To improve performance, change the structure
“You only have to remove the barriers from intrinsic motivation and watch how people find the drive within themselves again.”
Graphite or diamond - they both have the same base element: it’s carbon. Maybe you want to adjust your business to reach new customers. Maybe to speed up releases with fewer dependencies between teams and systems. Or you want your colleagues to take more initiative, participate more. Whatever it is, the underlying collaboration, communication and trust structures can make all the difference.
Recently, a purpose-driven UK non-profit client contacted us with an urgent need. They realised they were running out of donors, the demographic of their supporters was retiring and they had difficulty connecting with the younger generations. What on the surface sounded like a simple challenge. However, to reach new customers, the non-profit team needed to re-think how they are internally coming up with ideas for projects, finding out what the younger donors need. It was in short, a structural question.
Be clear about the business vision - what it the (new or better) experience you want to create for your customers? Then look at how you are today structured to achieve that. Structure means the relationships through which unmet customer needs are discovered and decided upon, how they are serviced. With a network-lens on your organisation, you can assess:
Are we ideally set up to deliver on our business vision in the next 6 months-1 year? Learn to spot the symptoms of organisational ill-health and how to address them
Assess the relationships in your team/group which complement the formal project or service delivery structures - from trust relationships, to information sharing, knowledge sharing and support
Understand what team structure works best for which project phase: from ideation and discovery, to problem-solving and to task execution
Learn, how you may elevate your relationships in a 360 view as a project manager or business leader to achieve both business results and to progress in your career
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Unlock the Hidden Power of Your Organization
Even in the best-run companies, there’s often a gap between the org chart and how things actually get done. Underneath the structure lies a rich, untapped network of people, relationships, and informal influence.
We help modern leaders see—and lead—their organization as a living system. So they can make it ready to face any emergent future.
