“Role:
- a part or character in a play, film, etc, to be played by an actor or actress
- the part played by a person in a particular social setting, influenced by his or her expectation of what is appropriate
- usual or customary function (in an organisation).”
For most of us, the role we play most is the last one. Often without a clear idea of what it means, or how it benefits the customer:
“I’m the girl that makes the thing
That drills the hole that holds the ring
That drives the rod that turns the knob
That works the thing-ummy-bob“
For me a Role at work is more like the first definition. A part you play, knowing that you’re playing it. Knowing the story of which you are a part, and knowing how that part contributes to the experience of a person watching or hearing it.
When a business is designed around what it does, so are Roles. And the bigger the Role, the better. Because that’s how you get to really see and feel your contribution to the customer.
That means it’s much better to have a Role that runs Share Promise, a Role that runs Keep Promise, and a Role that runs Improve Process than to have Roles that run things like ‘Raise Invoice’, ‘Handle Refund’, or ‘Clean Toilets’. Many of these kinds of ‘Roles’ are merely tasks, and therefore good candidates for automation. A Role should be about creating and maintaining relationships between the business and the people it serves.
Which makes it even better to have multiple versions of one Role. The Role that covers it all – from Share Promise right through to Keep Promise, feeding into Improve Process and implementing the results.
In other words, your Role. The Role of ‘Boss’.
People need training and practise of course, so it might take you a while to get there as a business, but when you do, you’ve effectively created the ability to scale almost effortlessly.
Just add more Bosses.
And make sure they always have the right Props to hand.
More on that next time.
Discipline makes Daring possible
