I have a friend that used to work in a medium-sized organization with an absolutely brutal process for receiving expense approval. What made it brutal is the fact that the CEO took it upon herself to approve every single thing. This included anything ranging from reimbursing mileage for traveling employees to office supplies to toilet paper. Yes, toilet paper. That last point got so bad that one time the office did completely run out of toilet paper.
This is a pretty extreme example, but we've all worked worked in environments that place some sort of emphasis on governance. It may be formal or informal, trite or significant. It may be called a different name, like "approval process" or even the more subtle "micro-management". Regardless of how it manifests itself, I would encourage tamping it down as much as possible or eliminating it altogether in favor of promoting an environment of trust.
There are several reasons why you would want to do this. In the example above, the CEO was falling far behind on her own self-imposed regulatory process that it was causing more of a hindrance than a help. Governance processes on any level inevitably add more time because it adds more people, and if there's one thing we should keep in mind, it's that time is the only non-renewable resource and thus should be used wisely.
In addition, trust instills a sense of appreciation within your trustees. Again referencing the example above, think about the inverse effect the CEO's actions had on the company's employees. How would you feel if the CEO wouldn't even trust me with buying some toilet paper? I don't know about you, but I'd feel pretty worthless.
Playing devil's advocate, I'm sure some of you are wondering, "How will you ensure that integrity is being promoted within X?" Well, consider this: integrity is a two-way street. Sure, the people you are entrusting to do something must have integrity in their practices; however, we sometimes neglect that governing parties also need to have integrity. If you find that you have a problem trusting your associates with anything, that's a bigger problem that needs to be addressed altogether. Governing processes aren't going to help with that.
To that end, consider your business practices that have governing processes. Are they truly helping, or are they wasting away your company's assets? Moreover, are they belittling to your associates? Is your own time better spent on something else? I think you'll find that acting upon the ideas shared here will be beneficial for your business and beneficial for promoting the happiness of your associates.
This is a pretty extreme example, but we've all worked worked in environments that place some sort of emphasis on governance. It may be formal or informal, trite or significant. It may be called a different name, like "approval process" or even the more subtle "micro-management". Regardless of how it manifests itself, I would encourage tamping it down as much as possible or eliminating it altogether in favor of promoting an environment of trust.
There are several reasons why you would want to do this. In the example above, the CEO was falling far behind on her own self-imposed regulatory process that it was causing more of a hindrance than a help. Governance processes on any level inevitably add more time because it adds more people, and if there's one thing we should keep in mind, it's that time is the only non-renewable resource and thus should be used wisely.
In addition, trust instills a sense of appreciation within your trustees. Again referencing the example above, think about the inverse effect the CEO's actions had on the company's employees. How would you feel if the CEO wouldn't even trust me with buying some toilet paper? I don't know about you, but I'd feel pretty worthless.
Playing devil's advocate, I'm sure some of you are wondering, "How will you ensure that integrity is being promoted within X?" Well, consider this: integrity is a two-way street. Sure, the people you are entrusting to do something must have integrity in their practices; however, we sometimes neglect that governing parties also need to have integrity. If you find that you have a problem trusting your associates with anything, that's a bigger problem that needs to be addressed altogether. Governing processes aren't going to help with that.
To that end, consider your business practices that have governing processes. Are they truly helping, or are they wasting away your company's assets? Moreover, are they belittling to your associates? Is your own time better spent on something else? I think you'll find that acting upon the ideas shared here will be beneficial for your business and beneficial for promoting the happiness of your associates.
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