Is Your Internal Management Team Dysfunctional?
Source: Possibilities for CPA Firm Leaders
The following excerpts, from a blog entry by Rita Keller, are reproduced with permission.
I work mostly with the internal management team at CPA firms. I like to call them the iMgt team, for short. Who are they?
- CEO/managing partner
- COO/firm administrator
- Marketing director
- IT director/manager
- HR director/manager
- Training and development director/manager
- Controller/finance manager
Their titles vary depending on the size of the firm. In smaller firms one person may play multiple roles. I often find that this team suffers from the Five Dysfunctions of a Team:
- absence of trust
- fear of conflict
- lack of commitment
- avoidance of accountability
- inattention to results
In some firms, if there is not a strong administrative and support leader (COO/FA) working at the proper level, these managers work independently, maybe reporting to the MP or to "the marketing partner" or the "technology partner," and so on. In firms where there is a strong MP/FA team, working collaboratively and leading the iMgt team members, things get done. When this team is dysfunctional and disjointed problems creep in and then pour in.
If your iMgt people are disconnected, even if it is just two (MP and FA), it's time to switch to a "connected" model. Begin having weekly or bi-weekly meetings involving the COO and the iMgt team. Once a month or so, the MP should also be involved in the meetings. Develop an iMgt Pipeline (things that need to be done and the progress that is being made). In smaller firms and with new firm administrators, I always urge frequent meetings between the MP and FA (with a shared to-do list).
To read the entire blog entry, click here.
From Possibilities for CPA Firm Leaders, the blog of Rita Keller, president of Keller Advisors, LLC, [email protected], April 30, 2010, "Internal Management (iMgt) -- Why Teamwork Matters." Visit http://cpamanagement.blogspot.com.
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