Responsibility Virus (2)

We looked at some of the problems with responsibility - both in terms of how they are conceptualized in the book 'The Responsibility Virus' and in terms of our own experiences at Space Database. In this post we will examine some possible solutions and ways in which we are designing our organization to better deal with delegation and the assumption of responsibility at various levels.

A major problem that Martin points out is that we do not have a nuanced enough language to talk about responsibility. Either I'm in charge or you are. One or the other. A better approach would be to see responsibility as several shades of grey rather than black or white.

It seems to be human nature to go to one extreme or the other. But if we recognize that responsibility can be negotiated and shared, then there is an opportunity for the over-responsible to develop effective delegation and training by moving a few steps down the scale. There is opportunity for growth and development for the under-responsible to try to move up one or more steps.

How does this apply to the way that we manage projects? We have designed a system whereby there is a cascading set of decisions and responsibilities. We do not try to micromanage every individual on one hand and we do not expect each employee to be entirely autonomous on the other hand. We have tried to match responsibility with the level of information and the degree of control that each individual has.

Starting at the lowest level of detail, we have the consultant or surveyor who is working on one project. This consultant is responsible to fulfill a specific scope of work, but has the freedom to plan and schedule their own tasks. They are expected to report accurate projections on the completion of the work and to provide regular updates on their projects. We provide time management training and tools to help these individuals plan their time efficiently and calculate accurate expected durations.

Information from the consultant allows a project manager to plan and allocate resources for the production of many different jobs. With accurate projections and status information, the project manager can plan work in the most efficient way and allocate new work to consultants at a rate that will neither under or over utilize each consultants time.

With an accurate assessment of the status of all projects, our weekly production meetings gives us all a clear overview of what is happening in all areas of the company and we are able to do higher level reallocation and reprioritization of work based on client requirements and expectations. These meetings also provide valuable feedback to the sales teams not only on the performance and profitability of the various projects but also information on the production pipeline. When will we need more work? When are we available to start new projects? Based on discussions in the production meeting, project managers have a clear idea of what their production priorities have to be.

Effective production meetings provide essential information to plan the longer term strategy of the company. Which areas of the business should be expanded? Where do we need more resources? What direction should we go in. Formulation of a clear strategy provides a guideline for priorities and resource allocations that are made in the production meetings.

In this model choices are made at every level of the organization. People make decisions in the areas where they have the best information and are able to select the most efficient options. A good flow of accurate and meaningful information up through the organization supports decision making at higher levels. Responsibility is evenly distributed and people are empowered to act.

So this is our vision. As with any grand scheme, it is not yet perfect or fully implemented, but I believe we are all starting to see and feel the benefits.

I have developed a power point presentation on our decision making process that I would be happy to share with you. For further reading please refer to Martin's book. It also has a website:

http://www.responsibilityvirus.com/