Culture & Structure For a Better Work Environment - Prashanth Sagi

Managers do indeed make decisions daily, but the timing of these decisions is what really separates effective leaders from those who simply manage.

Procrastination or delaying decisions until the last minute can create unnecessary pressure on teams, resulting in rushed work, anxiety, and mistakes. This situation often arises when managers focus on avoiding risks or prefer a "safe" approach, which may ultimately harm the overall productivity and morale of the team.

When managers delay decisions, they create a domino effect. Team members may be forced to accelerate their tasks, sacrificing quality or attention to detail, which can lead to errors. This is especially concerning because the blame tends to fall on employees, not on the decision-makers who delayed the process.

So its important to bring the Culture that respects all levels of employees and the tasks that they do, easing the undue pressure on them. A culture that emphasizes the importance of making decisions at the right time can greatly reduce this issue. Managers should embrace a proactive approach, taking responsibility for decisions earlier rather than postponing them, and setting clear expectations for teams. Else alternatively they should manage stakeholders expectations and manage to postpone the deadlines. In the quest to be called efficient, Managers often sail close to the wind.

Solution:

Outcome Ownership - Outcome ownership involves taking full responsibility for the final result, not just completing individual tasks. This is an essential shift in mindset, particularly in interdepartmental work. The culture of throwing the ball into other's court should be discouraged which only leads to even more bureaucratic delays. For example, HR might provide payroll inputs to the finance team, but their responsibility isn't complete until employees receive their salaries on time. HR must understand the finance team's timelines, and finance must understand the HR team's inputs, ensuring seamless collaboration.

Few measures suggested in this regard :

1. Implementing standard SLAs - can help manage expectations across teams and departments. When clear timelines are set for each step of a process, it’s easier to identify delays and bottlenecks. SLAs create a formal framework within which all employees must operate, ensuring consistency and accountability..
2. Encouraging cross-team communication - and making everyone aware of how their actions impact others is key.
3. Establishing joint accountability between departments—rather than adopting a transactional approach where each team simply “passes the ball”—can ensure smoother processes and more consistent results. The focus shifts from "I did my part" to "We did it together," which leads to stronger coordination and results.
4. Using Checklists - is a simple yet effective way to ensure accountability, track progress, ensure visibility to all stakeholders. They also allow team members to monitor their own progress, including any dependencies on other teams or departments, identifying any potential delays, or overlooked tasks in real time. Incase of delays / mistakes, the checklists provide insight into the root cause of the issues.

Encouraging a culture of timely decision-making, outcome ownership, and shared accountability can address these challenges. Implementing SLAs and checklists can provide structure, transparency, and clarity, making it easier to track progress and identify areas where improvements can be made.

Creating a culture that respects and acknowledges the efforts of all team members—and recognizes that every decision impacts the larger outcome—will help foster a more efficient, less stressful work environment.

- Prashanth Sagi