Now here’s an interesting cultural concept!
Ilya Polzin is an entrepreneur, writer and founder of OpenMe a greetings card company and the digital agency Ciplex, as well as writing for Forbes and Linked In and other publications. He reported in Business Insider that he has recently revolutionised his business structure with astonishing results.
He’s removed the hierarchical structure of ‘boss’ to boss reporting that can often dis-incentivise employees, leading to individuals 
losing sight of company goals and vision, and to people feeling like worker bees, in favour of a flattened team orientated structure where colleagues work alongside each other to achieve organisational goals autonomously.
In his experience it has lead to a slew of happier, passionate, engaged, hardworking employees that are dedicated to the overall success.
Here’s how he did it:
The Team Philosophy
Individuals need to be managed, but teams manage themselves. The first step is to break down your departments (they’re not the same as teams). In a typical organization, you may have a marketing department that generates a lead, a sales department that then makes the sale, a production department that delivers, and a service department that supports the customer. But when you think about it, everyone should be working for the customer. So instead of employees residing in department silos, create teams that bring them together under this shared goal.
Then remove hierarchy within these teams. No one should have a “senior” or “VP” title. Leaders may naturally emerge within the teams, but there should be no official reporting structure. Initially, I thought my senior level people might balk at this idea. But once they saw the changes in culture and work habits, they got behind it. I let them choose their own titles–as long as they didn’t try to introduce hierarchy.
You also want to make sure your team’s goals are tied to company goals and company performance. Have your teams measure their own performance at set intervals (every two weeks or once a month may work). They’ll learn from their mistakes and continuously improve between milestones.
Take Money off the Table
Money is naturally a “have to.” We have to pay our bills so we have to make money. But thankfully money only motivates us to a certain point. Once money is off the table, this is when the real culture shift can happen.
Salaries are naturally hierarchical. But what happens when you eliminate hierarchy in your business? Don’t worry–it doesn’t involve flattening salaries across the board. (We didn’t lower any salaries at Ciplex, though we did give out a few raises.) You still have different pay levels but they’re not rigidly tied to certain job titles; they’re tied to performance. Now when I make a new hire I always ask the person what kind of salary she’s looking for and how much would be enough to get money off her mind. When the salary question is presented in the right way, I find most people are honest. We won’t hire the person if we can’t afford it. If a team member can pay his bills and not have to worry about money all month, you’ve accomplished this very important step.
Give the Gift of Autonomy
Autonomy is one of the biggest motivators. Your team is made up of adults right? So treat them like adults. Remove rules and give your teams full freedom to accomplish their goals.
They will figure out on their own when they have to come in and leave, if they can take a vacation, if they can only put in two hours today or if they have to put in 14.
If any one team member takes advantage of this new freedom, the rest of the team will vote that person off the island–Survivor-style.
Challenge Them
Employees want to constantly advance their skills and be better at what they do. If they’re not challenged, they will look for challenges elsewhere. That’s the last thing you want.
You already handed them a challenge by forming teams and setting team goals. Naturally each team will want to find ways to be better, more efficient, and effective. But what else should you do? Meet with all of your employees and determine what skills they have that aren’t being utilized. Find out what they want to become better at and where they can improve. Then support them by removing obstacles that might be in their way.
Determine What Makes Them Tick
Get to know your employees. Why are they doing what they are doing? Do they see themselves doing this type of job for a long time?
Your organization needs people with the right purpose. The right drive. Your job is to help them find their purpose within your company or to potentially let them go if they’re not a good fit.
Lead Your Team
Now let’s work on you.
Remember, the teams you’ve created will police themselves. You no longer need to correct them or even help solve problems for them. Instead of being a manager, support them by being a leader.
Leading, unlike managing, requires employees to adapt and adjust to their own challenges and problems. If someone comes to you with a problem, ask good questions and provide the support he needs to determine his own solution. That way, ownership of the problem doesn’t transfer to someone else or escalate.
Keep The Culture Alive
Compared with where we were three months ago, Ciplex today feels like a completely different company. Our team members are truly happy and everyone wants to be there. I know that everyone is doing everything they can to meet our company goals.
Some have been offered jobs at competing companies that pay higher–but they’ve turned them down.
Even I–a former micromanager who used to get squeamish at the sight of an employee on Facebook at work–have learned to let go. The other day I even shopped online for an Xbox for the office, simply because I heard some employees love to play it.
Get in touch. If you’re looking for help to establish or re-shape your Company’s culture. Call us today.