Informal Groups and Organization

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Part 3

Organizing, Staffing, Managing

and Measuring for Success

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Chapter 9: The Principles of Organizing

AFTER STUDYING THIS CHAPTER, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO:

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Describe the organizing function of management.

Discuss the impact of the informal organization and informal group leaders and how supervisors should deal with them.

Explain the unity-of-command and the span-of-management principles and their applications.

Justify why a supervisor should strive for the “ideal” organizational structure and work towards this objective.

Compare and contrast departmentalization and alternative approaches for grouping activities and assigning work.

Assess the implications of downsizing for restructuring and suggest alternatives.

List the major factors contributing to organizing effective meetings, especially the supervisor’s role.

Appraise the importance of self-organization, that is, effective use of your time and talents.

Organizing As an Essential Managerial Function

Organization

Group structured by management to carry out designated functions and accomplish certain objectives.

Organizations Are People

People are the substance and essence of any organization, regardless of how the enterprise is structured.

Organizational success is more likely to happen when employees are truly given top-priority attention by their managers and supervisors.

Engagement

The level of emotional commitment the employee has to the organization and its goals.

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The Informal Organization

Informal Organization

Informal gatherings of people, apart from the formal organizational structure, that satisfy members’ social and other needs.

The Informal Organization and the Supervisor

The informal organization can make the supervisor’s job easier or more difficult.

Informal groups can be very strong in shaping employee behavior to an extent that it interferes with supervision (organizational negativity).

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The Informal Organization (cont’d)

Supervising and Informal Work Group Leaders

An informal leader may be chosen by the group or may assume leadership by being a spokesperson for the group.

Without the informal leader’s cooperation and goodwill, the supervisor may have difficulty controlling the performance of the department.

Informal leaders can help the supervisor, especially as channels of communication.

The supervisor should look for subtle approaches to have informal groups and their leaders dovetail their special interests with the department’s activities.

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Unity of Command and Authority Relationships

Unity-of-Command Principle

Holds that each employee should directly report to only one supervisor.

Helps supervisors know exactly who their managers and subordinates are.

May become blurred when the organization uses a matrix structure or establishes task forces, project groups, and special committees.

Helps prevent unsatisfactory performance by the employee due to confusion of authority.

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FIGURE 9.2 The unity-of-command principle is violated

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The Span-of-Management Principle

Span-of-Management Principle

Holds that there is an upper limit to the number of subordinates a supervisor can manage effectively.

Factors Influencing the Span of Management:

The supervisor’s managerial abilities

The types and amounts of staff assistance

Level of employees’ abilities and capabilities

Location of employees

Nature and complexity of employees’ work activities

The degree to which departments have objective performance standards

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FIGURE 9.3 A manager can effectively supervise a limited number of employees

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The Span-of-Management Principle (cont’d)

Lead person

Employee in charge of other employees who performs limited managerial functions but is not considered part of management.

The amount, nature, complexity and predictability of activities influence the span of management. The simpler, more routine, and more uniform the work activities, the greater the number of people one supervisor can manage. When tasks are repetitious, the span may be as broad as 25 or more employees. When activities are varied or interdependent, the span may be as narrow as three to five.

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FIGURE 9.4 A list of factors that influence span of supervision

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Supervisory competence: The number of employees that can effectively be managed

depends to a large degree on the supervisor’s managerial capabilities and the advance planning he or she has done.

Specialized staff assistance: If the human resources staff helps the supervisor recruit,

select, and train employees, the supervisor will have more time to devote to departmental activities.

Employee abilities: The greater the employees’ skills, knowledge, abilities (SKAs), and

capacity for self-direction, the broader the supervisor’s span can be.

Location: When employees are in the same area or in close proximity, the supervisor

can supervise more employees because observation and communication are relatively easy. When employees are widely dispersed, as they are when they work in different parts of the world (offshoring), work at home (telecommuting), or work in outdoor crews (highway workers), the span of supervision may be somewhat limited because face-to-face communication and coordination are more difficult.

Nature and complexity of activities: The simpler, more routine, and more uniform the work activities, the greater the number of people one supervisor can manage. When activities are varied or interdependent, or when errors could have serious consequences, the span may be as few as three to five.

Objective performance standards: When each well-trained employee knows exactly what is expected, such as a certain number of customer calls each week, the supervisor may not need to have frequent discussions with the employee about performance. Well-communicated expectations and performance standards will permit a larger span of supervision.

