Is our Organization at risk? Part two: How are our administrative systems?

This blog is very much communicated by the auditor or organizational assessor in me. One of the first things that I notice about an organization at risk is their complete lack or general lack of paperwork or of sound, consistent administrative processes. These organizations tend to run by the seat of their pants in a spontaneous haphazard way. "Paperwork?" I can hear you say. "Paperwork is a distraction from doing the real work, right?"

In a highly changing world that thrives on innovation and values spontaneity it is difficult to accept the importance of having a sound, underpinning administration system that is predictable and accountable. It may be surprising to you but organizations without these underpinning processes are often organizations in chaos and unable to truly respond or adjust to a changing environment. It is an "at risk" board that takes a hostile approach to administrative paperwork and that has no paper trail. I use the word 'paper trail' in its broadest sense to include all electronic documentation with sound back ups.

It would be impossible to do a thorough analysis of all administration forms and processes that are needed to function well but I would like to create a list of fundamental principles of great administrative practices.

A thriving organization will have:

1. Policies and procedures to cover key aspects of the functioning and decision making processes.

Without policies and procedures then every single decision must be made on the spot as circumstances arrive, leaving an organization at the whim of external forces. While this may sound onerous to develop, the time invested by a board in developing sound policies to govern the organization will pay dividends in providing clear guidance for administration procedures to be put into place by management. There is a balancing act in determining the level of policies and procedures required that both cover necessary business functions but at the same time do not wrap management and employees in unnecessary administrative red tape.

Cartoon taken from www.processexcellencenetwork.com

A thriving organization will ensure that policies and procedures are consistent, easily understood and easily measured in their application. If you can't measure whether a procedure is effective then you have no means of adjusting, enhancing or even eliminating any particular procedure.

2. Administration processes that are communicated clearly to all members within an organization.

Sound administrative practices are just that-practices. When staff are not clear about what is expected of them then the tendency is for them to make up their own procedures to fill the vacuum. This creates confusion and chaos. Management time spent dealing with adhoc administrative issues also increases when there is little uniformity or consistency. While it may seem counter-intuitive, it is much easier to be innovative when there are consistent underpinning administration processes which are in writing and which are effectively communicated to staff. This should include a means to ascertain staff understanding of communications.

Image taken from douggeiger.wordpress.com

3. Role clarity between staff.
The principle is that for every administrative process someone needs to be responsible. A problem could exist obviously when there are gaps in assigning responsibility for tasks but there are also risks when there are double-ups of staff responsibilities. An organizational chart identifying key accountabilities will save much heartache and will provide staff with a clear understanding of who does what. As an organization grows or changes in any way, it is a healthy sign when these identified accountabilities are regularly reviewed to ensure they still fit.

Image taken from www.togethertothetop.com

4. An updated administration system to meet your needs
I remember being shocked by the system of a very, very large organization in France for the oversight of their company vehicles. The system described to me was of a large, red 'cahier' or ledger book into which was handwritten every vehicle purchased on a nationwide basis. I gulped and then asked, "So what happens when you lose a vehicle?" The administrator informed me that he would take a pen and draw a line through that listing of the vehicle. I was incredulous but I continued,"So what process do you use to take a regular inventory of all the vehicles?" His answer? "I just count each one left on the ledger." We were talking about hundreds of vehicles in this instance. Clearly their needs had outstripped their particular methodology. It was a great process for keeping someone employed to take the tally but it was sadly inefficient and very risky for keeping up with the status of their vehicles.

image taken from www.thecreditsolutionprogram.com

Incredible though this may sound, this is a common situation as organizations grow, particularly for non-profit organizations where there are limited funds for infrastructure development. However, initial savings in infrastructure costs by not updating are very quickly eaten up as further human resources are needed to maintain or patch up an outdated system. Sadly, in today's fast moving technology, software programs that underpin websites or applications are quickly superseded by new versions and maintaining old software packages becomes problematic.

In addition, if an organisation seeks to save money initially by going with a cheap and unknown software development package there could be longer term repercussions when software needs updating. It means that you are trapped into using the same software development professionals who are the only ones who know their work. It is recommended that any infrastructure development be kept relatively simple and using recognisable and reputable software development processes.

In summary
Take the time, make the effort to examine your administrative functions to ensure that they are thorough and consistent, easily understood, widely communicated and regularly reviewed. As your organization grows, do not forget to expand your infrastructure accordingly so that you are not left with a dinosaur of administrative processes in a quickly changing environment.