pocket, every day — however unpredictable — becomes a little more manageable.

Sources: Gallup, State of the Global Workplace 2025.