As managers, it's our responsibility to make sure the team, the materials and the work is given some (hopefully) logical, rational structure.
So exactly how do we do this? How do we decide what goes where, who does what and when it all happens?
help us organize the people, the work and the resources we have to do the job.
First, we've got to know what it is we're trying to do. This, of course is one of the things we hope our plan will do – give us a clear idea of what needs to be done, when it needs to be done and what tools we have to get it done.
Second, we've got to know the organization we've already got in place – what's working and what's not. For new programs / projects / companies, this is a pretty simple thing – we've got no organization. In this happy case, we can do whatever works best for us, our personality, our management style and our people. We're free to arrange things pretty much any way we want. we decide who works for who, where folks sit, where the copier is located and, sometimes even pick the color scheme for the facility. It's a great gig when we can get it.
However, most managers aren't that lucky. We often have little in who works for us, where our offices are located, or what the floor plan looks like. And we'll virtually never have a chance to pick a color scheme (“institutional green”, anyone?).
In most companies, critical things like facilities, equipment, tools and staff are assigned to projects based on priorities established well outside the project itself. And the lower priority our project, the less say we'll have over any of the things that are assigned to us.
When we find ourselves in this situation and we've done everything short of tendering our resignation to get what we want, don't complain. Just take a deep breath, paste a big smile on our faces and remember, “adversity builds character”.
Then we take a critical look at the people, tools, facilities and materials you've got to work with. Identify those pieces that already work well and leave them alone. If there are folks who've worked well together in the past, keep them working together on your projects whenever we can
Then find the stuff that isn't working so well and fix it. Reassign people, rearrange furniture, re-plan work, get new tools; whatever it takes to get your team working efficiently and effectively.
Third, we've got to decide where things go. “A place for everything and everything in its place”. Do we team our people by specialty (Engineering, Production, Accounting, etc.) or by what part of the project their work most affects (hydraulics, wing, fuselage, etc.)? Do we assign tasks by position or by the likelihood the work will get done? Do we use the company's central stock room for project specific parts or establish an project stock room for “our stuff”?
Finally, we've got to keep tabs on the work...and be ready to re-organize when the structure we put in place doesn't work. I don't advocate re-organizing out of hand or on a whim (rotating bald tires), but there are times when how we've organized things gets in the way of getting the work done. When that happens, we need to be able to recognize it quickly and change fix the problems.
Remember, though, that reorganizations cause problems of their own. They almost always add stress, interrupt work flow and reduce morale. Even moving one person from one desk to another will have it's issues, so we need to plan carefully and make sure the benefits of the reorg far outweigh the problems it will cause.
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If you need help getting organized, feel free to contact me at: TomFawls@Council4SmallBiz.com.
