■ Group related activities carried out by teams and individual
jobholders logically into organizational units while ensuring
that the flow of work across organizational boundaries is not
inhibited.
■ Provide for the management and coordination of the
processes and activities at each level of responsibility.
■ Ensure that attention is given to developing the processes of
teamwork and communication.
■ Establish reporting and communicating relationships.
■ Recognize the importance of informal networks as means of
communicating information and joint decision-making.
■ Provide, as far as possible, for organizational processes to
adapt to change.
DEFINING STRUCTURES
Structures are usually defined by means of organization charts.
Such charts have their uses in planning and reviewing organiza-
tions. They can indicate how work is allocated and how activities
are grouped together. They show who is responsible to whom,
and they illustrate lines of authority. Drawing up a chart can be a
good way of clarifying what is currently happening: the mere
process of putting the organization down on paper will highlight
any problems. And when it comes to considering changes, charts
are the best way of illustrating alternatives.
The danger with organization charts is that they can be
mistaken for the organization itself. They are no more than a
snapshot of what is supposed to be happening at a given
moment. They are out of date as soon as they are drawn, and
they leave out the informal organization and its networks. If you
use little boxes to represent people, they may behave as if they
were indeed little boxes, sticking too closely to the rule book.
Charts can make people very conscious of their superiority or
inferiority in relation to others. They can make it harder to
change things, they can freeze relationships, and they can show
relationships as they are supposed to be, not as they are. Robert
Townsend (1970) said of organization charts: ‘Never formalize,
print and circulate them. Good organizations are living bodies
that grow new muscles to meet challenges.’
264 How to be an Even Better Manager