Organize your company to improve collaboration
A growing number of employees today are "knowledge workers." What organization to adopt to facilitate information sharing and cross-boundary collaboration with other parts of the organization?
A 2005 McKinsey study found that 80 percent of interviewed leaders considered effective coordination of different product ranges, functions and geographies to be a key factor in the success of their company. However, only 25 percent felt that their organization did this effectively!
And for good reason! Traditional hierarchies were designed to satisfy the needs of the industrial era, i.e. produce more, at constant quality, at the lowest possible cost. Yet, in an economy where value is generated in large part by access to information and the sharing of knowledge, is this organizational model still appropriate?
The publications we have analyzed encourage companies to consider radically changing their interaction model. To foster better cross-company collaboration, they recommend applying the following principles:
– Focus on leaner, more flexible structures conducive to interpersonal interaction.
– Design a work environment that promotes human interaction, laid out innovatively and dynamically with lots of open space, and even “hoteling” systems!
– Adopt management practices that stimulate and direct initiative.
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See also
Break down organizational silos
“Siloed” organizations, which used to be highly effective, prove less relevant in today’s complex environments. How can we avoid the downside of an organizational model in which we had previously found so many qualities?
Encourage cooperation
Cooperation between teams is a key driver of agility, but it is not easy to establish. How can we create the conditions to get people to want to invest in the collective game?
Foster cooperation across organizational boundaries
Rather than a question of ill will or indiscipline, lack of cooperation is often a result of the need for belonging that governs our interpersonal relationships. How can we take this into account to boost collaboration?
