Hierarchy, a no no in today's professional world?

“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much”- Helen Keller. Businesses today look for the best means to achieve success in business yet they choose to do the opposite. Hierarchy of authority is what prevents them from maximizing their potential.

Hierarchy is detrimental to success

The question is ‘why is hierarchy so detrimental to success today?’ The answer being because we have changed and evolved as humans. No one no longer wants to be told what to do. Everyone wants some authority, some ownership of the tasks they do.

However, if one knew that he/she is dependant on the approval of their boss regarding a project proposal and that he/she is not trusted enough, people will have little motivation to be creative, innovative and think outside the box.

Agility is the key to doing good business today. And one can not be agile and flexible if even the smallest decisions are subject to the CEO’s (or manager’s) approval.

Secondly, hierarchy can pose unhealthy competitiveness and conflicts in the organization. According to this perspective, hierarchy may motivate individuals to work very hard to get to the highest rank but this may threaten the other employees who are also striving to get to that position. This creates unhealthy competition, jealousy and envy between the individuals.

A team based structure

So what is the alternate way to doing good business? Team based structures is the answer.

Using a team based approach to solving business problems enables the business to capitalize on the employee’s strengths and minimize their weaknesses. As layers of management are eliminated, employees get the independence to work without waiting for approvals.

This leads to employees’ increased empowerment which in turn causes improved work performance. And since people are working on the same goal and are at the same level, there is little chance that petty interdepartmental conflicts will arise.

Plugnotes help team based structures by giving each employee the autonomy and power to edit and implement tailor made solutions to specific challenges they would face. So, in other words Plugnotes allows for efficient teamwork and profitable business results.

Wouldn’t you be, as employees, more comfortable in working in a friendly-homelike environment? If one employee can’t complete the task, another team member can work on the remaining task. Now isn’t that home-like? The outcome is that the work gets done at the end of the day.

By having a comprehensive roles and responsibility matrix, accountability is maintained and misunderstandings and conflicts are avoided. Regular meetings and storing shareable information in Plugnotes ensures that messages are well transmitted without being distorted-unlike in a Hierarchical structure where messages lose their context by the time they reach the lowest hierarchical level.