By Chally Kacelnik
Many organisations are structured around functional inputs – finance, HR, operations – each working within its own silo. While this might seem logical, it often slows down decision-making, creates unnecessary bottlenecks, and leads to inefficiencies. When structures focus too much on functional expertise rather than outcomes, leaders spend their time navigating bureaucracy rather than making real progress.
A more effective approach is to design structures and ways of working that facilitate outcomes. This means ensuring decision-making happens at the right level and that accountabilities are clear. When work is organised in a way that allows leaders and teams to focus on delivering results rather than simply managing a process, it creates faster, more effective ways of working.
Take process improvement as an example. If a company wants to streamline how customer issues are resolved, a typical approach might involve each department reviewing its part of the process separately. But this rarely works because no one team has the full picture. Instead, bringing together a cross-functional group to map out the process end-to-end will reveal inefficiencies that wouldn’t otherwise be obvious. Decision-making should also sit with those closest to the work rather than requiring layers of approvals that slow things down.
Another example is structuring leadership roles to match the actual work being done. If an organisation is growing rapidly but its leadership model is still based on a rigid hierarchy, leaders can become overwhelmed with decisions that should be made further down. Designing leadership roles that align with delivering key outcomes – rather than simply managing functional areas – ensures that leaders can focus on what actually moves the organisation forward.
At LKS Quaero, we work with leaders to design organisational structures and ways of working that enable rather than obstruct. A well-designed organisation allows leaders to lead, workers to contribute meaningfully, and decisions to be made efficiently. Instead of wasting time on workarounds, people can focus on delivering the results that actually matter.
At LKS Quaero, we help organisations to be more functional. For more information, visit us at lksquaero.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook.
