Inject Some Flexible Bureaucracy to Help Your Struggling Processes

If you want your business to grow, then you’re going to have to get used to dealing with complex problems that require complex solutions. You can implement technology to make solving these challenges easier, but at the same time, you want to be careful that the solutions you implement are not going to get in the way of productivity. Today, we want to discuss good old-fashioned bureaucracy, and how while you might not want to build it into your strategy, it will probably happen anyway.

Bureaucracy Provides Structure, But Takes Away Flexibility

Building a hierarchy is usually only done to provide efficiency, and in the case of business, you want to ensure that processes are clear-cut and consistent. Granted, the rigidity that comes from bureaucracy can often get in the way of completing tasks, which in turn makes things the exact opposite of what you intend through its implementation. In the end, it’s all about oversight and how much of it you need and practice.

Efficiency Means You Produce More

Too much oversight is not good for any business. Just look at it from a government perspective; the more bureaucracy a government has, the less efficient it becomes. Businesses operate in largely the same way. Too much middle management can bring progress screeching to a halt and get in the way of your workers doing their jobs. Remember, the more people who need to approve a task for it to reach its completion, the longer it will needlessly be drawn out.

How can you prevent this from happening to your business, particularly as it grows? You can start with these ideas:

Establish and Evaluate Consistent Systems

In other words, build systems that work, and work well, most of the time and with a consistent amount of oversight and an acceptable end product. This process might take a little trial and error, and the systems you implement will need to be flexible as you accommodate and adjust for these variances. With this in mind, build your systems expecting to change them so that, when the need arises, you aren’t completely thrown for a loop.

Encourage Contribution of Ideas and Methods

People with good ideas often keep them to themselves if they are afraid of speaking up, or if their efforts have been ignored in the past. Empower your team to share their ideas for how to make things better and they will be more likely to contribute ideas that could be genuinely helpful moving forward.

Plan for Training and Reflect on Implementation

To ensure that your systems are working appropriately, you’ll need to make time for training and keep a certain amount of grace in mind while people adjust to it. Train your team on how to challenge the status quo during this process so that they can offer up creative and unique solutions to your dilemmas. You can reward this mindset, too, by promoting from within if the time and circumstances are right.

Organizational Efficiency is Just One Piece of the Puzzle

Your business might function better if you make some adjustments to your organizational structure, but the right technology can make an immediate impact on operations and productivity. To learn more, call us today at (501) 375-1111.