Update: The New Company Organizational Chart for 2020

Version 1.4 [Discontinued]

The following is our Organizational Chart, with which all McKinley & Rice team members should be extremely well acquainted.

Organizational Structure Overview

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We are pursuing a Hybrid Agile/ Militaristic Hierarchical Organizational Structure.

This means:

• People have little flexibility within the administrative organization, that is, a strict system of checks and balances is set in place, along with corresponding penalties.
• People have autonomy within the executive organization, that is, management does not micromanage and gives freedom to the respective Tech Leads and Account Officers (Project Leads) regarding how they wish to allocate and accomplish projects.
• In short, work is done in an agile manner, while reviews are done in a hierarchical manner.

Scheduled Meetings:

• All Administrative Heads and Tech Leads are to schedule weekly meetings with their respective teams and the COO to discuss Weekly Checklists regarding their roles.
• All Account Officers are to schedule daily stand-up meetings with their respective teams and the Tech Leads to discuss the daily work plan and review the previous day’s work carried out by the team.
• The Project Manager has to schedule an End-of-the-Day (EOD) meeting for all the on-going projects. The purpose of this meeting is to check the EOD status of the team to ensure that there are no lapses in meeting client deadlines. All team members along with the Account Officer and the Tech Lead need to be present. The Project Manager needs to submit the health status of each project to the TL at the end of the day.

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER (COO)

Role Synopsis

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In charge of the development, design, operation, and improvement of the systems that create and deliver McKinley & Rice’s current products, as well as researching how to turn future objectives into a detailed, executable strategy. Responsible for creating systems that are not people-centric and enable SMART people to work TOGETHER to deliver SMART outputs.

Problems That the Position Must Prevent

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• The COO is responsible for all daily operations.
• The COO also acts as the Head of External Affairs by being in charge of maintaining and developing external business relationships with individuals, corporations, and the government.
• The COO also acts as the Head of Audits and Prosecution by being in charge of leading operation audits, that is, ensuring that company policies are being followed, and ii) leading internal investigations when disputes arise to find the guilty party.
• The COO also acts as the Head of Global Communications by being in charge of international communications, including both verbal and written translation, whether it be with clients, partners, or other branches.

Required Qualities for the Position

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• A deep understanding of both Silicon Valley Tech Culture and Indian Business Culture.
• Extreme proficiency in English, enough to conduct academic-level research.
• Strong militaristic management capabilities, especially the ability to whip new recruits into organized professionals.
• The ability to not only ‘manage’, but also to ‘lead’, that is, to inspire the organization into improving themselves.
• The ability to impartially identify problems, discover and judge facts without being susceptible to office politics.

Weekly Checklist

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• Is the current Semester’s Management Key Focus being executed on track?
• Is everyone completing their respective project checklists on Notion?
• How is everyone progressing their respective Team Semester Milestones?
  (As stated in the ‘Team and Company Milestones’ Document)
• How are we improving all current processes so that each team reaches 15% increased efficiency next year?
• Is company strategy and policy being communicated effectively to the rest of the team?
• How is R&D regarding future strategy progressing?
• What initiatives are being taken to develop new external relationships?
• What initiatives are being taken to strengthen pre-existing external relationships?
• Is all incoming and outgoing communication documented properly?
• Are projects related to the target language constructed on track and as per the requirements?
• Carrying out a weekly evaluation for the HRs, Tech Leads, QA Testers, and Project Manager.
• Are all matters of legal implication being adequately managed?
• Are all matters of financial implication including banking controls, invoicing, GST, trade financing, Inward/Outward remittances being adequately managed?
• Are initiatives pertaining to Social Media engagement and internal team engagement being adequately implemented?

HEAD OF THE STRATEGIC BRAND MANAGEMENT UNIT (SBMU)

Role Synopsis

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In charge of ensuring that the company’s brand identity is preserved, enhanced, and evolved with time. The position is in charge of ensuring that marketing and branding activities associated with the company and that of its proprietary product are perfectly planned and executed.

Also, in charge of i) establishment and Management of the Campus Ambassador Network (CA- Network) ii) developing the Lead Generation Network in collaboration with the LGE, and iii) in charge of creating U.S./India centric marketing campaigns. Must work closely in sync with the COO

Required Qualities for the Position

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• A highly professional mindset.
• A deep understanding of both Silicon Valley Tech Culture and Indian Business Culture.
• Extreme proficiency in English, enough to both write poetry and conduct academic level research at the same time.
• A deep understanding of U.S. literature and pop culture, enough to know and keep track of trending online memes and themes.
• A highly creative personality, enough to create enterprise-level brand names and slogans in English.
• To be able to monitor, verify, and raise the alarm if not satisfied with the outcomes produced by any of its sub-teams.
• This position should preferably be a stand-alone hire.

