They are continually meeting with their clients to review these new approaches and the opportunities their newly discovered talent opens up. They joke about almost having offices at their clients because they are rarely seen in their home offices. Communication between team members is so crucial that each team has a designated person whose primary responsibility is to ensure that everyone knows what everyone else on the team is doing and to serve as a liaison to senior management. This strategy entails a continual search for ways to minimize overhead costs, to eliminate intermediate non-value added steps, to reduce transactions costs, and, in general, to optimize business processes and work flow. Clearly, then, this is an organization where employee empowerment is preached and practiced, team work is a sine qua non, training programs are the norm.
All departments become equal partners in the quest for success.
No one department dominates. This plan was cascaded down through the firm. Its various departments were encouraged to give feedback about and to question the attainability of the goals and the feasibility of the action plans, as well as to consider the future vision. After another iteration sharpened these future maps, the departments then developed their goals and action plans that would contribute to the achievement of the corporate objectives. Further, each work process was documented and reviewed on a regular basis to ensure efficiency and effectiveness.