Growing Pains:
- More than 100 employees and three or more management layers.
- Increasing complexity and frustration when working cross functionally.
- The ‘grapevine’ no longer works as the primary mode of communication.
- Job descriptions haven’t been updated in a while and are getting muddy.
Fraying Focus:
- Too much time firefighting and not consistently executing on planned activities.
- Struggling to move decision making down to the lowest levels of the organization.
- Strong employees leaving because they’re frustrated.
- Too many employees working at burnout pace.
Increasing Need:
- Wants to clarify expectations for ‘good’ managers in the organization.
- Sees the need to raise the bar on management consistency and performance across the board.
- Sees the potential for better goal setting, planning, communication, decision making, feedback and performance management.
- Desires a dynamic, business focused, productive and fun culture.
Scenario: The ‘Mushroom Organization’ Growing in the Dark
The typical ‘mushroom organization’ has been growing in the dark, evolving from small to mid-sized. Now with more than 100 employees, it has likely expanded its facilities by adding new suites, plants or multiple locations. With this growth, communication has changed drastically. The organization can no longer invite everyone to one meeting. Nor can it rely on the ‘grapevine’ to communicate efficiently.
Employees and managers are increasingly ‘in the dark,’ doing their best to keep up with workload and get things done — not sure if they’re doing the right things or worse, why they’re doing them at all.
For the mushroom organization, new layer(s) of management are also producing many first-time and newly promoted managers with no training who are just as ‘in the dark’ as their direct reports.
When asked, ‘How do we do things around here?’ people don’t have an answer.
It’s time to do something.