17 November 2007
The Beauty of the New Closed Door Policy
By Jack Yoest
Our business schools teach that structure follows strategy. And the big picture landscape is important to know.
But what Your Business Blogger sees as an Adjunct Professor most often is the boss missing the basic questions — the easy stuff.
Such as:
What should the company organization chart look like?
In our egalitarian new-age of Aquarius we are all equal to each other, and the boss considers the individual input of each of her employees to be the equal of her own, or of anyone else.
After all, we are all family here.
This, of course, is nonsense.
(Especially if you are all family.)
Anyway, companies should be designed on the old-fashioned hierarchical inverted ‘V’ organizational chart so that praise can easily flow up. And the heart-burn can flow easily down.
Instead, we are noticing a horrific pattern where the owner has direct, unfiltered communication with Every. Single. Employee.
The astute observer will note the nifty hands-free cell phones attached (surgically?) to the ears of many in-touch professionals. But these permanent ear-buds on budding managers give us a clue: he thinks he’s telegraphing “with-it wonk.” No, this is an amateur at work. The cell signal is our first indication that someone is micromanaging. It might be up, or it might be down. But it is wrong.
The unseen managerial habits might be worse. We see another insidious time-waster, that some business owners employ instead of managing the time of the employee. This abomination is known as an,
Open Door Policy
Which leaves the harried manager at the mercy of his minions . . . who stroll by to cry about a missing cat or babble about a boyfriend.
Not that we could ever tell the difference when we observe CEOs. The-dog-ate-my-spreadsheet, and the occasional death in the family, the whining all sounds the same.
The business owner must remember that he is the center of the universe. And if he forgets, he must pay someone to remind him. These rented friends are called consultants.
And Your Rented Friend, will remind you (and you may not need to be taught, you might only need to be reminded) that You Are The Apex.
And More. Yes, you are the center of the universe. But let us elevate you, the business unit owner, the harried manager, away from the center of the circle — to the top of the triangle.
The best management structure is a pyramid, not a wagon wheel.
The popular wagon wheel model has you, the boss in the center with the many, many spokes coming directly to the hub. The spokes are the employees, each with a direct line to the boss.
This is not good.
Your management team would be bypassed and ignored. Why talk with the first-line supervisor? Why waste time with layers of management overhead over head? When entry-level enthusiasts and interns can walk through The Big Guy’s Open Door and shoot the breeze. As if all were equal.
As If.
The amateur boss soon becomes an armature spinning in circles.
But not now. Not after reading this article.
The best structure is a pyramid with the manager at the tippy-top with a few, no more than ten, direct reports. The employee wanting to bother and waste the time of the boss will have to crawl over layers of managers before getting to you, the owner.
Whose Door Is Always Open. Because Employees Are Our Most Important Asset.
(Yes, you can keep that silly policy, and even deploy the slogan, but with luck no one will get close enough to you to use it.)
So here’s your step-by-step guide to moving from the hub and spoke to the triangular pyramid, pointing, reaching, to the sky.
First. Appoint a deputy. A second in command. A chief of staff whose job is the management of your most valuable resource, your discretionary management time. It could be your secretary. Or your Second Banana or Girl Friday — your hatchet person.
Second. Stop Thinking Outside the Box. Put each business function in a box. Every action and process gets a discrete description. A box on the organizational chart with hard edges and one single line going in. And if a manager, no more than 10 lines going out. Each employee gets a clearly labeled box.
And finally, Third. Close your door. Because: Time is your most valuable possession.
The best company structure is a pyramid-shaped org chart. Get yourself at the top to be on top of your business.
###
Jack Yoest is President of Management Training of DC and blogs at Reasoned Audacity and at Yoest.com.
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The Beauty of the New Closed Door Policy
But what we see most often is the boss missing the basic questions — the easy stuff.
Such as:
What should the company organization chart look like?
In our egalitarian new-age of Aquarius we are all equal to each other, and the boss considers the individual input of each of her employees to be the equal of her own, or of anyone else.
After all, we are all family here.
This, of course, is nonsense.
(Especially if you are all family.)
Anyway, companies should be designed on the old-fashioned hierarchical inverted ‘V’ organizational chart so that praise can easily flow up. And the heart-burn can flow easily down.
Instead, we are noticing a horrific pattern where the owner has direct, unfiltered communication with Every. Single. Employee.
The astute observer will note the nifty hands-free cell phones attached (surgically?) to the ears of many in-touch professionals. But these permanent ear-buds on budding managers give us a clue: he thinks he’s telegraphing “with-it wonk.” No, this is an amateur at work. The cell signal is our first indication that someone is micromanaging. It might be up, or it might be down. But it is wrong.
The unseen managerial habits might be worse. We see another insidious time-waster, that some business owners employ instead of managing the time of the employee. This abomination is known as an,
Open Door Policy
Which leaves the harried manager at the mercy of his minions . . . who stroll by to cry about a missing cat or babble about a boyfriend.
Not that we could ever tell the difference when we observe CEOs. The-dog-ate-my-spreadsheet, and the occasional death in the family, the whining all sounds the same.
The business owner must remember that he is the center of the universe. And if he forgets, he must pay someone to remind him. These rented friends are called consultants.
And Your Rented Friend, will remind you (and you may not need to be taught, you might only need to be reminded) that You Are The Apex.
And More. Yes, you are the center of the universe. But let us elevate you, the business unit owner, the harried manager, away from the center of the circle — to the top of the triangle.
The best management structure is a pyramid, not a wagon wheel.
The popular wagon wheel model has you, the boss in the center with the many, many spokes coming directly to the hub. The spokes are the employees, each with a direct line to the boss.
This is not good.
Your management team would be bypassed and ignored. Why talk with the first-line supervisor? Why waste time with layers of management overhead over head? When entry-level enthusiasts and interns can walk through The Big Guy’s Open Door and shoot the breeze. As if all were equal.
As If.
The amateur boss soon becomes an armature spinning in circles.
But not now. Not after reading this article.
The best structure is a pyramid with the manager at the tippy-top with a few, no more than ten, direct reports. The employee wanting to bother and waste the time of the boss will have to crawl over layers of managers before getting to you, the owner.
Whose Door Is Always Open. Because Employees Are Our Most Important Asset.
(Yes, you can keep that silly policy, and even deploy the slogan, but with luck no one will get close enough to you to use it.)
So here’s your step-by-step guide to moving from the hub and spoke to the triangular pyramid, pointing, reaching, to the sky.
First. Appoint a deputy. A second in command. A chief of staff whose job is the management of your most valuable resource, your discretionary management time. It could be your secretary. Or your Second Banana or Girl Friday — your hatchet person.
Second. Stop Thinking Outside the Box. Put each business function in a box. Every action and process gets a discrete description. A box on the organizational chart with hard edges and one single line going in. And if a manager, no more than 10 lines going out. Each employee gets a clearly labeled box.
And finally, Third. Close your door. Because: Time is your most valuable possession.
The best company structure is a pyramid-shaped org chart. Get yourself at the top to be on top of your business.
###
Bill Oncken is President and CEO of the William Oncken Corporation. Jack Yoest is President of Management Training of DC and blogs at Reasoned Audacity and at Yoest.com. They are both former Army Officers in Combat Arms.
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