The fable goes something like:
A chicken and a pig decide to go in as partners in a new restaurant. One day they are arguing about whether the restaurant should be called "Oinker and Cluck's" or "Cluck and Oinker's." The chicken argues that he is the brains behind the organization, that he is delivering over 50% of the funding and that C comes before O in the alphabet.
The pig argues that in a “Ham and Eggs Restaurant” that he, the pig, is actually committed, whereas the chicken is merely involved.
You’ve probably heard a version of this story. It’s a well-known tool used to instruct teams using various agile methodologies how to run meetings. The idea is that the individuals who have deliverables or dependencies (the pigs) get to speak. The people who are ancillary or are not otherwise obligated in the current iteration (the chickens) do not. If you're not aware of these rules, you may goof up an iteration planning meeting or a daily scrum.
My intent is not to give a lesson in software methodology. I'm making the point that everyone needs to “know his role” for an organization to work like a machine.
Lack of role clarity in an organization results in bad stuff:
- redundant work
- missed deliverable
- turf battles
- lack of accountability (finger pointing)
It is my job to facilitate and communicate role definition across the I.T. organization. However it is the employee’s job to understand her role—or if there isn’t role clarity to demand it, either by seeking guidance from a manager or by working directly with the people with whom overlap or gaps are most likely.
Once roles have been established and people understand their scope of responsibility, they need to feel empowered to act decisively. It’s better to make a bold move and be wrong then to be lulled into inaction by fear.
What happens if your peers don’t understand their jobs effectively, and thus throwing it over the fence to them dooms your work to stagnation? One of the tenets of our “know your role” belief is that we help others to understand their roles in a non-threatening way.
Such clarity is vital in any interdependent organization--be it a corporation, a church, or even just a family--vital, yet often overlooked.
ReplyDeleteI remember from my pre-kids days how when there is no clarity on such matters, ownership of various problems around the office would shift dramatically depending on whether there was praise or responsibility to be doled out.
Such clarity is vital not only in getting the work done, well and efficiently, but also as part of any performance review model. Whether there is praise or responsibility for a project, it's vital for the managers involved to know who the real producer was, not just who is best able to position themselves when the moment comes.
When discussing this topic at work, i think I heard it best when it was said this way:
ReplyDelete"Your role is to get the job done"
If you think about it this way and focus on the task at hand with teamwork in mind, you'll soon find and possibly expand the boundaries of your own role.
I think roles can be overstated, inflated, and over-emphasized to the point where they damage an organization. My manager (the vice president of R&D) spends a lot of time, effort, and energy writing and requiring detailed roles, responsibilities, and deliverables documents for the people that report to me, yet I think there are only three fundamental actual roles that report to me. They are:
ReplyDelete- Virtual customer (XP's on-site customer)
- Programmer
- Tester
The other role is "manager" (me) which I try diligently to not instantly convert to "overhead". It spends too much time as "overhead", so every effort to prevent
In reading your initial topic it makes me think that you have either not read the "One Minute Manager" or have forgotten the principles in it.
ReplyDeleteThis book utilizes the principle that God uses with all of us and that is, He gives us clear direction in what we are to do, and then tells us to return and
report on what we did.
If we do not see that BOTH sides of this communication method are are being used, then we should immediately identify this shortcoming and help train the people around us what good communications are.
Without clarity of direction and expectations, encouragement is of little use.
I believe it is important that roles are understood on every side. I've always looked to management to consistently provide three things...
ReplyDeleteDecisions
Direction
Support
If they can do that, and then get out of the way, a talented staff can usually carry the day.