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Googles Project Oxygen: Do Managers Matter?
The View of Managers Prior to Project Oxygen
The organizational culture largely predetermined the employees view of management before the implementation of the Project Oxygen. Garvin, Wagonfeld, and Kind (2013) write, Page and Brin established an informal culture from the very beginning: exercise balls and dogs were permitted at work&The culture was designed to encourage collegiality and to break down barriers to the rapid development of ideas (p. 2).
Initially, it was estimated that the company would not need managers at all because of the so-called flat organization . Google believed that the hiring process was crucial for the organizational culture. Thus, the company hired only those who met the particular criteria. It was expected that such people would not require being managed by somebody. Still, the practice failed as too many people approached Larry Page directly when they had some issues.
Google was described as an engineering-dominating culture. The superior function of engineers made the role of managers rather challenging. Engineers viewed managers negatively because they believed that the control would hinder their work. The engineering director, Navan Eiron, explained that most employees considered managers as something evil and destructive because they supposed that following orders could not have a positive impact on their autonomy and creativity. Engineers thought that the role of managers was to provide micromanagement and made employees follow directions.
The survey of the company has found the employees appreciate managers help in performance and career development. Also, employees want their managers to listen to them and take into consideration diversity of values. Finally, most employees need the managers help when it comes to work-life balance.
Assessment of Project Oxygen Attributes
Best attributes of managers have been gathered on the basis of the survey. In my opinion, these attributes of managers are crucial for the efficient development of the company as far as they reflect the organizational culture. Most attributes of managers focus on the support and career development. For example, the first attribute presupposes that the manager should be a good coach. The employees value actionable feedbacks that would improve their performance at work. Also, the company needs the promotion of creativity which is impossible without open dialogs. This need has been reflected in attributes too (e.g. the fifth attribute states that the manager should a be a good communicator).
In my opinion, the developed attributes of good managers are directly related to the companys vision and mission. It is significant to add that the employees value not only the communication and collaboration. The last attribute (a good manager has basic technical skills) proves that workers need management-related pieces of advice from those who are familiar with principals of their work.
Evaluation of the Change Process
The steps that the team took to improve the effectiveness of managers were logical and subsequent. An extensive survey, being the first step, was crucial for the exact identification of the employees preferences and needs. The traditional approach to management (such as the usage of promotion for motivation) could not be successful for Google because of the companys culture. However, several challenges could hamper the adoption of eight attributes.
Employees negative attitudes comprised one challenge. Thus, all managers knew that engineers, for example, could not handle the micromanagement and interference in their work. The second major challenge referred to the managers understanding of their role. Garvin et al. (2013) wrote about the initial reaction of Googles manager Marotte to the terrible results of the Upward Feedback Survey. Initially, he considered that it was something wrong with the team. Later, he changed his perspective and realized that his behavior should be altered too.
The challenges were overcome in several ways. First, the open discussion of feedbacks promoted the collaboration and understanding of employees needs among managers. Second, the system of training and e-mail recommendations was implemented to assist managers in improving their performance. Finally, the Great Manager Award demonstrated the significance of the role of managers and promoted the development of positive managing practices.
Reference
Garvin, D., Wagonfeld, A., & Kind, L. (2013). Googles Project Oxygen: Do Managers Matter? HBS No. 9-313-110. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing. Web.
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