We often see Businesses redefining their structure by only analysing their structure.
This is akin to changing your riding position on a bike that you have outgrown – it might be comfortable for a few minutes but you’ll need to change again…and again…and again
The better way to do it is look more deeply – can I adjust the seat? handlebars? Do I need to trade up?
In the structure context, a cleaner and more objective view of a Business is looking at the ‘functions’ as opposed to getting tangled in the web of reporting lines.
Functions are just a grouping of tasks….and a functional map is the simple process of exploring the following considerations for each function:
– Who is responsible (decision-maker) and who are the do-ers;
– Defining KPIs and deliverables for each that chunk up to the Business goals;
– Assessment around capacity and capability;
– Grouping functions into roles to inform job descriptions;
– Defining reporting lines to inform an org structure.
A Business is really nothing more than a bunch of functions and the structure needs to support these functions, not the other way around. Starting with the functions first prompts more intelligent questions such as what does the Business need…as opposed to how we do best make use of what we have.