I work for a Telecommunication service provider company. The department that I work in has specific tasks that are required to be running 24/7. The department manages the network, which makes us the center point in term of coordinating with other departments. We operate the network through different complex technical systems, and provide technical support to other departments at a certain level.
The example of the bad organizational communication in my department is that management tends to forget how important it is to know about any problems with the network as soon as they happen. The failures in planning how to communicate these problems seem to cause a lot of problems in my department. The head of the department seems to think he has to sign on each memo and email before it goes out. Such protocols take too much time and by the time the email or memo reaches the person evolved, the time, effort and costs to solve the problem would have doubled.
To make it more clear, when the engineer on site who is faced with an issue with one of the network equipment, and needs the issue to be resolved as soon as possible, he would need a reconfiguration from the control center. But he would not be able to simply send the request directly to the control center, instead he has to send it to the head of the department and then the head of the department signs off on it and then resends it to the control center.
Very common - and frustrating - example. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteWatch out for spelling - "the dead of the department?"
That certainly is a good example of poor organization communication. I can certainly understand the frustration this protocol must cause for you and your co-workers. While I am aware of instances when it is necessary to have the head of the department sign off on some forms of communication, it seems excessive to require such sign offs for emails. As you mentioned, this must certainly have a negative influence on productivity and response times.
ReplyDeleteMuch like Greg, while I realize the value behind the head of the department signing off on some forms, I think your company needs to reevaluate this particular procedure. In an instance where waiting for the head of the department does more harm than good, a new plan of action needs to be implemented. This must be extremely frustrating for the individual who has encountered and is trying to fix the problem.
ReplyDeleteSeems like a lot on silos that are counter productive to getting the job done!
ReplyDelete