Organisational effectiveness depends fundamentally upon people knowing what is expected of them and why. At the level of designing an organisational structure and roles within it, it is imperative firstly that there is a cogent strategy in place. Whether that is short-term in terms of surviving an economic downturn or seeking to enter a market and displace existing competitors, this intent needs to have been defined. Without this, attempting to design a structure becomes somewhat pointless because the underlying purpose of any role cannot be stated.
Roles within the structure need to be full and complete. Roles created to placate a particular person and keep them employed result in the role-holder never feeling they have produced something significant. Such ‘fractionalisation’ of roles was the hall-mark of early mass-production. It doesn’t provide the inherent motivation within a role to produce quality outputs.
Consider a kitchen in an up-market hotel. There are four people involved in making omelettes for breakfast. One person takes an order and conveys it to person number two whose task it is to break the eggs into a bowl. It is a very busy morning and many eggs have to be broken. Person number three is required to mix the egg mixture and having done so pass it on to the fourth person who cooks the omelette, which is then served by the person who took the order. The process collapses when the customer complains that there is egg-shell in their omelette. Quite simply, the task of breaking eggs is unedifying if that person doesn’t realise the crucial role they have to play in the customer’s dining experience. If the egg-breaker doesn’t recognise he is accountable for breaking eggs without getting egg-shell into the mixture, it is possible that his attention to detail will become lax. What do we see happen now? The omelettes are cooked at a ‘breakfast bar’ in front of the customer often with a degree of showmanship. It may not be a ‘job for life’ but it beats (sic) being limited to cracking egg-shells!
This exaggerated allegory spells out an important point in designing organisations and that is to ensure roles are created that are full and complete and so provide a sense of inherent motivation. Where tasks can be combined and accountabilities extended, this should be done, although not at the expense of ‘forcing up’ the level of work. At the heart of the analysis remains the focus upon the nature of the work that needs to be done to contribute to the achievement of the organisation’s over-arching strategic aims.
