On April 18, 2019 in a neighborhood outside of Seattle, the next World Without Hierarchy workshop was held. This was a special one as it was the first one facilitated by someone other than me (shout out to Jonathan Watrous for driving this!). The event took place during with the Fremont Agile Meetup group. Three new experiments developed from the session!
Experiment 1: Transform Managers into Leaders
Background: We need to figure out how to transform managers into leaders.
Hypothesis: We believe that former managers are prime candidates for becoming mentors, coaches, and visionaries...this change will result in former managers staying engaged while effectively distributing knowledge and wisdom...we'll know this to be true when former managers have increased job satisfaction and quarterly financial growth occurs.
Who/What Is Impacted: Managers, all departments (heavy HR)
Experiment Details: Train former managers in leadership skills, including mentoring and coaching. Help bring managers closer to the company vision so they can communicate it better to others.
Experiment 2: Checks and Balances
Background: We need to ensure the right people are accountable for getting work done and that there is no employee favoritism.
Hypothesis: We believe that having third party contractors/auditors review performance of individuals...will result in increased neutrality and employee satisfaction...we'll know this to be true when post employee survey results show that employee sentiment on neutrality has improved..
Who/What Is Impacted: HR, employees, finance (determining equity in compensation/pay)
Experiment Details: Have teams asses their own performance, then have another team assess the teams performance, and finally followed by an external third party evaluation to finalize results.
Experiment 3: Communication & Confidence
Background: A lack of communication from leaders can lead to a lack of confidence in employees and missing context on how to make and communicate decisions without an organizational structure.
Hypothesis: We believe that the introduction of committee teams...will result in a higher democratic decision making process and an increased trust by employees to speak out...we'll know this to be true when post employee engagement surveys show improvement on scores for employee trust and communication.
Who/What Is Impacted: Tools for knowledge sharing (wikis, training), technical experts needing to document existing knowledge.
Experiment Details: Have two teams build separate forms to share knowledge. Conduct a post implementation survey with both groups to compare value, quality, and openness. Specifically focus on the lowest scoring results from pre-flatting survey.