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Letting Go
Do you always want to keep a very tight control over your own area of work? Research teams can be particularly guilty of this, by trying to ensure that they control all of the organisation’s market research and moaning when other divisions do their own thing. However, there is a highly effective solution that can help everyone…
The upside
The benefits of being in control of all of the research include:
- Customers aren’t constantly contacted by different parts of the organisation (which would suggest that each part doesn’t know what the other is doing).
- It prevents wastage, so that different parts of the organisation don’t carry out the same research. Indeed, the research required may have already been done - and centralised control will make this available.
- It ensures a consistent approach to research so that work can be shared and compared.
- It allows better control of suppliers.
The downside
BUT… there is a BIG downside to insisting that you carry out all of the research:
- As we’ve seen with the Pareto Principle, demand almost always exceeds your resource levels – and that’s after weeding out the low value projects.
- You therefore take on more work than you can do, and the only way of coping is to skimp on other projects.
- As the project management side is fixed, this means that you skimp on the thinking - the element that delivers the quality and the added value.
The resolution
So how do you square the circle? The answer is to embrace the idea that others can do some of their own research if you have insufficient capacity. However, you retain an element of control because you insist on being involved in the decision as to who should do the work and are kept informed throughout the project.
So, work that requires less expertise (e.g. it deals more with facts than interpretation) can be carried out by the sponsor with your blessing and support. You only need to invest a few hours of your time to ensure that:
- The right agency is used
- The work doesn’t repeat other work, and simple standards are followed
- You oversee the results and can share them with others as appropriate
It therefore becomes a win-win situation. When selling it to your internal clients, the benefits you should push are:
Consistency – Your core work won’t be compromised, but work that might otherwise be pushed out can still be done with the benefit of your input and overall control. This means that you can find any existing work that will help (and will save them money and time). It also ensures that their results will be compatible with other studies, enabling them to derive further value if needed.
Reliability – they benefit from your advice on trusted agencies that will deliver the best work in the best timescale.
Accessibility – All work becomes available to the whole company.
The hardest part is letting go! The key is to do so in a controlled way. Trust your colleagues. Let them do their own research with your help and support, and they will come to appreciate your value even more.
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