Reporting Confusion in Family-Run Software Firm: How to Streamline Communication?

Reporting Structure Challenges in a Family-Run Software Company

We are a 45-employee software company with 3 Directors. All these directors are real brothers. Till date, I have been reporting to the Chairman & Managing Director (eldest brother) for all my work. Sometimes, I face a lot of issues in reporting. The other joint directors are the heads of the support and sales departments, respectively. They expect me to report departmental issues to them directly rather than reporting to the CEO. In my opinion, there should be a centralized process for reporting. We have developed software for daily reporting, but they are reluctant to use it. What will be the solution in such a case?

Thanks & Regards,
Varsha

In this case, as all the directors are real brothers and your company is small, you will have to follow dual reporting. Direct reporting to the CMD and matrix reporting to the other two directors is necessary.

In this situation, you can report departmental issues to the other two directors, but make sure you keep the CMD in the loop to avoid any miscommunication among all of you. You can speak to your CMD once and clarify that this is the approach you want to follow from now on. This should resolve the issue!

Regards,
[Your Name]

Such scenarios are common in small promoter-run businesses. In my view, you should first discuss the reporting structure with the CMD and share your views, concerns, and operational issues that may arise while reporting to more than one person. However, talk from the organization's point of view; try not to let him know that you, as a person, are not in favor of dual reporting. Seek guidance and clarity. The CMD may want to discuss with his brothers and come back, or he may finalize the reporting with you. Then you should share the final structure with everyone. If he suggests that there should be dual reporting, you are left with no choice but to accept it. In such a situation, take it up as a challenge and an opportunity to learn, as this structure will have its own set of learnings. Also, list all your deliverables, job description aspects, identify areas where respective bosses should be kept in the loop, share with them, and seek their approval. It will help in avoiding confusion to some extent in the future.

You should also look at the scope of work of these seniors—People Management/HR comes under whose scope—if it's CMD, ideally HR should report to him. But as they are all the owners, dual reporting is what I foresee in such a situation.

Thanks!

By now, you should have a fair idea of the type of reports each Director is interested in. You can prepare a Management Information System (MIS) for each Director, specifying the reports you intend to send to them. This way, they will have a clear list, and if they require additional information, they can always revert back to you. Additionally, you can create a small organizational chart that illustrates you reporting directly to the Chief Managing Director (CMD) and having a dotted line connection to the other two directors. This visual representation can help clarify any remaining doubts.

Regards, Sapna.H

Thank you so much for all your sincere opinions. I will surely take care of it! As we are a small-scale company, the roles and responsibilities of directors are also changing with time and requirements, which are not properly communicated to employees (something I insist should be communicated promptly when changes occur). Due to this lack of communication, ambiguity arises. I am the only HR person here who handles all HR and administrative tasks. I am curious about the daily reporting scenario in HR at a Software MNC.

Thank you.

Dear Varsha, Here's how the matrix structure works in reporting: You report to your boss for the entire gamut of activities. However, you report to a specific authority for the responsibilities and tasks connected to their department, under their purview. Talking to the top boss might seem as if you are escalating others. The software will help figuratively, but its implementation will take time as human emotions are placid. You have already identified and balanced it to an extent. Continue setting the boundaries to ensure the right decision-making.

Thank you.

Challenges in Implementing Professionalism

Another issue is that we lack professionalism while implementing any new changes. All might be accustomed to a casual work style here. So, getting employees as well as management to behave in a structured, professional manner is a big challenge. While everyone understands the need for structured procedures, many fail to follow them during work.

In that case, you might need to ad-lib or improvise to maintain the balance while reporting concerns to the authorities. If they have made an effort to implement a reporting software, it means deep down somewhere everyone wants order, only when it's their way. Comply with the standards set, but remain sensitive. Don't see the deviations as non-adherence, but pure human interventions. There is no "take a pill and cure the headache" formula for this. Drawing certain personal boundaries while addressing what is sensitive to others holds the key. Wish you all the best!