“…we have observed that our current system of (job) titles is inconsistent. Our reorganization… provides an opportunity to take a fresh look at titles …”
 

The above is a quote from an IT organization that is undergoing a major reorganization. This is at least the third such major restructuring that this IT shop has undergone in the past 5 years.

 The leadership team has worked on this for 5-6 months and they are now focused on getting the job titles correct on their new organizational chart. For half of a year the line workers and middle managers have been waiting for the details of the managerial reshuffle. What do you suppose this has done to morale and effectiveness?

 Reorganizing is a frequent activity for managers unsure of how to improve performance. Sometimes a reorganizing effort is necessary and useful, but more often it is an excuse to do something when faced with a crisis or other driver to improve. It offers the balm of activity and the hope of making things better.

 A reorganization can be exactly the right thing to do, but only if it is clearly understood what the reorganization is intended to accomplish and how the revised organizational chart will help.

 Otherwise an organization can fall into a sort of trap. When the first reshuffling does not work, then a second, and even third, reorganization is undertaken.

 In ‘The Fifth Discipline’ Peter Senge makes the point that many organizations frequently reorganize only to find that the underlying issues they were seeking to address resurface. This is because there is an underlying systemic structure that is not addressed by the new org chart. The old patterns of behavior re-assert themselves despite the new formal structure.

 Management is indeed difficult, but IT Leaders are fortunate. They have available a set of best-practices frameworks that provide guidance in addressing many of the deeper structural issues in their organizations.

 By adopting a Service Management best practices management framework, such as ITIL, IT leadership can begin addressing the structural issues that are likely prompting the idea to reorganize. A reorg may indeed follow, but at least it will be the result of providing true re-direction and restructuring.

 This is admittedly more difficult than spending five months meeting over lunch and working on a new organizational chart and consistent job titles. But it is much more likely to lead to lasting change, and to set the stage for consistent improvement.

- Bill Cunningham
bill.cunningham@cppit.com