Planning the “Ideal” Departmental Structure

The ideal arrangement assumes:

All required and qualified employees and resources are available.

However, in reality, available employees and other resources must be fitted to the structure.

Changes can be made to gradually move the department toward its ideal structure.

Learning organization – employees continually strive to improve their SKAs while expanding their efforts to achieve organizational objectives.

Learning organization

Employees continually strive to improve their SKAs while expanding their efforts to achieve organizational objectives.

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Approaches to Structuring Work

Organizational chart

Graphic portrayal of a company’s authority and responsibility relationships.

Job description

Written description of the principal duties and responsibilities of a job.

Job specifications

Written description of the personal qualifications needed to perform a job adequately.

Division of work (specialization)

Dividing work into components and specialized tasks to improve efficiency and output.

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FIGURE 9.7 Work should be assigned equitably, but supervisors sometimes rely too much on certain employees.

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Approaches to Structuring Work (con’t)

Departmentalization

The process of grouping activities and people into distinct organizational units.

Department

An organizational unit for which a supervisor has responsibility and authority.

Formal organizational structure

Departments, positions, functions, authority, and reporting relationships as depicted on a firm’s organizational chart.

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Approaches to Structuring Work (con’t)

Project Management-type Organizational Structure

Is a hybrid structure in which regular (functional) line and staff departments coexist with project teams made up of people from different departments.

Focus special talents from different departments on specific projects for certain periods.

Can have problems with direct accountability in that it violates the unity of command principle and schedules employees across several projects.

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FIGURE 9.6 Basic project management-type organization structure

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Approaches to Structuring Work (con’t)

Work Assignments and Organizational Stability

The assignment of work should be justifiable and explainable on the basis of good management rather than on personal likes and dislikes or intuition.

Principle of organizational stability

No organization should become overly dependent on one or several “indispensable” individuals.

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Authority and Organizational Structures

Line authority

The right to direct others and to require them to conform to decisions, policies, rules, and objectives.

Staff authority

The right to provide counsel, advice, support, and service in a person’s areas of expertise.

Line-and-staff-type organizational structure

Structure that combines line and staff departments and incorporates line and staff authority.

Approaches to Structuring Work (con’t)

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Organizational Principles in an Era of Organizational Downsizing

Downsizing (restructuring, or right-sizing)

Is the large-scale reduction and elimination of jobs in a company that usually reduces middle-level managers, removes organizational levels, and widens the span of management for remaining supervisors.

Can create problems with employee productivity declines, lower morale, and weakened organizational structures.

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Organizational Principles in an Era of Organizational Downsizing (cont.)

Self-Directed (self-managed) Work Teams (SDWTs)

When employee groups are given wide latitude and considerable authority to make many of their own job-related decisions.

Reengineering

Restructuring a firm based on processes and customer needs and services rather than on departments and functions.

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Organizational Principles in an Era of Organizational Downsizing (cont.)

Horizontal Corporation

A very flat firm resulting from restructuring by customer process and organizational structure.

Virtual Organization

Companies linked temporarily to take advantage of marketplace opportunities.

Lean Manufacturing

Techniques that enable a company to produce more product with fewer resources (lower costs).

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Organizing for Effective Meeting Management

Select participants who will bring knowledge and expertise to the meeting.

Notify participants well in advance of the meeting.

Have a plan and an agenda.

Begin the meeting on time.

Present the problems and issues to be discussed and the meeting’s objectives.

Encourage all group members to participate fully in the discussion.

Allow sufficient time for participants to offer information and discuss alternative proposals.

Strive to find consensus and areas of agreement before voting on the proposal.

Try to stay on the subject and adjourn on time, but make adjustments as necessary.

Follow up, including distributing a summary of the meeting (minutes) and actions to be taken.

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FIGURE 9.8 Suggested meeting ground rules

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Everyone will be candid and specific.

Everyone will have a say.

Everyone will stop what they are doing and listen carefully to other team members’ comments.

All team members must support their opinions with facts.

No one will be allowed to interrupt another; we will hear each other out.

We are a TEAM—working Together Everyone will Achieve More.

FIGURE 9.9 Questions to consider when planning a meeting

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What is the purpose (goal) of the meeting?

