adminThey would rather sit at their desk, look busy or attack their computer and get through paperwork in order to avoid heading up a project.
Working with people is the same all around the world. Have you ever worked with someone and you are not quite sure what they are accomplishing?
You note that their title is “chief co-ordinator of Internal Systems and Procedures” but there is no sign of accomplishment or value addition in your mind and you wrestle with yourself and convince yourself that he is doing something of importance.
After all, it must be quite important because of the title and when you ask him or her for a breakdown of their contribution it sounds very technical, important and they use big words that convince you that they are valuable.
They take weeks to accomplish what looks like lofty and ever moving goals, and you know no better because you have a lot on your mind.
When you first hired them they flew in like a beautiful butterfly with all sorts of exciting potential but now it is like the reverse of metamorphosis has taken place and they move like worms through your organisation.
A while ago I worked with an organisation that had 50 people on its payroll all with great job titles, consistent wages, large mahogany desks, and 24/7 access to the tea and coffee buffet.
When things got a bit tough in the economy, and the world, the company started to sweat and had to dismiss 10 people because the wage bill was too high (of course dismissing them was almost as expensive as keeping them due to the high benefit schemes they had).
This organisation made the beautiful shift from title-based leadership to project-based leadership.
So after getting rid of 20 percent of their staff, they made the remaining 40 people focus on projects not title.
When the staff had constant titled positions there were small goals, no deadlines, often no direct impact, a lot of bureaucracy, a consistent salary that had no relation to productivity, and roles that were hard to grade.
With this type of mentality, people get very comfortable in their big chairs and they focus on the details in their day.
You will hear things like “I checked my e-mails, I followed up on so and so, we have a delay in this, we will schedule a meeting for that, we will put in a requisition for this”.
If you have noticed this in your life, do what this organisation did and flip to a project-based structure.
There are specific projects with specific deadlines, start and finish dates, there is a sense of urgency (when people are urgent they get creative).
It is easy to measure and easy to grade. Competency is easy to recognise, strengths are easy to notice.
Leadership is based on getting the project done not the individual. Things get done, efficiently.
Project-based initiatives that assess the impact, that break down titles and enable people to use whatever resources they can find just like when you were given a project at college or high school.
Think of projects and assignments at school, like in school, things get done on time, assessed and graded.
You had to be creative in order to get a good grade. You could ask the teacher for advice but they were not interested in which people you spoke to, sites you visited and books you read until the project was done and submitted under your name. Projects create ownership.
Mere positions create delegation and allow for a putting off of responsibility. Projects foster accountability.
You have a date to ship by, with fixed parameters for delivery. If it does not ship everyone knows where or to whom to look.
Too often titles allow blame to be shifted up, down or sideways in the food chain. “I am not the one” mindsets die with projects.
Projects exploit competency. It no longer matters how far down the office food chain the person running with the project is, he or she is accountable for it and has the authority to make it happen.
Suddenly Jim, who has been number crunching in a back room in accounts because that is what his “assistant bookkeeper” title says he should do, is able to flourish and tap into a set of skills that he has suppressed for the last decade. If you ask him to deliver a new payroll system he gets it done on time. Projects win over mere title any day.
Online Reporter