Governance & Operating Model
The Issue
Governance and operating model issues can significantly reduce the speed and quality of leadership decision making and therefore, the organization’s ability to effectively execute its strategy.
Left unchecked, unclear roles, boundaries, and decision rights coupled with ineffective and inefficient forums in which to discuss and address strategic and operational issues quickly lead to organization gridlock.
Our Point of View
- You Are Perfectly Designed to Get the Results You Get – A leadership team is only as effective as the clarity of its role in leading and managing the organization.
- Recognize When a Health Check is Necessary – Changes in strategy, organization design, and leadership team membership create strains in the current governance and operating model. As such, a detailed look at their effectiveness is warranted whenever the organization experiences such changes.
- Define And Manage The “White Space” – The interactions and collaboration among the leadership team and between its members, is fundamental to operating model effectiveness.
- Look Beyond Personalities and Behaviors – Ineffective problem solving and conflict resolution often are behind the dysfunctional behavior that can sometimes manifest itself within the leadership team.
- Role Model Your Values – Choices made in designing the governance and operating model should explicitly role model and reinforce the company’s values.
Our Approach
Generally, our approach involves the following key steps:
- We start by engaging the leadership team to bring clarity, alignment, and commitment on core organizational values, business strategy, and financial, operational, customer-related, and marketplace-related goals.
- Gain clarity around the top leader’s expectations for the leadership team’s role in managing the business, and ensure that this vision is clear to the entire leadership team.
- Identify the team’s accountabilities. Differentiate what “I” am accountable for vs. “we”. Design decision-making models to help leaders understand what falls in and out of their collective and respective realm of responsibility.
- Clarify the purpose of current leadership forums, such as regular meetings in terms who should attend, what information is needed, how decisions will be made, and who has accountability for their implementation.
Typical Benefits
- Increased speed, efficiency and quality of decision making.
- Greater organization flexibility to quickly respond to marketplace and competitor changes.
- Improved leadership team and team member productivity.
To learn more, contact us by phone at (312) 523-2123 or by email.