Organizational Decline Through Over-Control

Organizations continue to experience excessive red tape despite business thought leaders suggesting that bureaucracy damages business growth and profits. The symptoms of bureaucracy include too many management layers, greater growth in head office employees than frontline employees, more and more processes removing the autonomy of employees, increasing reporting demands and excessive time spent in meetings. When speaking to business leaders the issue of too much red tape is a regular refrain, and yet little has changed for most large organizations.
Legitimate Leadership works with leaders to develop a working environment where leaders implement the behaviors that would allow their employees to contribute willingly. Rather than employees reluctantly accepting the instructions and commands of managers, employees will want to work for a leader that acts in their best interest, offers them opportunities to grow and enables them to deliver their best performances.
What does this mean practically? How can business leaders reduce red tape and allow their employees to contribute fully?

Bureaucracy as a form of governance is well suited for certain administrative set ups like government but is ill suited to any industrial set up. Strict adherence to rules and procedure is a characteristic feature of this form of governance and most often in this process the results or the ultimate purpose of the effort gets diluted. This attitude of being correct procedurally is known as Red tape and is the bane of administration. Business leaders need to be sensitive to the trend of employees adopting this attitude as it will help in reducing risks and responsibility fixing. Flat organisation structure, more two way communication, delegation of powers, formation of project teams (mission) etc are some of the steps involved in making the organisation responsive to the changing environment. Managers need to encourage risk taking behaviour, set objectives and targets as per growth plan/strategic plan, delegate powers as well as accountability, give freedom to perform, and periodically monitor/feedback to the concerned.