markwinstead.com

Lattice network

Your employees do not work as hard as you do to make your business successful.
You will never be able to hire an employee that feels the same as you do about your business.
Employees do not feel ownership in your business. Partners do, share holders do, but not the paycheck receiving , salary getting, come to work to grind it out person you have working for you now.

You know this.

I was part of a company that fostered ownership in the ranks, created new products from the minds of the workers and reduced turnover without raising wages.
Over the next few months I will be writing about the processes and philosophy of one of the most forward thinking business of the last 4 decades.

Here is a summary:

Leaders know the big picture and the focus of the company. Their job is to define the market  or niche that the rest of the company or division will fall into. If another market is large enough, outside this focus, another division is formed. Sound familiar? Pretty typical of most businesses.

Management encourages the growth of the supervisors and employees and relays the company direction to the rest of the ranks. They also are also responsible for their own commitments. Again nothing new.

Here is where it gets interesting.

Employees make commitments. They are not given tasks.  Now that management has outlined the company and product direction, employees are free to commit to parts of the project that they can contribute with their specific knowledge and skills. Employees are responsible for getting the job done as they see fit. Using the skills and resources available to complete the task. Some may chose to work alone, some may gather commitments from others to complete the task. In this way, future leaders are defined. The employee is responsible for his or her commitment. Ideally, no tasks are assigned and a certain level of achievement is felt by everyone.

An employee knows what he is capable of and takes on the duty that best fits his skills. Compensation is determined by the level of responsibility taken. More on this in future posts.
There is one rule that is essential to the success of this process. Open lines of communication between everyone in the business.

Compensation is determined by the level of responsibility 

Lets's face it, your supervisor does not have all the answers. He/she has her own set of skills and knowledge that may not be ideal to answer all questions. Employees must have the ability to talk to anyone necessary to get the job done. You can imagine the animosity this can create between an employee and a supervisor. It is just one of the challenges faced with the lattice network style of management.

There are lots of question. I will attempt to answer them over the next few weeks.

Mark Winstead
twitter: @modhm