Walking down a particular stretch of Orchard Road during the season of the Great Singapore Sales, I decided, quite on a whim, that this scene warranted a picture.
And so even though it took a little bit of standing under the hot late afternoon sun just to grab a picture, I did, because it isn't every day that one gets to perceive the difference between indie small-time businesses and large corporations wrapped within a single frame.
There are many differences, of course, when one speaks of them two- and I don't mean it only in terms of size, product development, management, processes, employee numbers, office culture and everything, even if, when one thinks about it, they do define the degree of separation between one and the other.
If one business consists of a small team where one person plays multiple roles in the same day and sometimes at the same time, the other consists of a much larger team where the roles are so defined that one gets hired into a certain position, and likely stays there until the time comes to climb the ladder.
Here's the question: When is the structure relevant, and when does one implement it? How does one measure growth? How does one measure the performance indicators? And what sort of management is the best for which phase of business at what point in time?
There are theories to explain all this away- but the professional expertise belongs to a management expert- and I'm not one.
Still, I do wonder if there are situations where proper management structure and systems are required to keep things moving instead of putting in place groupthink-collaborative efforts.
Because on that afternoon outside one container I saw two frazzled, exasperated souls standing by the entrance surrounded by bags and bags of merchandise, luggage bags, and an empty trolley, looking for all the world like they had been excluded from the action taking place inside. Then again, I may be wrong- it may have been just a matter of timing- that it just wasn't their turn to be inside with the (very busy) others setting up the space for retail sales.
Candidly, however, I just felt like the atmosphere reminded me of those group activities we used to do in school where Someone gave a reporting time and so we all turned up at said time only to realize that initial preps were still carrying on and it wasn't our turn yet, and so we got relegated to standing around listlessly watching them discuss whilst waiting for ourselves be assigned.
Yes, collaborative efforts are good- they grant individuals the space to express their capabilities and expertise, they allow for a win-win situation, everyone gets a share of the pie, everyone works together to get everyone on board and have them contribute their skillsets and passions- but the lead coordinator has to be very good, decisive, systematic and strong in organizational capabilities.
Lest the situation turn into chaos, disgruntlement, disharmony and eventually resentment.
Now, I can't say for sure whether the other company in the container next to theirs has excellent organizational structure, perfect systems and efficient operations, but I can safely say that they must have some sort of system somewhere.
Because they knew exactly what they had to do, they knew exactly when their stocks had to come down, when their marketing material had to be up, how the decor and everything was going to be, and they knew exactly who to deploy at the right time.
There were only three workmen down at the container on that afternoon. And I don't even think they were direct employees of the company- they weren't wearing any uniforms or company teeshirts. Neither were they sleek haired in neat attire.
They were in dusty work clothes and well worn work boots.
And what they were supposed to do, I think, was to unroll the posters, stick them up on the walls and set up the lights, whilst the stocks, the marketing personnel, the sales personnel and the managerial teams would come thereafter.
I can't be absolutely certain of this part, but I can be sure that these three dudes had their work cut out for them, they knew what to do, they weren't wasting any time, and they were just gonna do their job, finish it, do an inspection, hand over, and go.
Very effective, very efficient, no nonsense, and no longwinded discussion at all.
Because on that afternoon outside one container I saw two frazzled, exasperated souls standing by the entrance surrounded by bags and bags of merchandise, luggage bags, and an empty trolley, looking for all the world like they had been excluded from the action taking place inside. Then again, I may be wrong- it may have been just a matter of timing- that it just wasn't their turn to be inside with the (very busy) others setting up the space for retail sales.
Candidly, however, I just felt like the atmosphere reminded me of those group activities we used to do in school where Someone gave a reporting time and so we all turned up at said time only to realize that initial preps were still carrying on and it wasn't our turn yet, and so we got relegated to standing around listlessly watching them discuss whilst waiting for ourselves be assigned.
Yes, collaborative efforts are good- they grant individuals the space to express their capabilities and expertise, they allow for a win-win situation, everyone gets a share of the pie, everyone works together to get everyone on board and have them contribute their skillsets and passions- but the lead coordinator has to be very good, decisive, systematic and strong in organizational capabilities.
Lest the situation turn into chaos, disgruntlement, disharmony and eventually resentment.
Now, I can't say for sure whether the other company in the container next to theirs has excellent organizational structure, perfect systems and efficient operations, but I can safely say that they must have some sort of system somewhere.
Because they knew exactly what they had to do, they knew exactly when their stocks had to come down, when their marketing material had to be up, how the decor and everything was going to be, and they knew exactly who to deploy at the right time.
There were only three workmen down at the container on that afternoon. And I don't even think they were direct employees of the company- they weren't wearing any uniforms or company teeshirts. Neither were they sleek haired in neat attire.
They were in dusty work clothes and well worn work boots.
And what they were supposed to do, I think, was to unroll the posters, stick them up on the walls and set up the lights, whilst the stocks, the marketing personnel, the sales personnel and the managerial teams would come thereafter.
I can't be absolutely certain of this part, but I can be sure that these three dudes had their work cut out for them, they knew what to do, they weren't wasting any time, and they were just gonna do their job, finish it, do an inspection, hand over, and go.
Very effective, very efficient, no nonsense, and no longwinded discussion at all.