Want your company to develop? Get rid of managers!

Many employees work on their bosses, rather than on the company or their clients. Nowadays, business is riddled with managers at various levels, and employees often discover that they, while playing politics, focus on tasks that make their boss happy.

In the end, companies quickly forget what their goals and business objectives are - each employee is mainly engaged only in solving current problems, not paying attention to how they fit into the big picture.

If you notice this at your current job, know that the hierarchical structure of the organization is to blame.
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By eliminating the hierarchical model in my digital marketing agency Ciplex, we created a company in which people love to work, and at the same time saved money. The satisfaction of our customers has increased, and the quality of our work has improved. Our employees have become happier, customers are satisfied, expenses have decreased, and the whole company has become much better.

The following is a description of how I did it .

Create team culture

I created small teams of 3-4 people and removed the bosses that any of the members of these teams had. I also gave up any management or vice presidential positions within the team. Although leaders naturally appeared within the team, there was no need for a rigorous reporting structure. At first, your executives may be embarrassed by this idea, but it is important to remind them that these changes in culture and daily working life lead to increased productivity and increased motivation.

Allow your teams to independently determine their positions within the team, without introducing a hierarchical structure, and measure their own performance so they can learn and grow.

Let's get goals

Employees must work collectively — not just as task performers. After creating the teams, I gave each team a goal, the achievement of which is easy to measure in a short one-two-week interval. This helps employees to clearly understand what needs to be done, in the process of work they focus on “for what”, and not on “how”. Having a goal and clear short time intervals, teams are able to measure their performance and learn from previous mistakes that will allow them to be more effective in the next time interval.

Establish a team goal philosophy and employees will no longer feel like doing the work for their boss. They will appreciate the desire to give the team (or even an individual team member) own the goal and be responsible for it. If they need help, they can take advantage of the level of support, there is still no hierarchy.

Get rid of escalation, provide support

In organizations with a hierarchical structure, when a problem arises, it is escalated. Instead of supporting the team, you get employees who slip their problems to other people. And along with the problem is transferred responsibility for its solution. In my model, managers and bosses are support for the team, they work for the teams and help them with everything they need. Former senior managers help and support, instead of telling employees what to do and how.

Getting rid of hierarchy means that customer and customer satisfaction becomes a priority, and the team is responsible for this. Since now no one can blame anyone for solving problems, everyone starts to solve them collectively. There are no more routing departments and roles (politics) that once prevented these people from communicating with each other directly.

Pay what you need

By default, the salary depends on the position in the hierarchical structure. When you get rid of the hierarchy in the company, you do not need to equalize the salaries in order to make them the same for everyone, but you should talk to your employees. Ask how much money they need per month to feel comfortable. We have not lowered any salary, on the contrary, we have made several increases. Tie salary net to performance, not to position or position.

As soon as your employees stop worrying about the amount of money they make, the culture in your company will flourish. Remember, you want employees to work toward team goals, not salary.

Cancel the rules, give autonomy

Nobody likes to obey the authoritarian rules. The ability to make decisions independently is one of the strongest motivations, so let your employees act like the adults they are. Without being constrained by unnecessary rules and having received the proposed flexibility, they will be able to determine for themselves whether they need to be in the office on a particular day or not, whether to take a vacation next week.

Structures with strict working hours, job requirements, limited vacations, bizarre positions ... even in polls, employees shout one thing: they work to follow the rules, and not to achieve goals.

Direct, not manage

Getting rid of the hierarchical structure means that teams will themselves measure their success, giving you the opportunity to direct, not manage. Do not correct employees and do not solve their problems - direct and support them with instructions. When a problem is discovered, ask the key questions, the answers to which will lead them to a solution, instead of grabbing the reins and becoming responsible for solving them.

Reap the rewards of transformation

Having abandoned the hierarchy and got rid of the bosses, the culture in Ciplex flourished. Our employees have become happier because they really want to come to work every day, they do not feel that they are forced to work only for money and know that they are not forbidden to make responsible decisions.

In addition, we saw an increase in the quality of work and customer satisfaction, while the costs decreased. Let your company grow by getting rid of the hierarchy, and you will create a company in which people like to work.

From the translator: the author then asks the readers a question and offers to share their thoughts in the comments.

Will your company be able to benefit from getting rid of the hierarchy? Why and why not? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

I think the discussion will be interesting and readers of the translation.