🔍 “𝐖𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 – 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥!” This is one of the most common complaints I’ve heard from employees in large corporate organizations over the past decades.
💡 I partially agree: Complex organizations need a solid foundation of standard processes with clearly defined responsibilities and the capability to measure and monitor performance. However, I also partially disagree: There will always be grey areas in responsibilities because 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
📉 𝐋𝐨𝐰 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬 tend to stick rigidly to their job descriptions, highlighting that certain tasks aren’t their responsibility. They may use excuses about missing systems or organizational capabilities or blame other functions for not providing the required input.
📈 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬, on the other hand, can navigate significant business tensions and offer fact-based, holistic solutions. They assess the priority of issues and their impact on customers, stakeholders, colleagues, and business performance. They engage key action owners and decision-makers to clarify ownership and next steps for resolution.