Break Glass in Case of Emergency!

By Yashi Srivastava

Excerpts from 'Open Source Leader' By- Sangeeth Varghese

Chapter: Break Glass in Case of Emergency (breaking glass ceiling between management and employees is future)

Step two to voice: Force people to talk and express their opinions by creating channels for two-way communication.

But does this not create insecurity inside the organization because leader is cutting across the ranks? Murli Krishnan of Biocon says it will not, if the organization has nurtured open environment from the start. He says insecurities will spring up only if one tries to implement this abruptly, especially in places where people are used to a hierarchical environment. 'In most organizations managers play the postman's role, where they waste time acting as a medium of transferring information from one place to another ---from the boss to the employees and vice versa. Managers could play much more productive role, if they are willing to give up their roles as postmen. So, in reality, there is no reason why they should feel insecure. If the leader approaches the source directly, it leaves the manager to focus on bigger responsibilities. Plus, it mitigates a lot of communication gaps and could make the system more efficient.

'But this requires a certain amount of maturity from the part of managers,' continues Murli. 'If the manager is insecure about his position in the company, or if he is using the achievements of his employees just as a means to score brownie points for himself, this will not work. The prerequisite is an environment where everyone feels safe. When Kiran Majumdar goes directly to my junior to find out some information, say about our bank details, I know perfectly well that she is doing it not because she does not have confidence in me, or to use it against me, but because that makes our teamwork much more productive. I know it is good for me, good for the employee and good for the company. We are all clear on that.'

That in a way sets the platform of a nice two-way communication where employees are not only aware of the minimal distance between them and the leader, but also are aware that all information they require is available--it is just a matter of asking for it.