How to Deal with the Worst Organizational Bureaucracy

How to Deal with the Worst Organizational BureaucracyHow to Deal with the Worst Organizational BureaucracyWorking in a big corporate office can be a blessing and a curse. On one hand, you have tons of resurces at your disposal- technical help, creative teams, mentors, a well-stocked supply room, and anything else you need just a purchase order away.But on the otzu sich hand, the bureaucracy of a corporate setting can easily put a damper on new ideas and slow down the work you need to get done. Between needless policies, endless paperwork, and a lack of decision-making authority, you can start to wonder if the corporate rule-makers are actively trying to make your job harder. The truth is, you probably wont be able to single-handedly rid your company of this kind of ridiculousness- er, bureaucracy- anytime soon. But, by facing it head-on and dealing with it the correct way, you can make it a lot less frustrating on yourself and your team. After spending a few years in the corporate wo rld, here are the things I found most frustrating- and how I learned to deal with them proactively. The Issue Lack of TransparencyUnless youre in the C-suite, chances are youre bedrngnis going to get much information about your companys business decisions. Even if youre in a teamberatery role, youll probably be blindsided by unexpected announcements, new initiatives, and policy changes. Take my own office About a month ago, four of the employees in my department were called into a meeting where they were laid off- all without my prior knowledge. As their supervisor, I rushed to my manager to ask what she knew about the situation. Turns out, she had no idea the layoffs were happening, what information they were based on, and if there were more coming. The same thing happened when our company was purchased and merged with another company. Changes in structure and management were conveyed only to certain departments, leaving the rest of the employees to depend on rumors until the infor mation was strategically filtered down.How to DealTheres really no guaranteed way to gain insight into your companys inner workings- if the CEO doesnt want you to know, you probably wont be able to find out. However, it doesnt hurt to regularly communicate with your supervisor and ask what he or she knows about certain situations. Ive found that even if my manager cant give me many specifics, I can glean occasional nuggets of information (which at least give me a piece of the big picture, even if I cant see the entire thing). The other side of dealing with a lack of knowledge (and the frustration that comes along with it) is to focus on being agile within your role. Hard as it may be, if you can learn to accept change in a graceful and calm manner (rather than complaining or constantly asking why things cant go back to the way they were before), youll have a much easier time adjusting and taking the changes in stride. The Issue Seemingly Useless PoliciesCheck out any companys handbo ok, and youll find policy after policy regarding everything from expected behavior to the dress code to taking days off. And for the most part, you probably dont question why these policies are necessary.That is, until you come across a rule that specifies something absurd For example, that PTO can only be requested in half- or full-day increments, instead of by the hour (and half hours? Forget it)- so you have to use four hours of that precious vacation time for a doctors appointment, instead of just one. Or, the rule that states that hourly employees cant use their cell phones to text or surf the internet even when theyre off the clock during lunch and breaks. For an office full of adults who know how to get the job done? These policies seem unnecessary and unfair.How to DealFrustrating as the rules may be, there are probably valid reasons for them. Ive found that it helps me accept (and enforce) them if Im able to get more information about those reasons. If, for example, I find out that our PTO system simply cant process anything other than four- or eight-hour requests, I feel more satisfied than assuming our HR department simply wants to force us to use up our hours as quickly as possible. (I also know, given that this is the only reason for the rule, that it may be possible to skirt it- like allowing an employee to skip her lunch hour to make up for that doctors appointment that made her late.) The Issue Lack of Decision-Making AbilityUntil youre in a director-level position, you really dont have much leeway to make decisions on behalf of your team, clients, or even, really, yourself. For example, my teams primary function is to set up clients software to transmit insurance claims electronically, but we were also recently handed the responsibility of responding to invoice disputes. So, clients would call in, irate that they were charged for twice the amount they should have been. Wed be able to research the issue to some extent, since we could remotely l og into their system. But the catch was, even if we did find that the invoice was incorrect, we didnt have access to the clients contract, which spelled out what they were and were not responsible for paying for. Even if it was apparent that the client deserved a credit for overpaying, we werent authorized to give it to him or her. We had to transfer the client to another department, then had to go up through the ranks to get the approval. It was exhausting and infuriating for everyone involved.Whatever position you work in, you likely experience this, too. You may not be authorized to make decisions, change processes, or go out on a limb for a client without proper approval- which can make for some uncomfortable situations.How to DealIf I know ahead of time that Im not the correct person to make a change or give approval for something, I like to give full disclosure of that from the get-go. So, when talking to a client about an invoice, Ill preface the conversation by explaining, I m going to help research this problem, but to actually get your invoice corrected, Ill have to transfer you to our customer service department, OK? By setting the correct expectations with anyone involved, youll eliminate the frustration that would have come if you waited until the end of the conversation to explain your lack of authority.The Issue Endless Paperwork and Red TapeWhile you may have an endless to-do list and a full docket of projects, actually making progress on those items often turns out to be easier said than done. Instead of diving right in, you first have to create a project plan, detailing who youll need to involve, the expenses youll incur, and an expected time table. To get feedback on it, youll email it to your boss- and when you dont hear back after a week, youll send a few follow-up messages. Youll wait for him or her to get approval from up the line, and only then, weeks after you started the project, will you actually be able to start. Sound familiar? In e nvironments like this, its hard- and incredibly frustrating- to actually get anything done.How to DealUnfortunately, resisting an existing approval process, long and tedious as it may be, will only make it take longer. My employees, for example, often come to me to complain about a particular way of doing things, and every time, Ill ask, Can you document a few examples? After all, thats the only way I can determine if a change can be made- and present it to the higher-ups if so. If my staffers arent prepared with those examples, that adds at least a day or two to the process- but if theyre ready, we can get started right away.Same goes for drafting project plans, filling out paperwork, and crafting project plans. Yep, theyre a pain, but if you can anticipate the need for them and get started ahead of time, youll a head start (and youll avoid the frustration of hearing your boss repeat, Have you documented this?). Pro tip Try creating reusable templates you can use when asking for ap proval, suggesting a change, or presenting an idea.At the end of the day, rules and policies are there because they make it possible for business to run smoothly. They may be frustrating, but theyre not going anywhere. But by adjusting the way you deal with the bureaucracy, youll be able to more easily navigate the waters- and youll make a big difference in your everyday work life. Photo of red tape courtesy of Shutterstock.