HEAD OF CORPORATE CULTURE AND THE INTERNAL HR

Role Synopsis

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In charge of creating a ‘Work Hard, Play Hard’ culture that is aligned with our company vision: ‘With Border Tech, we will outmaneuver everyone ahead of us and become the most influential company in India’, so that we may attract and retain the best talent in India. Must work closely in sync with the Human Resources Team.

Problems That the Position Must Prevent

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• How do we maintain the cultural balance between mundane efficiency and exciting chaos?
• How do we ensure that the existing HR systems are both sustainable and scalable?

Required Qualities for the Position

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• A deep understanding of both Silicon Valley Tech Culture and Indian Business Culture.
• A highly creative personality with a knack for perfection.
• A knack for understanding intrinsic and extrinsic motivation that an employee has.

Weekly Checklist

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• Are the internal team hiring requirements being recorded and met well?
• Is the internal team grievance being addressed periodically?
• Is there a need to upgrade or establish any new internal HR systems in order to systematize facets of a growing organization?
• What company events are scheduled (excursions, parties, hackathons, etc.)?
• How do we improve workplace creativity (benefits, decor, short activities, international competitions, etc.)?
• How do we design cultural activities so that they aren’t just about the play but are also constructive?

RECRUITMENT CUM OUTREACH OFFICER

Role Synopsis

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In charge of creating the foundation with which we will change the world. The recruitment cum outreach officer along with the Head of Corporate Culture is in charge of the entire employee experience, that is, cultivating the relationship between the organization and its members starting from when potential candidates apply for a position, until the moment they leave the organization.

We believe that there are 3 types of people. The top 25% of the workforce are A-Level Players, which we wish to attract but are difficult to find outside of big corporations. The next 25% are B Level Players, who are diamonds in the rough that are technically skilled but may lack professional attitudes. The leftover 50% are C Level Players, who are not trainable, have limited learning capabilities, and thus do not create any value.

As a relatively new company, we know our real goal is to hire B Level Players and to rigorously train them to become A-Level Players.

Thus the Human Resources team is in charge of i) hiring A-Level and Upper B Level Players, ii) firing C Level Players, and iii) developing B Level Players into A-Level Players.

Must work closely in sync with the Head of Corporate Culture.

• Recruitment
  How to make our company more appealing to potential candidates so that we attract the best talent. Also how to prevent skilled people from asking substandard recruitment questions and making foolish decisions.
• Retention
  How to keep existing team members happy.
• Development
  How to develop B Level Players into A-Level Players. The development includes company excursions, workshops, and performance reviews.
  The following core values must be considered when constructing all Development Related Work:
  — BELIEF IN QUALITY
  — BELIEF IN ONE TEAM
  — BELIEF IN INDIA 2023

Problems That the Position Must Solve

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• Given the limitations of Indian work culture and Indian recruitment process norms, how do we improve our conversion rate of Upper B Level Players?
• Case in Point: Even technically skilled people sometimes ask for Z amount as a salary, giving the reason that it is the average between the upper limit X and the lower limit Y, as stated in the job posting, without even having the proper credentials for the position. Even technically skilled people sometimes ask for 3X the industry norms for no apparent reason. These are just a few examples of why we have such a low candidate conversion rate in India as compared to overseas. How do we pre-emptively overcome this problem?
• How do we develop professionalism within our own team and new recruits?

Required Qualities for the Position

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• Strong management capabilities, especially the ability to keep the workplace environment cheerful and positive.
• Extreme proficiency in English, enough to conduct academic-level research.
• A highly analytical personality, enough to be able to analyze and prioritize difficult decisions at a rapid pace.
• A highly creative personality, enough to create enterprise-level brand names and slogans in English.

Weekly Checklist

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• Are we hiring more people?
  <The Standard of Evaluation: How is the Candidate Tracking Google Drive Spreadsheet being maintained?>
• How are we improving our current recruitment processes? What kind of ads are we running? How are we writing our letters? What other methods are we trying out to improve our conversion ratios? How are we improving our appeal as compared to other giants such as Facebook, Google, or Samsung?
• How are we developing our existing human resources? How are we transforming amateur B Level Players into professional A-Level Players? What kind of activities are we planning to improve everyone’s efficiency?
• Is there anyone on our team who is a C Level Player, that is, they are incapable of growing and need to be fired?
• How are we updating our company policies?
• Is the Human Resources page on Notion updated at all times?

CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER (CTO)

Weekly Checklist

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• What kind of projects can we take on?
• Are we future-proofing our company in relation to tech stacks?
• Are all current projects on track?
• Are you holding code reviews?

