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No Room for Bureaucracy in Small Firms
There’s something funny about
the organizations we humans create. Almost inevitably a bureaucracy
develops in every enterprise, and it grows stronger as time goes by.
By definition a bureaucracy can be just a system of rules or a way of
doing things, but the kind we’re talking about translates as ‘red tape’
and it can really tie up a firm.
Imagine freeing the members of your team to do their best without
anything to hold them back. Imagine them using their initiative instead
of following rigid guidelines. Imagine letting them find better ways to
do things than the way you’ve taught them. Frightening, isn’t it?
There are of course good reasons for having policies in place that
govern most aspects of a business. It’s one of the benefits of
systemizing things; you know what’s going to happen when any situation
arises.
To a degree bureaucracies are set up to control the people in the
business. Predetermined systems and procedures are communicated to all
new-hires and become part of the organization’s culture and structure.
From a managerial perspective
the challenge is to ensure that the bureaucratic elements are restricted
only to those areas that need it, and that team members are still free
to use their initiative where it will benefit the firm.
Bureaucracy is the key reason most enterprises fail to deliver genuine
and sustainable levels of service to their customers. The ‘company way’
of providing service can be experienced at every customer touchpoint and
we’ve all see the effects – fake smiles, fake interest, and ‘have a nice
day’ when it’s over.
In these bureaucracies the focus is not really on the customer; it’s on
providing a quick fix for any problem that interrupts the flow of money
from their pockets into the organization’s tills.
Some enlightened businesses have taken a quite different approach and
found it highly successful.
Federal Express gave its customer service teams the authority to solve
customer problems on the spot and two things happened. First, the
problems were solved faster and at lower cost to the company than
previously, and secondly customer satisfaction was increased.
This didn’t mean controls were eliminated completely but it did mean
they were implemented within a framework that gave authority and
autonomy to the customer service officers to let them do their jobs. And
it worked.
Another classic story comes from Nordstrom’s, a department store that
has become legendary in the annals of customer service. Nordstrom’s sees
its customer service people as the most important members of the entire
team, from the CEO downward. Team members serving customers have only to
use their best judgment in every situation and they fulfill their
responsibilities to the firm.
The results are similar to those of FedEx – more satisfied customers,
happier team members and higher profits. It’s all because customer
service - a function that’s beset by bureaucracy in most other
organizations, had been freed from bureaucratic restrictions and allowed
to be performed by people using their own judgment as to what was the
right thing to do.
This could be the right time to analyze every aspect of your service
delivery and eliminate any constraints of bureaucracy that are
preventing your firm from providing genuine service to clients.
Begin by sitting down with your team to schedule a series of meetings.
Each meeting will have the objective of reducing any bureaucratic
elements that interfere with your team’s ability to provide service to
your clients that will delight them.
In the first meeting prepare a list of all your clients. What services
do they get from you? What other services might they get from you if you
raised your levels of service? Then prepare a summary of your clients’
profiles that will give you an idea of what they’re like outside of
their interaction with your organization – a bigger picture of each
client’s business.
The second meeting is to identify what clients expect from the firm and
what they’d like to get from dealing with you. This should follow a few
conversations with clients that seek to determine what they like about
the firm and what they feel needs improvement.
In the third meeting prepare a list of all the complaints you’ve
received, all the problems your clients have had, and areas where you
know your firm could be improved.
You now know who your clients are, what they like and don’t like about
you, and where you know your firm could be improved. In the fourth
meeting you change the bureaucratic rules – or eliminate them, so that
your new set of client service policies creates genuine and long-lasting
satisfaction.
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