We quietly adore rules and systems, for they are unambiguous and easy to manage. But these tools of the bureaucratic organisation cause many problems at work. To achieve high work performance, we must let the human organisation flourish, and connect workplaces through relationships rather than processes.
Every business, charity and government comprises two internal organisations: the bureaucratic organisation of systems and processes, and the human organisation of individuals and relationships. Many workplace headaches arise because we rely on the first and neglect the second.
Two organisations in practice
‘HR is useless,’ said Christine. I’ve tried to organise team training for months and it’s still not sorted. They haven’t a clue what we do and they don’t care!’
‘That’s not my experience,’ said Freya. ‘Two of my managers began coaching soon after I put in a request. And HR agreed to sponsor a master’s degree for one of them.’
This exchange emerged in focus groups designed to find out why HR had a poor reputation. We heard how Learning and Development (L&D) had been cut, leaving two overworked members, facing criticism from other departments.
Relationships versus processes
Freya noted she had built relationships with the two members of L&D, who knew the challenges her team faced and how these affected her personally. She had seen firsthand how the pair were under pressure. Freya also knew who would sign off a budget.
Christine ‘just expected’ everyone to ‘do their jobs’ and process the paperwork. Minimal dialogue left L&D with no real sense of her needs; emails back and forth raised only questions. At the end of long days, Christine’s request was just another task on the L&D team’s ever-expanding list.
Behind the scenes: Your bureaucratic organisation vs. your human organisation
The bureaucratic organisation is the home of business and performance goals, of procedure manuals, processes and rules, of monitoring, rewards and sanctions. Managers design formal structures to keep people in line and ensure they do what is expected.
The human organisation evolves organically from how people relate and interact. Behaviours are governed by social norms, which take shape based on what has worked in the past and what people believe to be acceptable. Relationships are the means to get things done.
New demands tip the scales
The bureaucratic organisation emerged at a time when work was more mechanistic than it is today – think repetitive assembly-line tasks – and when people were expected to perform labour without thought or feeling, as cogs in the machine of production.
Formal systems still have their place, but our fast-moving world now relies more on the human organisation. People have to interact with colleagues around the world to solve complex problems. A community of relationships gives valued autonomy and a way to belong.
Root of work-related problems
Regrettably, many of us are more comfortable with processes than with people; we have expertise to solve complicated problems yet find complex questions daunting. Our culture of outcomes and profits directs attention to quick fixes, whereas relationships take time.
Nowadays, we all sense that bureaucratic systems are limiting and that hands-on management saps energy. Everyone knows that relationships matter. And yet the human organisation is routinely overlooked or neglected in favour of bureaucratic methods. Its potential is wasted.
Six ways to build relationships that achieve high work performance
We at Marble Brook believe that the greatest improvement in experiences, performance and outcomes at work can be attained by investing in better, productive relationships. To be effective, this must be done at three levels: business, team and individual.
We need the bureaucratic organisation – not least pay and benefits – as guard rails for the human organisation. But such systems should complement and strengthen, rather than (as often happens) disrupt, the community of human relationships.
Show don’t tell
An artificial construct, bureaucracy by its nature begins with telling. Relationships, which tend to be organic, begin with showing. We gain much if we close the ‘say-do gap’ and act on our intentions and promises.
In this vein, below are six straightforward ideas for connecting the workplace through human relationships rather than bureaucratic processes.
1. Business: Be clear on your value
First, make clear the value you seek to create, in human and societal terms. Design mission and strategy, and products and services, with this value in mind. Profits (if required) emerge when you connect what you make or do with something the world cares about. A sense of value is what energises workplace relationships.
2. Business: Get serious about leadership
Leadership is the means of organising relationships and people. Processes and systems are simple to manage, and, relative to relationship capital, are unlikely to bring about high work performance. At all levels managers no longer exist to oversee tasks; the job now is to encourage people.
3. Team: Break down silos
Provide ways for team members to develop an understanding of colleagues across the organisation. Specialist areas have different practices for good reasons – think compliance versus sales – and it is relationships not rules that bring them back together.
4. Team: Talk with each other
Allow team members time for dialogue beyond work transactions. This aids innovation and, more importantly, helps build the trust that underlies shared accountability. Posters emblazoned with ‘One Company, One Team’ are a bureaucratic contrivance that ticks a box yet makes eyes roll.
5. Individual: Prioritise continuous feedback
Offer individuals ongoing feedback on their relationships with colleagues (and suppliers or customers), and their capacity to influence others in a productive way. A confidential stakeholder review often gives executives and managers the insight and self-assurance to set aside their more bureaucratic and unhelpful methods.
6. Individual: Create opportunities for conversation
Invite everyone to ask and answer questions. We all know that questions are a good way to generate ideas and secure commitment to change. Questions also help foster relationships: they give people chance to connect over thoughts and are a way to say, ‘I am interested in you, what you think and how you feel.’
High work performance: Relationships before processes
Our economic and work cultures tell us to invest more in systems and processes. But if we stick with outdated bureaucratic thinking, we shall surely fail to navigate our most pressing challenges and achieve high work performance.
The bureaucratic and human organisations coexist in every business. But we should commit with greater enthusiasm to human relationships, which are the more difficult and yet more powerful way to secure outcomes in today’s complex world.