TECH LEAD

Role Synopsis

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Solely responsible for leading one or more projects and development teams in the organization. This individual is responsible for the overall planning, execution, and success of complex projects to meet the client’s needs. This is done through constant monitoring of the overall health of the project and accordingly guiding the Account Officer. Tech Lead would be responsible for assisting the Account Officer and the Engineers with any and all implementation doubts.

Problems That the Position Must Solve

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• How do we ensure that every project is delivered within the deadline while ensuring high-quality deliverables?

Required Qualities for the Position

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• Strong technical skills and in-depth knowledge of all the projects under their jurisdiction.
• Ability to zoom out and have a broader view of the overall project to see how every developer’s work fits into the larger picture.
• Clever delegation of work after understanding the technical capabilities of the team.
• Ability to effectively communicate with the clients and gather technical requirements of the project.
• Perceptive and organized enough to plan the timeline of a project and set the deadlines accordingly.

Weekly Checklist

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• Are all projects adequately distributed?
• Is everyone’s Notion Project Timeline detailed and up to date?
  <The Standard of Evaluation: Is the timeline detailed enough so that you can understand exactly what is up for review at each milestone?>
• Is everyone in your team adhering to the Company Standard Workflow Policy? Especially the 5 Project Monitoring Duties: i) Keeping Minutes of Meeting, ii) Monitoring DEFCON Situations, iii) Raising Issues, iv) Monitoring Client Requests and Requirement Changes, and v) Monitoring Management Requests.
• Are all projects on track?
• Are code reviews being held regularly?
• Assisting the team with tech questions regarding projects.
• Carrying out a weekly evaluation for the Developers, QA testers and the Account Officers.

ACCOUNT OFFICER

Role Synopsis

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In charge of leading one project and managing its technical scope before, during and after delivery. This individual is responsible to directly lead a team of developers to ensure that the project requirements are met. While the Tech Lead looks at multiple projects at a time, the Account Officer single-mindedly works on just one project that he heads. The Account Officer is responsible for sprint planning, dividing up tasks and assigning them to the team. Basically, the most direct accountability is assigned to the Account Officer of that project.

Problems That the Position Must Prevent

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• How do we ensure that work is divided evenly among the team members and each developer in the team is finishing off his/her tasks as decided?

Required Qualities for the Position

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• Strong technical skills and in-depth knowledge of all intricacies in the project.
• Ability to zoom in and zoom out as and when required. Zoom in when laser focus precision is required to work on specific features or tasks. Zoom out when awareness is needed on how everyone’s work in the team connects to the larger goal of the project.
• Effective communication skills to be able to engage in a dialogue with the client and give proactive status updates regarding the project.
• Leadership skills to keep the team motivated and the ability to predict any obstacles and remove them pre-emptively.

Weekly Checklist

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• Are all the client requirements recorded correctly on Notion and have they been fragmented into tasks and assigned to the team?
• Is the Date of Delivery assigned to each task mentioned on the Notion Task List?
• Is the team obeying the deadlines and completing the work accordingly?
• Is the client getting regular status updates in any one or more formats: Slack updates, Weekly Sprint Report, Client Feedback Log, etc.
• Is the Notion Project Timeline detailed and up to date?
  <The Standard of Evaluation: Is the timeline detailed enough so that you can understand exactly what is up for review at each milestone?>
• Is everyone in your team adhering to the Company Standard Workflow Policy? Especially the 5 Project Monitoring Duties: i) Keeping Minutes of Meeting, ii) Monitoring DEFCON Situations, iii) Raising Issues, iv) Monitoring Client Requests and Requirement Changes, and v) Monitoring Management Requests.

QUALITY ASSURANCE TESTERS (QA)

Role Synopsis

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In charge of assessing the quality of a project in all aspects like functionality, aesthetics, and design. This individual is responsible for automation and manual testing to find bugs or glitches in the product/application built by the project team. Ultimately, the QA Tester needs to ensure that the deliverables sent to the client work correctly.

Problems That the Position Must Prevent

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• How do we ensure that the modules we mark ‘Complete’ are complete in its true sense, i.e. they are completely error-free?

Required Qualities for the Position

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• In-depth knowledge of important testing techniques.
• Ability to have independent knowledge of project requirements to critique or augment the work provided by the development team.
• Ability to act as an effective counter to the Account Officer in times of conflict pertaining to requirement analysis.
• Ability to dive into the module and test it completely- like break the code!
• Attention to detail and an analytical mind for troubleshooting errors.

Weekly Checklist

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• Are the modules marked ‘Complete’ before the weekly demo?
• Are all errors, big or small, documented, assigned a person-in-charge and a priority level.
• Carrying out a weekly evaluation for the Tech team for the purpose of the team evaluation.

Management Duties

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This Company Organizational Chart is one of the main pillars of McKinley & Rice’s operations. Thus it will be the COO and HR team’s responsibility to routinely check whether everyone in the organization has fully memorized the policy.