Scaling ResearchOps: Helping Researchers do Their Best Work

Key Insights

• •

  The eight pillars framework maps key research ops areas like environment, people, governance, and research libraries as foundational to scaling research.

• •

  Pace layers illustrate how research methods vary in speed and depth, with fast, noisy research at the top and slow, strategic research at the bottom.

• •

  Conflicts between fast and slow research layers create constructive turbulence that keeps organizational research resilient and balanced.

• •

  Most organizations experience tension between research speed demands and the need for rigorous, slower methods like ethnography.

• •

  Research ops functions act as a vital connective tissue that lifts operational burdens from researchers, enabling them to focus on impact.

• •

  Scaling research successfully requires strategies tailored to an organization's existing maturity, research method mix, and infrastructure.

• •

  In high maturity orgs, expansive research libraries and panel management help bridge long-term generative research to faster methods.

• •

  Tech companies often focus on fast evaluative research with decentralized researchers but can scale downward by investing in more skilled researchers and ops.

• •

  Measuring research ops impact by connections, usage, and feedback loops is more meaningful than focusing solely on cost savings.

• •

  Recognizing researchers' own agency and power within organizations is key to intentionally shaping research realities and strategy.

Notable Quotes