Pieces of the Puzzle:
"Without our department, this company would fall apart." "We're the ones making money for this company." "If it weren't for the sales team, the business would fail." How many times have you heard this or maybe even said it yourself? Employees who lack an understanding of the inter-relatedness of all functions in the business usually generate these comments. If you are as a business owner have heard this from employees, then your task is to broaden their perspectives. Flow diagrams or fishbone diagrams (see below) have been used to document various workflow and manufacturing processes. I am suggesting the use of a flow diagram to help employees understand the absolute importance of every department in the business. Maybe your business isn't big enough for differentiated departments; nevertheless, you can define areas of function by the activities performed. Plan a time when all the employees can meet to lay out the elements needed to accomplish the company's ultimate goal, "getting the product or service to the customer". Start with a large sheet of butcher paper on the wall. List all the functional areas or activities that need to happen in order to have a satisfied customer. Arrange these in the sequence in which they occur. Maybe sales is the first step or maybe there is another activity that precedes sales. Where does accounts receivable or purchasing or customer service fit into the scheme? In the example diagram, there are seven different areas noted. Your company may have more or less areas, you may describe them differently or the order in which they occur. Notice that the main areas have branches radiating from them. Use the smaller branches to further delineate the various activities and tasks in those functional areas. Involve the employees in creating your company's diagram. The most important outcome from this exercise is to reinforce the relevance and dependence of each to the other. How successful would the production be, if purchasing didn't order materials, if the sales team wasn't selling or the financial department wasn't sending out invoices and collecting the accounts receivable? What would happen if those responsible for new products [innovation] or routing incoming calls to the right person failed to contribute? The success of your business depends on the effectiveness of employees working together as a team. If they can visualize the pieces, then perhaps they will see the big picture.
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