October 9, 2015 at 17:27IT Project Management: Case Study Zappos
Sometimes we consider different approaches to project management. An analysis of some allows us to say that they are close to us. Others we would not use in work.
Let's see what the Zappos case is all about. Most recently, the CEO of the company decided to abandon management and abolished management positions. Thus, a hierarchy was eliminated, and instead a document was proposed containing the basic principles. This approach can be called holocracy. The idea is that employees independently determine the leaders in their microcommands and distribute powers in such a way as to reflect the hierarchy at a level convenient for themselves. The idea itself is not new - Zappos adapted the concept of Brian Robertson, an entrepreneur from Philadelphia.
An additional plus of holocracy is that it allows you to reduce information costs. Some companies realize this only partially and win against competitors. A good example is 37signals.
The public reaction was rather mixed - many immediately noted the futility of such a decision. Employees of the company were similarly divided into those who were optimistic about the innovation and those who did not like it (probably these were the same managers).
As a result, the company invited all those who disagree to simply quit. This option was preferred by 14% of all workers. On the other hand, such a reorganization has given rise to a number of new problems. Although there are always such tasks, but in this situation, an accurate assessment of the contribution of each individual employee to the success of the company becomes especially relevant.
It will not be easy to evaluate the efforts and develop KPI for those who combine several roles at once. Although the goal is to reduce information overload, it will be quite difficult to recreate a real model of what is actually happening.
Our materials on how to make IaaS simple and affordable:
Let's see what the Zappos case is all about. Most recently, the CEO of the company decided to abandon management and abolished management positions. Thus, a hierarchy was eliminated, and instead a document was proposed containing the basic principles. This approach can be called holocracy. The idea is that employees independently determine the leaders in their microcommands and distribute powers in such a way as to reflect the hierarchy at a level convenient for themselves. The idea itself is not new - Zappos adapted the concept of Brian Robertson, an entrepreneur from Philadelphia.
An additional plus of holocracy is that it allows you to reduce information costs. Some companies realize this only partially and win against competitors. A good example is 37signals.
The public reaction was rather mixed - many immediately noted the futility of such a decision. Employees of the company were similarly divided into those who were optimistic about the innovation and those who did not like it (probably these were the same managers).
As a result, the company invited all those who disagree to simply quit. This option was preferred by 14% of all workers. On the other hand, such a reorganization has given rise to a number of new problems. Although there are always such tasks, but in this situation, an accurate assessment of the contribution of each individual employee to the success of the company becomes especially relevant.
It will not be easy to evaluate the efforts and develop KPI for those who combine several roles at once. Although the goal is to reduce information overload, it will be quite difficult to recreate a real model of what is actually happening.
Our materials on how to make IaaS simple and affordable: