Notes:
An effective management structure should support the operational needs of an organisation. To do this senior management nned to give employees the authority they need in order to do their jobs. They also need to accept that they are responsible for what is done with the authority they grant.
This requires the development of a degree of trust on both sides that can be difficult to sustain and many organisations fall into an alternative and ineffective method of working: senior management give employees the responsibility but not the authority.
The expertise to improve the development process within the organisation lies with the operational people who develop and deliver the solutions. Yet in the main this expertise lies untapped and often frustrated.
Senior managers at the company were once members of project teams and have been promoted into their management roles. Whilst it was once true that they understood the business at grass roots level, this in no longer the case.
The informal communication at the company is inadequate in the new structure. Communication channels tend to be fairly heirarchical which leads to senior management's perception of reality being somewhat innaccurate.
This doesn't help senior management when making operational decisions. Meanwhile, operational people lack control with regard to such things as budgets. Even project management decisions are taken out of the project managers hands.