Teach Your Employees To Respect The Chain Of Command

Many businesses seek to flatten their organization. Teaching your employees to respect the chain of command is a definite way to accomplish this task. It may sound rigid and Army-like but it plays a vital role in business and must be thoroughly understood in order for a business to function properly. Rank and chain of command are also essential for the smooth growth, prosperity, and power of an organization.

The chain of command it as follows: Workers report to their team leader. Team leaders report to their managers. Managers report to the COO. And finally, if the owner is involved in on-site operation, is above the COO, and the reporting is absolutely necessary, then the COO is to report to the owner. Each stratum of management should have the opportunity to handle the issue and forward it only if appropriate. In other words, issues should be dealt with at the lowest possible level, elevating only if the team leader, manager, or whoever, fail to provide a satisfactory resolution. Once someone has come up with a suitable resolution, the answer must make its way back and be discussed with the initial employee.

Employees jumping their ranks and reporting to whomever they feel is unacceptable. Actions such as these demonstrate indifference and disrespect toward the standing of higher ranked individuals. Such occurrences are inappropriate and inefficient. They are a complete waste of time as well as effort. Disregard for the chain of command destroys the organization and inhibits proper management skills from being implemented. Your chain of command must be trained to recognize when an inappropriate communication is occurring between ranks in order to prevent such issues. Training should consist of higher ranks immediately dismissing any individual who attempts to break this chain by sending the person to the correct administrator. In addition to this, a slight reprimand should also be incorporated.

Your employees should not have the ability to report their issues to whomever they feel whenever they choose. This obstructs smooth operations and undermines authority.  For this reason, the chain of command is a factor that must be communicated and followed by your employees from day one. It is critical for every individual to comprehend the importance of the chain and who they must report to in the case of a problem or inquiry.

Train your employees to understand and respect the protocol. This way, issues can be handled smoothly and effectively. Create a chain of command and abide by it. Let your managers manage. This strategy provides order and decorum. It will support the design of your management and most of all, your organization.

Indeed, this approach may seem rigid and stern. But let’s view it this way: the army has been using this method to manage thousands of individuals where the situations and issues are a matter of life and death. If this wasn’t the case, then the army would be inefficient, chaotic, and a threat to our society. Lucky for us, they abide by this chain of command proving that such a technique is vastly effective.