A successful organization rests on a strong ability to manage interfaces effectively and to build cooperation between adjacent links in its core work processes.
Most organizations tend to invest in running each unit autonomously, with its own set of metrics, goals and actions, and not always with reference to the next or previous link in the supply chain or the production chain. That approach creates gaps and bottlenecks between departments, and over time it also breeds antagonism and “negative” competition between them.
Creating synergy means managing the work process at an additional level – the level of the interfaces. At 7I’s we have developed a method that improves interface management by dividing the work process into segments, where the boundaries of each segment sit inside two adjoining processes. This puts managerial focus on bridging the continuity that a cross-organizational process demands, and on improving the work interfaces.
7I’s, the operational strategy firm, helps its clients strengthen their work interfaces by applying a distinctive management method that treats the work segment as an organic unit.
What is a segment?
A segment is an interface process between two adjacent processes in the service or supply chain, with its boundaries sitting at the heart of each stage of the process. Every segment has a designated manager, who is not necessarily the manager of either process in practice but does hold a role in one of the links within the segment. Better still, the preference is to appoint a senior employee from the company’s management pipeline.
Segments within a cross-organizational process in freight forwarding
How do you manage a segment?
The segment manager must define a mandate for the segment together with a working team drawn from employees on both links of the interface. The mandate sets out a set of goals, metrics and actions for the segment’s success, tied to the company’s goals and targets.
Through the working year, the segment owner manages the interface process between the two departments using interface meetings, cross-training, identification of bottlenecks at the points of contact, and the creation of effective teamwork between the two departments.
Beyond the clear gain of a well-run interface, and the commitment and broader perspective it builds in employees, managing a segment is also a way to develop the segment manager and to learn about their managerial capability.
