We have too many people to report to. Help!

Dear Aunty B,

I am at my wits’ end. We recently restructured our company to adjust to the GFC. Under the restructure some staff now have to report to several people. This has slowed things down considerably as people have to give the okay for things to go ahead and often they are busy or out of the office and can’t give the go ahead for days.

I raised the fact that everything was slowing down with the MD and he says it will settle down as everyone gets used to different roles and it is just teething problems. But one of the staff has just handed in their notice even though they don’t have a job to go to and it’s Christmas, because they are so frustrated.

My problem is I don’t know how to explain what’s wrong to the MD and we can’t go back to the old structure because we have less staff.

Frustrated,
Tassie

Dear Frustrated,

What has happened is this: parts of your business are not working properly together as a cohesive whole.

See it works like this. Each person everyday makes decisions. If you have a structure whereby lots of people review the decision, then simply by the fact that people are busy and there are so many hours in a day, means the whole decision-making review is going to be slowed down. It is also frustrating having to get sign off from anymore than one key person.

How do things work best? The wheels turn the fastest when individuals can make those decisions with a firm culture around them and guidelines and processes in place. They are also highly skilled and barely need one person to review them.

In one sense your MD is right. As the people get used to the new positions they will skill up and need less review. Also once trust is built managers will point out that they no longer need to be involved in the decision-making processes.

However, there is probably a better way to do it. So now you know what the problem is, go to your MD and suggest a few solutions.

Good luck!
Your Aunty B

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