What are the opportunities, threats, conflicts, problems, concerns, issues, or topics that should be considered?

What information must be disseminated before the meeting?

What information must be gathered before the meeting?

What preparation is needed on the part of the participants?

What work must be completed before the meeting?

What additional resources will be needed to accomplish the purpose?

What are the ground rules for conducting the meeting?

Who is involved with the concerns, issues, or topics?

Who must do advance work or make decisions regarding the agenda?

Who should be invited because they can provide information needed for problem solving or discussing the issue?

Who will develop and distribute the agenda?

Who must attend?

Who will facilitate the meeting?

Who will be assigned as the note-taker?

How much time do we need to allot to each topic?

How should the meeting room be arranged?

How do we strive to find consensus and areas of agreement?

How do we stay focused on the subject(s)?

When and where should the meeting be scheduled?

When should the meeting end?

When and how should the meeting be evaluated?

When and what follow-up is needed to the meeting (e.g., distribute a summary of the meeting and the actions to be taken)?

How to Use Time More Effectively

Author Stephen Covey suggests we always “begin with the end in mind.”

Only by working smarter, more effectively planning, organizing, and managing our activities, can we better use time.

By developing a vision about what the end result should be, developing plans and organizing, and prioritizing activities will supervisors be able to use their time effectively.

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How to Use Time More Effectively

Have a daily, weekly, and long-term planner. Use them to identify the most important items.

Make a list of the major tasks that need to be completed. This is your to-do list. Also, make note of the reason for doing them and the timeline for getting them done. Listing some tasks wastes time.

Determine priorities. Focus on the most important tasks, those that support your objectives. Do not be afraid to ask your boss if a new task takes priority over other assignments.

Use technology wisely. Avoid distractions that are instantly and widely available on the Internet and mobile devices. Give yourself a set amount of time for recreational technology use then get back to the task at hand.

Clarify duties with a time-use chart. Identify which of your regular duties most directly relate to departmental objectives.

Set up a reminder system. Use your iPad, smartphone calendar, day-timeplanner, or another system to alert you to what needs to be done by when.

Know your prime time. This is the time of day when you are most alert, think most clearly, and work most effectively. Schedule your most complex tasks for this period.

Refer to your to-do list regularly. Interruptions will arise; deal with those emergencies, then go back to the high-priority task.

Schedule routine duties at times when you have low energy.

Schedule time at the end of the day to make tomorrow’s to-do list.

Write everything down. Document what, when, who, and where. Use an iPad, smartphone, or pocket or desk calendar to note activities that need major attention.

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Practical tips for making more effective use of time:

Use commonsense organizational and time-management techniques. For example, handle papers only once, keep your desk or workstation clear, finish one job before starting another, avoid distractions, and say “no.”

Deal with interruptions. If someone asks you for a minute on a non-life threatening matter, tell that person you want to give the matter your undivided attention and ask to schedule a brief meeting later. It is acceptable to tell someone you will call back; wasting valuable time is not acceptable.

Be adaptable. Don’t be afraid to reschedule in the face of unexpected events.

Enable subordinates to be the best they can be. Encourage them to take responsibility and to make decisions in their power to make. Do not let subordinates pass these decisions on to you.

Delegate. See Chapter 10 for tips on delegating successfully.

Get the most from meetings. See this chapter’s supervisory tips box for additional suggestions on managing meetings.

Overcome procrastination. Plan habitually and continuously, break difficult tasks into small and doable units, and work on unpleasant tasks immediately.

Use the two-hour rule. That is, if you have been working on a problem for more than two hours without making progress, get help. Often, by explaining a problem to someone else, you get a different perspective.

Follow the 80/20 principle. Eighty percent of achievement comes from 20 percent of time spent.

Remember, if you don’t know what is important, you will continue to wander without much accomplishment.

KEY TERMS

Department

Departmentalization

Division of work (specialization)

Downsizing (restructuring, right-sizing)

Formal organizational structure

Horizontal corporation

Informal organization

Job description

Job specification

Lead person

Lean manufacturing

Learning organization

Line authority

Line-and-staff-type organizational structure

Organization

Organization chart

Principle of organizational stability

Project management-type organizational structure

Reengineering

Self-directed (self-managed) work teams (SDWTs)

Span-of-management principle

Staff authority

Unity-of-command principle

Virtual organization

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