Imagine this scenario:

Mary has been working on an update to the company marketing plan that incorporates several new pieces of marketing for new products being designed by Jason, the product engineer. Janice, in the sales department, wants to incorporate the new marketing pieces into her sales presentation next week.

Mary is happy to hand it off to Janice, but according to company policy, Mary needs to run everything through Mark, the marketing manager, before she can give any new product marketing collateral to the sales department. Unfortunately, Mark is traveling/on vacation/buried with other projects and is unavailable. Additionally, as Mark isn’t familiar with the new products, Mary knows she’ll need to schedule extra time to bring him up to speed on the benefits of the new marketing pieces, and she has no idea when he’ll be available. Mary also doesn’t understand what makes the products different from their current catalog and knows that she will probably need to give the brochure to Jason to review, causing more delays. Mary feels stuck, and Janice feels frustrated.

Hierarchy is often in place for a good reason. Mary may not know of all the issues that Mark is juggling or how her marketing piece may affect other timelines and projects. Mark, as the marketing manager, is there is to ensure new pieces conform to the company’s brand and the guiding principles of the organization’s culture and that they work within the immediate needs of both the department and the company as a whole.

Unfortunately, in our modern workforce, Mark’s responsibilities extend far beyond the management of employees such as Mary. Most managers and executives have multiple responsibilities, of which employee management is just one. However, many companies still use a “hub-and-spoke” management style, where decisions are nearly always pushed to the formal boss within a department regardless of who can best make the decision.

Though hub-and-spoke management may have worked in previous generations, the modern on-demand business culture requires quicker turnaround times and more streamlined decision-making. Managers need to implement methods that that can keep progress moving and limit bottlenecks.

In an article for Harvard Business Review, Vineet Nayar recommends that managers consider using the following guidelines to limit bottlenecks in the work environment:

• Overlapping goals: In a large project with multiple individuals completing connected steps, each employee should know how he or she is contributing to the project’s success.
• Role linkages: Each team member should have individual responsibilities but should be tasked with supporting his or her teammates in the process.
• Constant collaboration: Team members should continually support each other to reach the best possible outcome.
• Continuous reinvention: Make it a priority to continually refine and realign the process and to learn from past successes and failures.

I would also add the following item:

• Directed autonomy: Managers should work with employees to decide which decisions can be safely made by employees and which ones require additional oversight. This process takes some foresight from managers but can have huge benefits once put into place.

So, let’s envision a slightly different scenario for Mary and Janice:

Mark, the marketing manager, meets with Mary periodically throughout the year to clarify his expectations on her responsibilities and authority. Certain projects, like print or web marketing pieces, are within her authority to approve, while larger decisions, such as changing accepted branding guidelines or video initiatives, need to be approved by Mark.

During the project, it is decided that Jason will provide all the necessary schematics and details about the new products he is developing. Mary will be responsible for writing the copy, working with the graphic designers on imagery and making sure the overall layout will meet company branding guidelines. Jason will remain a resource for Mary in proofing the copy for factual errors or misunderstandings. Additionally, Janice will provide input from how best to present the products’ features based on her experience with customers and employees.

During the project, several ideas by Janice are rejected by the team, as they would deviate from branding guidelines and would require approval from Mark and slow down the project. Additionally, Jason is instrumental in making sure that the description of the product showcases the new features without overpromising what the products can do. Janice gives some direction so that the marketing brochure presents the features in a way that corresponds to a standard sales presentation. Once the layout is set, Mary sends a brief email to Mark to confirm that the new brochure is in line with the company’s branding guidelines, Jason checked that the information on the new products is both factual and correct, and Janice is pleased with the layout and presentation. As she has been given previous authorization, Mary decides to hand off the brochure to Janice in time for her presentation.

Bottlenecks are a fact of any hierarchical business organization. There will always be delays in the transfer of information between individuals and groups. However, a more collaborative and overlapping organizational structure that allows for inter-departmental teams with directed autonomy can work wonders. Though it takes time to set up, forming collaborative teams with limited authority can move projects to completion with greater efficiency and far less frustration.