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Reader-to-reader advice.

Managing Autonomy
In his September 1993 feature on self-directed work teams ["What the Experts Forgot to Mention," [Article link]], John Case wrote that a manager's job is to "encourage and reward good ideas and innovations -- but make sure teams don't take too much responsibility into their own hands." How do you balance those two conflicting forces without micromanaging?

Peter Huller

San Francisco

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We're partial to participative management styles that encourage group problem solving, so we'd urge you to continue tapping the collective wisdom of your employees. Some CEOs would say that's your primary duty: "As a manager, you want to minimize the number of things you personally have to touch and maximize the initiative of your employees," says Bob Freese, CEO of Alphatronix, a maker of optical-storage systems in Research Triangle Park, N.C. (For snapshots of diverse employee-involvement systems in action, see "People Power," July 1993, [Article link].)

But you can't empower employees without holding them accountable for their actions, notes Bob Rosen, author of The Healthy Company (Jeremy P. Tarcher, 1991, $14.95). Laying down decision-making guidelines for people to follow is hardly micromanaging. Plus it will make your job of "disciplining" employees easier. When people foul up, managers at some of the best-run companies we know of typically confront them with two questions: "What are you doing to fix this?" and "What can I do to help you?"

"The biggest problem is when subordinates make decisions without the full knowledge of how their actions will impact other areas of the business," observes Dave Wiegand, CEO of Advanced Network Design, a telecommunications company in La Mirada, Calif. The solution is basic, though it's easier said than implemented: everyone from the boardroom to the shop floor has to clearly understand the company creed, so that each person will be able to make decisions -- even split-second ones -- that embody the core values you (and ideally, your employees) espouse.

Your top priority is to concentrate on shaping your company's culture. Consider adding to your mission statement a definition of management's role in helping employees formulate and meet expectations. "We set up a system in which every employee in a given situation would pretty much make the same decision a manager would," says Freese. Post the new creed at your company's high-traffic intersections, and mail copies to your business associates.

Then develop checks and balances that remind employees of their responsibility to stay within agreed-upon decision-making boundaries, says Rosen. Communication is key. Give your employees a direct link to the top: electronic mail, suggestion boxes, and sound-off sessions are useful. Alphatronix compiles employee feedback into single-page reports; frequent, results-driven discussions are also de rigueur. Teams gather regularly to debate and set productivity goals. CEO Freese and his four senior managers meet each Monday for an hour to kick around company developments. Quarterly check-ins give work teams the chance to meet with managers to modify their departmental business plans, point out production bottlenecks, and propose solutions. And once a year, at the five-year planning assembly, Alphatronix's employees get a bird's-eye view of their company. "It ties everything together," says Freese.

Never presume your employees can't handle workplace freedom, because you can always train them to handle it. The trick, says Wiegand, is to win the respect of new hires early on by setting up a series of one-on-one interviews to discuss what they want to accomplish at your company. From there, you might let employees write their own job descriptions or help you improve the profit-sharing plan, as Rick McCloskey does. McCloskey, the founder of System Connection, a cable maker in Provo, Utah, says that the risks involved in employee empowerment are well worth taking. To make it work at your business, you have to believe that, too.

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Which Way to Market?
I have a unique software idea that I'd like to promote either by selling it to an established company or by bringing the product to market myself. How do I decide which route to take? How can I protect my idea while I decide?

Alan Meyer Perla

President

Perlas of Wisdom

Topanga Canyon, Calif.

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The barriers to entering the software market are formidable: the industry boasts a quickly maturing customer base and well-established distribution channels that won't carry you until you've proved your worth. (But you can't prove your worth until your product has been successfully sold -- it's a catch-22.) Also, even well-capitalized software start-ups underestimate packaging and advertising costs, notes programmer-turned-CEO Bob Parsons. His $50-million company, Parsons Technology, in Hiawatha, Iowa, collapsed twice in its early years, despite periodic cash infusions and drastic price cuts.

First off, realize that quality is the single most important factor. Once you've developed the product, conduct a benefits-and-features analysis on it and on a handful of competing products, suggests Tom Mosley, author of Marketing Your Invention (Upstart, 1992, $19.95). You can use the outcome as ammunition when you pitch your product's worth.

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