Sadly in particularly lean times when companies face relentless competition managers often forget their major task is to support front-line people. With all due respect, the grunts. They are the ones doing the real heavy lifting of the organization. Frankly they not the boys cloaked in the ivory tower are the ones with the real solutions.
A manager’s job is to be an effective facilitator, grease the skids, increase the dialogue, increase even more listening and speed up actions through the multi-layered organization. Not constraining, preventing or slowing activity in the name of authoritarian control and turf rights.
In the Nordstrom’s organizational chart below you’ll notice the brilliant idea of a “helping hand” aimed upwards.
It means everything has two purposes to foster absolute satisfaction with the employee customer and its corollary the external customer. You will be a helpmeet. Not a hindrance. Today great managers are on the phone expediting functions to speed delivery not quelling disruptions between sales and production. The new manager welcomes the nascent demands from the Minnesota sales team no matter how unreasonable at first glance.
What does the new manager do with the scheduling, inspections and score keeping? They turn them over to self managed teams. The team will manage the quality of the widgets. You’ll make sure work teams are impeccably trained to do their own inspections; pay attention to eliminating cross functional bottlenecks causing quality, scheduling and cost problems. Lastly, you proactively find ways to increase responsiveness.
Jim Woods is principal and founder of InnoThink Group. An innovation and competitive strategy consultancy engaged to catalyze bottom-line growth. He has worked with government, U.S. Army, MITRE Corporation, Pitney Bowes, Whirlpool, and 3M. Jim’s business experiences, extensive research on competitive strategy and innovation have given him a fresh perspective on improving individual and organizational performance. Speak with us for consulting or speaking engagements call 719-266-6703 or click here for more information.
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