Network Structure Helped Bacancy To Scale Speedily

It is an uphill task. I never said that it would be easy. But, you know you want to achieve great standards. It is a pleasure in that sweet pain. I first asked you to trust your people. Next, I asked you to empower your managers.

Now, you may ask, even after accomplishing two of my entrepreneurial goals, I still feel a gap within my organizational departments. In this article, I will share advice that will resolve this challenge to strengthen your organization. 

Your organization might be functioning like butter- smooth and glorifying, yet you are not gaining the expected profits. Now is when you need to keep your head above the water. You don’t want to sink without knowing that your organizational boat has a loophole within. 

I’ll tell you how you can identify that gap dividing your strength and how to knit back your safety net. This article is about bridging the cracks in your organization by interconnecting your teams. 

The Rise of Core Team At Bacancy

One hurdle that Bacancy was facing in the early days of its growth was to bridge the gap between finding new resources and utilizing idle resources. With incoming requests for Staff Augmentation, we were always looking to expand our team of developers.   

Now, our HR department keeps finding the needed resources in the shortest period. No matter what, I am glad to have a team that accomplishes our requirements very aptly. However, we realized that there were still in-house developers available and yet not useful for new client requirements. 

My empowered managers(heroes) make me stronger. I called them all together to discuss this situation. Within hours of brainstorming, we came up with a solution.

Every manager came up with suggestive ideas on how to fill this burgeoning resource gap. As if my teams got into talking. 

I was highly impressed by this union of managers, and I began this gathering as more of a monthly affair. I address them as the Core Team of my Organization. Each idea suggested in the team had its pros and cons. And ultimately, we came up with one solution. 

We decided to start a new learning department at the organization, where our in-house resources can get more training. Along with that, we ensured that our existing developers learned new and other technologies than their current domain. In this way, we could utilize our resources better.  

The Network Structure To Resolve Organizational Issues Between Teams

I am going to share with you what worked for me, and I’d advise every organization’s leader to follow the agile law of networks. Yes, you know me as an Agile Coach, and I insist all leaders follow this Law of Networks to bridge the gap between their organizational teams. 

The Network of Teams model is an efficient way to empower your teams, enable maximum information flow between them, and flawless communication as well. 

Here are the four ideal steps to execute to build your network of teams in your organization:

1. Launch and Build Your Teams As You Move Forward 

Build teams that can beat all key challenges faced by your firm. The best part about this is it includes continuous improvement and extensive learning through the face of challenges. I'd suggest creating a central hub consisting of trusted advisers who coordinate and direct the team concerning supply-chain risks, financial stress testing, workforce protection, customer engagement, etc. 

Aim on launching two groups comprising an intelligence team and a planning-ahead team. While they perform their duties, ensure that each team has a mix of individuals having cross-functional skills. You need to pick your team leaders(heroes) precisely. Each team should represent multiple perspectives. All in all, irrespective of what expertise you bring to the table, at the end of the day, you are seeking problem solvers who introduce innovative ideas and approaches besides having the will to upgrade their knowledge. 

2. Stay Aside Yet Connected 

Now that you've created your set of teams, you must focus on ensuring excellent multi-directional communication. Mind that this shouldn't just take place across teams within the network but with the entire firm. Here's where the central team hub and the leader play their part. 

At this stage, leaders need to act as a coach and a catalyst by identifying opportunities, connecting teams, engaging with team leads, solving roadblocks, and offering resources to fuel the team's efforts. I'd rather call this step a balancing act. With the increase in network forms and the number of teams, the leader pushes its authority down but stays highly engaged. This approach aims to empower and support teams without the need to micromanage. 

Listening to voices and making tough calls despite having insufficient information. 

3. Validation and Transparency 

Looking back over the covid 19 period, leaders have made bold decisions to set up priorities and be open to challenges. In terms of a network of teams, when leaders approach to communicate, it builds awareness and an environment of transparency, collaboration, and psychological safety, which is vital for its success. 

Now, while this step is quite similar to step 2, the only difference is your team is not hesitating to approach you, stating something that isn't working. Rather, radical transparency enters when your team gathers the courage to say a plan isn't working and that you need to launch another team. 

When you keep your team psychologically safe, they will share information, make corrections, address the changing goals, and keep moving, unlike networks that fail to deliver optimum results due to lack of psychological safety. You'll see your teams building an environment that involves rapid test ideas, iteration, and improvement from past mistakes when you do this. 

4. Boost Self-organizing

The final panel is about building the network self-managing and self-sustaining. When your team keeps expanding at the third and fourth stages, note that only a few people will connect at all times. I'll call this situation 'overload'. 

Too many connections like meetings, emails, etc., per member can create an overload. What you need to do here is to create a proper network structure. In a well-grounded network, the central hub stays connected with all the activities taking place in the firm. However, make sure it avoids becoming a bottleneck slowing down the response. 

Being a leader, encourage teams to approach you besides boosting communication. Mind that your role here is important. Keep setting the tone, modeling the actions, and picking members who accept risks to make changes. Here, you can eradicate hurdles for teams and connect people across networks. 

I'll keep it simple. Communicate widely, authentically, and transparently to help teams become self-sufficient and manageable. 

Take Away

Hence, this is how I radiate the power of a flat hierarchy by keeping minimal levels of intermediates and communicating with those mediatory managers to keep all your organizational teams on the same page. 

With this approach, you can resolve any dispute or challenge that your company is facing, along with your people's strength and support. 

See you next time!