What’s a Fractional Operator?

Hear it from a client’s perspective.

The term fractional operator can sound a little mysterious if you’ve never worked with one. We often find that, before partnering with us, many leaders aren’t quite sure what the role entails—or they picture something far narrower than it really is.

Becky Davis, Assistant Director at the Center for Restorative Change, shared her own experience:

“I had no idea what a fractional operator was. I thought maybe it was just a part-time assistant. I didn’t know.”

After working with a fractional operator, her understanding shifted entirely:

“The fractional part of that role is so important because it’s taking a fraction of the things that you have to do—the things on your plate, the things you have to manage—and handing them to someone who can really push a project forward.”

For Becky, it’s not just about lightening the workload. It’s about bringing in focused, high-level operational expertise that can take ownership of key projects, move them across the finish line, and free leaders up to focus on the work only they can do.

That’s what we mean when we talk about fractional—it’s not the size of the commitment, it’s the precision of the support.