Submitted by robertg34 on
in
Forums
I recently read GooglePlex chronicling the rise from start up to their current behemoth status. I was fascinated by their disdain for managers and how they basically ran the company with very small teams (no managers) obviously with great success. Being a Manager Tools follower I began to have my doubts. Were Manager Tools methods becoming obsolete? Is this the new way of work? Well, my fears have been laid to rest:
"Yet earlier this year, when Google interviewed its employees about what they valued most at work, none of these extravagant benefits made the top of the list. Neither did salary. Instead, employees cited access to “even-keeled bosses who made time for one-on-one meetings, who helped people puzzle through problems by asking questions, not dictating answers, and who took an interest in employees’ lives and careers.”
Rock on Manager Tools!
Size matters
When you're small, in particular when most if not all staff are 'knowledge worker' type and within shouting distance of each other, you can usually get away without much by way of formal management or structure. Teams tend to develop a natural structure based on expertise, relationships and (dependant on culture) age. Many small companies, in particular consultancy partnerships, work very well with no real formal structure or job titles. Once you get much beyond that, inparticular where people aren't cheek by jowl on a day to day basis and the need appears to have differentiation of roles, the need for formal management and structure arises. This appears to usually coincide with or result in the original 'partners' falling out.
Stephen
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Skype: stephenbooth_uk | DiSC: 6137
"Start with the customer and work backwards, not with the tools and work forwards" - James Womack