All too often we focus on bureaucracy as “getting in the way” or being “toffee” slowing everything down. Something that stifles innovation, rather than allowing it to flourish. But I am going to do something rather bizarre I am going to stand up for bureaucracy.
There are two types of bureaucracy (at least) in the world:
- Bureaucracy that is in place to make it easy for people to not only do the right thing but do it right, and
- Bureaucracy that is in place because an organisation doesn’t deal with people not following bureaucracy and adds ever increasing layers of checking and control to avoid direct conflict.
So, when I see memes about bureaucracy stifling creativity, it screams “your organisation has a lack of trust and potentially a toxic, passive aggressive culture”.
How to deal with bad bureaucracy…
- The top team in an organisation has to come together as a team, this is the team you are in C-suite … not the team you lead. CEOs need to work super hard to create a cohesive, performing, collective top table team.
- Rinse and repeat with the “marzipan layer”…. This is usually (in large orgs) Heads of Function. If they are fighting each other, fighting for resources, or basically not aware of each other properly then those that are responsible for governance will feel shut out and often put in more and more checking and control to compensate.
- Make sure those with governance duties have open access to C-Suite.. and I mean direct access. They don’t have to be on the board, I mean hey change the whole board thing if you can. But make sure it is clear what their authority is, and never undermine that.
- Learn and implement techniques like Value Stream Mapping. This will bring the right people together to map how things get done (or not) and identify where you have waste in your process (including bad bureaucracy). Your job there is to get rid of the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse…. rework, duplication, reconciliation and manual handovers… and the equine buddy the Donkey of the Apocalypse …. local solutions and in the context of bureaucracy, local checks and controls).
- Upskilling managers in handling performance issues effectively and professionally. All too often managers only have two tools in the toolkit, do nothing or shout at people. Give them new tools.
- Give staff permission and skills to manage across the organisation and outside their line or sphere of influence. If someone is not following a process but isn’t in your team, be brave and speak to them… don’t just put in another check or escalate to their line manager. But do it well, do it with clarity, empathy and transparency.
- Have a KPI on the number of processes that are reviewed and optimised.
Remember bad bureaucracy is an indicator of a deficit of trust, focus on trust and you will fix bureaucracy. Do it the other way round and you will keep forcing the behaviours you don’t want.
For more information on Value Stream Mapping, I recommend getting in touch with the fabulously talented Philippa Hale. Link here to her LinkedIn profile.