Organisations often re-organise as a response to changes caused by external or internal factors. It is common to see new organisation charts discussed, designed and published.
However, a significant proportion of Leaders oversee a major aspect of a re-organisation: re-defining Roles & Responsibilities.
Below is a typical example of a re-organisation for a Company A:
From
'Functional' organisation chart
This is a typical organisation chart for an company that runs technical activities and projects.
The company is organised by 'Skill pools' and operates under a matrix mode whereby, for each study or project, resources from various skill pools are picked off to form a temporary team, until the end of the study or the project.
In this model, the 'Sales Team', made up of Client Account Managers, is separate from the operational team performing the work under a pool of Project Managers.
To
'Client-focused' organisation chart
The same company as above decides to re-organise. Their new organisation chart aims at creating long-term, close and strong relationships with their clients.
Under a Projects Director lies a pool of Client Account Managers who are responsible for creating and maintaining close communication and a strong relation with clients in their respective portfolios.
For every study or project awarded by a client, the relevant Client Account Manager personally oversees the operational performance of study or project work.
Effectively, the roles of Project Manager and Client Account Manager have been merged in this organisation.
It may appear obvious from the above change of structure of Company A that, for management positions at least, roles have changed to a certain extent.
As a knock-on effect, their responsibilities have changed as well, in the transformation from the functional organisation to the client-focused organisation.
In practical terms, let's examine the below examples of change of Roles & responsibilities:
FROM: Functional organisation
Name: Phil Edwards
Role: Technical Director
Responsibilities:
- Technical supervision of technical specialists
- Resource management of technical specialists
- Technical authority & Engineering Manager roles
- Management of small & medium technical studies
Name: Grant O'Brien
Role: Project Manager
Responsibilities:
- Management of project team(s)
- Ownership of project budget and project plan
- Delivery of projects on time and within budget
- Interface with client project sponsor
TO: Client-focused organisation
Name: Phil Edwards
Role: Client Account Manager
Responsibilities:
- Management of a portfolio of clients
- Management of contract with clients
- Single point of contact for clients in portfolio
- Client relationship management and entertainment
- Accountability for profitability of portfolio
- Technical supervision of technical specialists
- Resource management of technical specialists
- Technical authority & Engineering Manager roles
- Management of small & medium technical studies
- Management of project team(s)
- Ownership of project budget and project plan
- Delivery of projects on time and within budget
- Interface with client project sponsor
Name: Grant O'Brien
Role: Project Manager
Responsibilities:
- Management of a portfolio of clients
- Management of contract with clients
- Single point of contact for clients in portfolio
- Client relationship management and entertainment
- Accountability for profitability of portfolio
- Technical supervision of technical specialists
- Resource management of technical specialists
- Technical authority & Engineering Manager roles
- Management of small & medium technical studies
- Management of project team(s)
- Ownership of project budget and project plan
- Delivery of projects on time and within budget
- Interface with client project sponsor
In the above simplified examples:
- Responsibilities that previously fell under a different role are shown in blue.
- New responsibilities falling under the new role are shown in red.
The roles and the responsibilities of Phil and Grant have changed significantly from their respective previous position.
It may appear obvious when it is laid out as above; however, a surprisingly high proportion of organisation Leaders simply omit to re-define Roles & Responsibilities after a re-organisation.
However, nothing should be assumed after a re-organisation, otherwise the whole company may wind up unbalanced and in complete inertia.
Practical questions that can cause inertia:
The Business Services Director position used to be responsible for establishing prices charged to client. Is it still the case with the new organisation? Or is it now under the Client Account Managers?
The Technical Manager used to hire Technical Specialists. Is it still the case with the new organisation? Or is it now under each Client Account Manager?
Every re-organisation must be accompanied by a re-definition of Roles & Responsibilities, to avoid chaos, unbalance, confusion and organisational inertia.
For more insight on the above topic, read book "Avoiding or Overcoming Organisational Inertia".
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