Management Questions

Oct 7th 2007 Mission as an Organizing Principle

What is the role of our organizations in responding to the need for meaning?
What, if any, is the social contract between an employer and employee?
Have we defined the mission of our organizations to include bringing purpose and meaning to those who are fulfilling the mission?
How do we measure the effectiveness of our organizations?
Can (should) our organizations become moral communities to help shape the human character and behavior of our people?
Can our mission be an organizing principle?

Source:
Mission as an Organizing Principle
by C. William Pollard
Leader to Leader, No. 16 Spring 2000

To what extent is the organization thinking about its future and about the larger implications of its behavior?
What are people rewarded, recognized, fired and/or promoted for?

Source:
The decisiondriven organization
by Paul Rogers
Bain & Company

What are our unifying values? What have we stood for over time? The ability to provide context and meaning for the work people do is key.
How do you organize your time? Is it spent on what you say is important? If you want to know if you’re really adding value, look at your calendar.
Whom do you depend on? Your real work team is those people you count on to do your job — including support staff, suppliers, customers, direct reports, even regulators. Your performance depends on the quality of those relationships.
What are you being paid for? All leaders must understand what results they’re accountable for.
How well do you practice teamwork, empowerment, service, or whatever values you espouse? Credibility is the No. 1 issue for leaders. By taking an honest look at your own practices — and asking others to look at them — you’ll know where you stand.
How do you convey difficult issues? Learning requires an acceptance, by definition, that one doesn’t have all the answers. Your ability to discuss complex problems and develop solutions without making others defensive is a key to learning.

Source:
The Ecology of Leadership
by Peter M. Senge
Leader to Leader, No. 2 Fall 1996

What are the general behavioral implications of this change, for us and for staff?
What specific behavioral changes must leadership make to convince staff of our sincerity?
How will we ensure (not guess, hope, or assume) lower-level managers will make the behavioral transition?

Source:
Easing Fear of New Technology
by Tom Penderghast, DBA
Graziadio Business Report, Fall 1998

Following are some questions that may help you focus on areas that may still need to be addressed if you are planning some technological change.

Are there any formal and/or informal norms that the planned technological change will impact?
How much does your planned technological change build on the existing values and procedures used in your organization?
Can you identify the positions or individuals that are likely to benefit and those who are likely to lose something in this change?
Have you planned any type of compensation for those who are likely to lose something with the technological change?
Have you developed a strategy for explaining this change to your employees – how it will work, why it is being done, and how training and support will be provided?
Can you name the leaders who will be critical if the technological change is to be accepted, and do you have plans for involving them in the change process?
Have you included budget and plans for employee training and support?

Source:
Easing Fear of New Technology
by Tom Penderghast, DBA
Graziadio Business Report, Fall 1998

What about the current structure helps or hinders the organization in achieving its strategy?
What roles and responsibilities are clear or not clear?
Are the organizational goals clear or is there confusion?
Which customer needs are being satisfied or not met?
Which people skills exist or are missing?
Which work flows are efficient and effective? Or not?
Which informal processes support organizational goals? Or work against them?
What aspects of the organization, structure, culture, and power sharing are ineffective?
What are the traditional bottlenecks in the current work processes?
What areas are focal points for recurring negative customer feedback?
What aspects of individual competence, people skills, and mindset are inadequate to get the work done?

Source:
TAOS Thinking About Organization Structure
by Roger T Sobkowiak
HR effects