How
do we react to limited resources/win-lose scenarios?
Performance
bell curve is a classic limited resource example.
There
are only a few slots for top performers- usually a manager wants just a tad bit
more slots for his/her top performers and a tad bit less slots for his/her low
performers.
What
are different ways of dealing with this situation? Two obvious ways are:
- · Give limited resources proportionately to each team – everyone gains or loses equally.
- · Give limited resources appropriately to each team – some teams may get more than others.
Usually
a leaders´ decision (1st line of authority that both/multiple teams
report up to) is required to drive non-proportionate/appropriate division of
resources amongst different teams.
What
happens when a leadership decision is not possible ?–maybe because leader isn´t
there. Is only solution to delegate decision
higher up in hierarchy?
I
would place responsibility on manager of each team. They have to come together
and discuss allocation of resources.
What
are imperatives in such a process?:
- HR is facilitator in this process. I might be asked to recommend appropriate division of resources. But that makes it easy for managers to abdicate responsibility for decision taken. I would put responsibility squarely back on shoulders of managers – it´s your teams and you have to take a decision.
- Before we start discussion division of resources, managers have to debate and agree on principles on basis of which resources would be divided appropriately. When there´s no principle, it´s difficult to find agreement.
But
what does a facilitator do when he finds managers not willing to come on table
and discuss?
- First, it´s a symptom of managers behaving ´territorially´.
- In such a case, discussion needs to be taken a notch higher. Discussion is no more about merits of coming to table and discussing. Discussion should be about exploring with each manager ´why is s/he not coming on table and how might s/he being perceived because of that´. That is not an easy discussion but is certainly a necessary one. A Type A (go getter) person might respond to this process. Would a Type B person respond to this kind of a process? I think discussion with a Type B person would be about what is right thing to do.
-
Sourav
