INSIDE TRACK
OUR YEAR WITHOUT A CEO
Blair Collins-Thomas explains how the company he works for adopted a ‘flat organisation’ and became stronger, together
I
t was almost 18 months ago that our company -
90Digital.com - understood that, for us to continue existing,
some large-scale changes needed to be made. Namely, ditching the CEO and becoming a self-managed and self-led team determining our own future goals, aims and services. When faced with the idea of letting go of the safety that a CEO provides – someone who isn’t afraid of making tough decisions and has the final say on potentially divisive issues – people in business might have second thoughts. But, when both the Founder and CEO of
90Digital left, we were faced with the options of
Blair Collins-Thomas 16 SME
www.smeweb.com
promoting from within, recruiting a new CEO, or changing the structure of the business to one of a flat organisation. We took the opportunity to experiment
with the self-management ideas we had been interested in for a while, as well as shaping the new structure of
❝
WHAT BECAME IMMEDIATELY CLEAR WAS THE LEVEL OF TRANSPARENCY NEEDED ACROSS THE ENTIRE BUSINESS TO ENSURE IT REACHED ITS FULL POTENTIAL
the company and the processes within. All workflows had to be looked at again to ensure compatibility with this new method of working, from reaching out to potential new clients and sharing project responsibilities, to maintaining a strong financial and legal grasp over the company’s position. All this would be tricky for any standard company, but it was a little more difficult for us, as we are a remote company. Without a set hierarchy or the ability
to all congregate in one physical place to see documents and meetings, what became immediately clear was the level of transparency needed across the entire business to ensure it reached its full potential. Something that can be hard for those new into the company
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36
