Network of Teams
The New Trend in Organizational Structure
Since the turn of the millennium, the idea of how we work has been reexamined and reimagined in every which way. Thanks to technology as well as our own motivations and desires, virtually everything about the career experience has shifted. This shift has been far from gradual. Today, they are occurring faster than we have seen in years prior.
Changes come in at a rapid pace, requiring you and your team to be agile and adaptive. Workplace reimagining happens in all facets of the operation. They include employees wanting more out of work, increased career empowerment and necessary information that is readily available.
Hierarchies that once appeared to be mainstays are now being upended and reconfigured for the modern era. In addition to reinventing for customers, businesses are doing it on the inside as well. These changes have ushered in a new trend in organizational structure in the workplace: a network of teams.
Why Change Your Network Organizational Structure?
Deloitte’s 2016 Global Human Capital Trends report noted that a staggering 92% of companies believe that redesigning its organization is needed, making it the top importance of the year. This overwhelming need for change is spurred on by only 38% of all companies and 24% of large companies being functionally organized at that time.
In response to the findings, companies shifted their structure. Measures included decentralizing authority while centralizing its sources of information. In addition to information, cultures began to empower teams while flipping the power structure on its head from time to time.
However, the most significant factor in a network of teams are the people themselves. Technology allows teams to work around the world and anywhere they would like. Despite being around the world, the ability to work across departments has never been desired more. To meet that need, this new era of work embraces the fluidity of roles and information.
From the military to the office, organizational restructuring is taking the world by storm. Phasing all three into organizations can take time. However, the effort is worth it as your team modernizes and positions itself as a leader in workplace management.
Today, everyone benefits when team members are treated as the valuable members they are. By empowering them to speak and lead, your organization gains another strong leader who understands they are a valued member of the team. In turn, you should receive their best efforts on every task.
The Foundation to a Network of Teams
Across the world, the network of teams concept has gripped organizations of all sizes. Like any successful concept, the plan relies on pillars that serve as its foundation. They include:
- A mission and expert leaders drive success. Dispatch with generalist type managers and move the team into focused roles around customers, product, the market and overall missions.
- Instead of setting KPIs and other goals yourself, motivate your team to establish their team and personal metrics as well as the subsequent strategy.
- Bring the teams together through shared information. Departmental silos should be phased out and replaced with a central hub of information. A central source of information keeps goals and data aligned.
- Encourage cross-departmental learning. Marketing shouldn’t only have to learn from the marketing department. The same goes for IT, HR and any other role in the company. Break down the walls and see what shared information cultivates in your business. Achieve this success by using goal-focused events, like a sprint), implementing an open office format and rotate roles and functions on occasion.
Overall, the goal in a network of teams is to break down walls for information and individuals to flow freely. When this is encouraged in a focused environment, you have a formula for success in the modern workforce.
How to Build a Network of Teams
Overhauling your organizational structure is no small task, but it is far from impossible. Instead, take a step back at how the team currently operates and analyze the gradual alterations that can equal sizable shifts.
The first thing you should do is look at the points we discussed above. Shift away from generalist managers and focus with specialists. From there, embrace information hubs. Now, go one step forward by reviewing middle management. What is its function? If you can’t find reasons that demonstrate a specialist mentality, it may be best to phase the role out.
Next, empower your team through a series of actions. First, promote the team-driven culture by fostering recognition and rewards of the team over the individual whenever possible. To avoid any division amongst the groups, be sure to also push for cross-departmental interactions. Next, have the team create its own KPIs and milestones that will then be shared amongst the entire organization.
Ready to Join the Trend in Organizational Structure?
The overwhelming figures in the past years indicate just how important the network of teams approach is to companies. Have you made the switch? Are you planning to?
While the network of teams concept isn’t a must for every company, it seems to come as close to being one as it can be in the workplace. With the office and employees shifting at a rapid pace, a company cannot stand to wait and see how the organization will evolve. Take the first steps today. Examine your current structure and note what needs to be changed. Make a list and get into action. The shift will be gradual, but the benefits will be worth all the effort.
