#396: The Corporate Odyssey: How Jane's Email Campaign Became a Management Epic
Maximizing Impact at Every Level Of the Organization!
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At Globex Corp., Jane's simple marketing campaign proposal turned into an odyssey. From departmental meetings to director approvals, each management layer added its touch, gradually transforming the idea. When it reached the executive suite, the campaign's original spark was nearly extinguished, a victim of the company's labyrinthine decision-making process. All Jane wanted to do was send out an email to customers letting them know they were overstocked. When the decision was made, the products were spoiled and had to be thrown away.
Decision-making and power need to be made where they make the most impact. Think of an address label:
The Smith Family
123 Main Street
Anywhere, State, USA
1st Line - The Smith Family = Departmental Management
What it Includes: Decisions within departments like marketing, sales, HR, and IT.
Why It Matters: These decisions affect departmental performance and organizational culture. Department heads should have significant autonomy in this area.
Example: Choosing marketing strategies or HR policies. While aligned with company goals, these should be tailored by those who understand the department's unique challenges and how these decisions will best be executed.
Like our initial example, Jane wanted to get rid of some products. A quick decision would have saved the cost of scrapping the excess inventory. It should have been allowed immediately if her decision didn’t cost more than the scrap value. Are you empowering your departmental managers?
2nd Line - 123 Main Street = Divisional Management, which is more strategic
What it Includes: Long-term strategy, financial planning, significant partnerships, and acquisitions.
Why It Matters: These decisions shape the division's future or overall business group. While input from various levels is crucial, top management should oversee strategic choices.
Example: Entering a new market or product line expansion. Here, executives must balance risk with potential growth, often with insights from middle management. They need to review who each department will be affected and make the best overall decision on how future resources will be allocated to support these decisions.
As in our initial example, if another group needed to work with Jane, we could bump this decision up a level. Let’s say we needed the logistics department to package these products up and ship them out quicker than normal. Then, the two department managers needed to work together or go to their immediate supervisors. In business, time is money. How do you shorten the decision-making process to capitalize on opportunities?
3rd Line - Anywhere, State, USA = External Stakeholders
What it Includes: Interactions with shareholders, community relations, and broader industry partnerships.
Why It Matters: These decisions affect the company's reputation and societal role. While external stakeholders influence these, internal management must steer the company’s path.
Example: CSR initiatives or shareholder communications. Here, the decision-making process should involve but not be dominated by external parties. Although these stakeholders are essential in the long run, priority still goes to department and divisional management. Thus, the third line. Also, notice that the order goes from the smallest (closest) to the most, further away from the actual business.
What other stakeholders would be affected by Jane's decision? Would government approvals be needed? Would these products need to be certified by any state or federal agencies? By shipping them out towards the end of their product life cycle, could this have any impact on the community in which the product will be used? I’m stretching here to make the point, but who could be indirectly affected by these decisions?
Practical Steps for Reorganization:
You can reorganize your businesses to be the most efficient by taking a few steps. Again, time is money, and quicker decisions made by the ones closest to the problem (or opportunity) can save time. Here are a few steps to consider as you work through this process.
Audit Decision Flow: Evaluate who currently makes which decisions. Identify misalignments where decisions are made too far from the impact zone.
Redefine Roles: Adjust job descriptions to reflect this new decision-making hierarchy. Empower those at the operational level with more decision-making authority.
Training for Empowerment: Provide training to ensure managers and teams at all levels understand their decision-making scope and are equipped to make effective choices.
Create Clear Communication Channels: Ensure there's a structured way for information and decisions to flow up and down the organization. This might involve regular strategy meetings or feedback loops.
Review and Adapt: Continuously assess how the new structure performs. Are decisions being made more efficiently? Is there more innovation at the ground level? Adapt as necessary.
It’s a loop—when you get to Step 5, if there are any improvements, you go back to Step 1 and start all over again. All processes follow a similar feedback loop.
By reorganizing management like an address label, businesses can ensure that those make decisions with the most relevant information and stake in the outcome. This approach streamlines operations and enhances employee engagement by giving them ownership over their work areas, ultimately leading to a more agile and responsive organization.
If you need help in this process, set up a 30-minute call with the Kole Performance Group. It’s hard work today but will lead to a better tomorrow.
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