Where is the structure?

In any organisation or start up or teams if there is no defined structure there will always ensue chaos. Structure and planning is the most basic requirement in context of any team, business or organisation. Without a standardised practice or structure, and without owners to take accountability and ownership, there will be many instances of glitches and loose ends that never get closed. 

I remember an old boss of mine who insisted on closed loop communication for every single activity and now I see the merit in that. 

What happens to an organisation or team when there is lack of procedures and structures? 

• No defined SOP’s leading to no clarity
• No owners to ensure outputs
• Chaos and confusion in context of tasks
• Cultural issues that are connected
• Outcomes and productivity impacted
• Communication lags and issues of broken communication
• Negative impact on the people and organisation
• Eroding consistency and conflicting messages 

I have seen teams that do not have a plan crumble and burn and those that plan right from the start succeed and learn. 

The idea is not to avoid failure, but to fail fast and learn from the process and imbibe that learning to attain the desirable outcome that is needed to be arrived at. 

How do you fix this?

• Always start with the end in mind, have clarity on what needs to be done
• Think people, process, performance and align the three
• Make sure everyone is on the same page and aligned to the common goal
• Identify and communicate the vision and purpose so everyone is on board
• Collectively share and identify areas of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
• Culture, measurement and methodology also play an important role
• Work to the advantage of people’s strengths
• Assign roles and responsibilities with owners and timelines
• Track progress and make sure that everything has a measurable outcome and timeline
• Create dashboards and mechanisms to ensure everyone is on the same page
• Consistency formats and communication guidelines
• Ensuring equal access to everyone involved so everyone can see the roadmap and progress
• Setting expectations right across all sides so there is no room for confusion. 

Things to remember as you set this up: 

• Keep it simple – simplicity is key for ease of functioning and operations
• Make sure it is easy to understand and easy to implement
• The system should not complicate the process and methodology
• Not working in silos and collectively leveraging talent
• Transparency is key
• Integrating systems seamlessly with manual practices
• Working with insights and analysis

As we work on ensuring the best output form ourselves, it’s also good as leaders to inculcate new ways of empowering and ensuring the teams that we work with are also geared up for success. 

The views and opinions published here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the publisher.

Shreya Krishnan

Vice President - Marketing and Communications at Aon India Insurance Brokers

Shreya is a CSR Specialist and Corporate Grooming Consultant. Her interests lie in Activism, Dance, Theatre, Poetry, Blogging, Modelling, Acting. She considers herself an Earth Warrior and is an Event Anchor and Trainer. She is a Pageant Winner and public speaker.