Do you wonder why it feels harder to stay on top of everything at work these days? You aren’t alone. People feel this at every level, and in every company.

As organizations evolve into networks, the number of connection points that each of us manage has exploded. This is why it seems harder than ever to get things done.

Traditional hierarchy

In the old world (a.k.a. traditional hierarchy), there was a boss and that boss had a set of direct reports. Boss interacted with each report, and they went off to do their piece of work.

The number of connections to manage = boss (1) x direct reports (5) = 5

Matrixed organization

As organizations evolved, groups became matrixed. In this structure, there is one boss and three vertical business units with two horizontal services. The number of connections to manage grows because verticals and horizontals must partner.

New equation = boss (1) x direct reports (5) + horizontal (2) x vertical (3) = 11 connections to manage.

Network organization

In today's world, we largely work in network structures. Each player has dependencies and interactions with each other player.

The current equation is boss (1) and reports (5). Each party interacts independently with each other AND with the boss. We’re up to 15 connections to manage.

Things get more complex when you add incremental players. In networks, each new entrant impacts all others.

A networked organization with 20 players (think: teams, functions, systems, etc) that all must talk to each other has 210 interactions to manage.

As you include stakeholders, customers, and external partners - the exponential complexity becomes wildly apparent.

In a network, you can’t hide flawed processes, poor communication, or a lack of collaboration. These deficiencies bubble to the surface because they impact every player and connection point.

Without a well-designed system, you get bottlenecks, delays, and friction. This waste consumes time and mental energy that you could spend growing the business.

This is precisely the reason more organizations are turning to a Chief of Staff.

Hiring an expert to design and manage the network ecosystem ensures:

• everyone knows what work they should be doing

• everyone knows how to work together to get things done, and

• leaders and stakeholders know where things are in the process

This work can’t be done side of desk anymore.