An org chart is often drawn once, while the business is small, and never touched again. Meanwhile headcount grows, branches open, and new products launch. Eventually the chart describes a company that no longer exists.
Symptoms that usually appear
- Two people do the same thing, and one important thing is done by no one.
- One manager has too many reports, so there is no time to coach anyone.
- Decisions bounce around, because it is unclear who decides and who only needs to be told.
- Good people get labelled as weak, when their role was simply never defined.
Start from the work, not from names
The most common mistake when tidying a structure is drawing boxes around the people who are already there. That is backwards. First write down what work has to happen for the business to run, group it, and only then decide who fits each part.
For decisions that keep causing trouble, make sure each one has one owner. Many people can be consulted and informed, but only one decides.
When it is time to review
There is no need to wait for a crisis. Review the structure at every major change: a new branch, a new product line, or when managers start saying they have no time. Small regular reviews are far lighter than a big restructuring done too late.
No system, however advanced, will fix an organisation whose design is not right to begin with.
