Requisite Cross-Working©
Different assumptions about who can tell who to do what result in unease, suspicion, buck-passing and mistrust being generated and the work that requires integration does not get done.
Cross-Working
A chronic problem of managerial hierarchical systems is that of ensuring timely and effective flow of work across functions.
Cross-functional / cross-unit process flow is what any managerial accountability hierarchy should produce. If it does not do so, the manager at the process cross-over point has missed a critical area in which to exercise the necessary managerial leadership.
People in a cross-functional / cross-unit relationship are rarely clear about the accountability and authority between them because these matters are rarely clearly defined:
- Different assumptions about who can tell who to do what result in unease, suspicion and mistrust being readily generated.
- Clashes of personality and buck-passing occur, but the problem is not one of personalities but of poor organizational definition
As a result, functions or units end up in «silos» competing with one another, engulfed in personality clashes and individual ambitions.
Objective of Requisite Cross-Working©:
Create organisational conditions for effective cross-working between functions or units that leads to smooth cross-functional flow and value creation (quantity, quality, time and resources expected).
Key Definitions of Requisite Cross-Working©:
- Role Relationships: The accountability and the authority existing between any two roles in a social system. The following are some of the main accountability and authority components to be found in role relationships in accountability hierarchies.
- Cross-functional or cross-unit relationships: Role relationships in which a manager is held accountable for the output produced by a subordinate on some particular action, though the action itself was initiated by another person who was authorised to do so.
- Task-Initiating Role Relationships (TIRRs): Are relationships in which Role A is authorized to initiate Role B’s doing something but where it is Role B’s manager (and not A) who is held accountable for whether or not B does it and for B’s output. TIRRs define who can do what to whom in lateral or horizontal relationships.
- Cross-over Manager: A manager who is accountable for the performance and effectiveness of the functions / units involved in the cross-working relationships because all the functions / units are within the manager’s span of control.
Framework of Requisite Cross-Working©:
For companies that want to improve their cross-functional or cross-unit relationships / integration / cooperation / coordination use the following requisite-based process:
- Identify the functions or units for which you would like to improve cross-working.
- Establish the cross-over manager accountability for the business functions / units cross-working.
- Identify the complexity of the units involved into the cross-working.
- Ensure that the cross-working functions / units have the correct levels of complexity.
- Align the goals between the functions / units in various planning horizons to match the complexity of the units.
- Define the types of cross-working relationships the cross-over manager wants these units to be engaged in. In RO every cross-working relationship may consist of up to 7 components:
- Collateral.
- Advisory.
- Service-getting / service-giving.
- Monitoring.
- Coordinative.
- Auditing.
- Prescribing.
- Establish the complexity of cross-working relationships between the functions / units.
- Outputs of the cross-working relationship are defined.
- Inputs of the functions / units in achieving the cross-working outputs are defined.
- Identify the roles in the functions / units to be accountable for a particular component of the cross-working that the functions / units are engaged in.
- Ensure that the complexity level of the roles in the functions / units matches the complexity level of a particular cross-working accoountabiity and authority.
- Ensure that the capability level of the role holders in the cross-working roles matches the complexity level of work in the cross-working roles.
- Identify for every cross-working relationship, which roles have accountability and authority as Initiators and which roles have accountability and authority as Responders.
- Establish TIRR accountabilities and authorities for every component of the cross-working relationship such as:
- Can be informed.
- Can persuade and delay for escalation.
- Can persuade and stop without escalation.
- Can instruct, etc.
- Cross-over manager:
- Develop and monitor the escalation flow in a case of conflicts.
- Make it clear to the immediate subordinates in the units involved into the cross-working that it is expected from them to work in sustained collateral working relationships.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of the cross-working on a regular basis.
- Accountable Managers of the cross-working roles:
- Perform 10 managerial leadership practices effectively and consistently.
- Evaluate the individual effectiveness of the role holders.
Interested to know more about Requisite Cross-working©?
Workshop on Requisite Cross-Working©
- For companies that have issues with cross-functional flow management and value delivery across multiple functions.
- For companies that experience the cross-functional conflicts and are experiencing a “silo” effect among various functions and lack cooperation / coordination / integration.
- For managers who would like to improve the cross-working relationships in their function / unit.
- Senior Managers and Executives who have cross-over and cross-functional flow management accountabilities.
- Middle and Senior Managers of the units involved in cross-functional / cross-unit working.
- Managers-once-removed (employees who have managerial subordinates).
- HR / OE specialists who are accountable for supporting managers with right organisational conditions.
- Explain the fundamentals of Requisite Cross-working©.
- Educate managers on the organisational conditions for effective cross-functional / cross-unit working.
- Support managers in identifying the cross-functional flow management in their company.
- Identify the causes of ineffective cross-working participants and their companies experience.
- Develop the plan to improve organisational conditions for effective cross-working.
- 3-day workshop.
- Cross-functional / cross-unit management processes / procedure, if exists.
- Cross-functional service level agreements, if exist.
- Knowledge of the Value Chain of the Company across multiple functions / units.
- ROII’s advisors with experience in RO implementation worldwide.
- Moderators with years of managerial experience.
- At your premises.
- At our premises or premises of our partners across the globe (UK, Sweden, USA, Australia, Canada, South America, Moscow, etc.)
Interested to know how you can improve cross-working in your company / function / unit?
Requisite Cross-working© Assessment
- Map the value chain of the company.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of cross-working across the value chain.
- Identify the cross-working relationships with low effectiveness.
- Evaluate the current state of cross-working between the functions / units selected for assessment.
- Evaluate the cost impact of poor cross-working.
- Develop the plan to improve cross-working and synchronisation across the value chain.
- Up to 4 weeks (depends on the scope).
- 2 experienced Requisite Advisors (depends on the scope).
- 2 internal HR / OE specialist for training and development or Business Improvement specialists.
- Value Chain Flow and importance of effective cross-working.
- Components of Cross-working Task Initiating Role Relationships (TIRRs).
- Accountabilities & Authorities for Cross-working TIRRs.
- Role / complexity of Cross-over Manager.
- Cross-functional flow management procedure.
- Level of Cross-working complexity.