Organizational Design and Restructures with Caro Griffin

General Manager of Tech Ladies and CEO of a podcast and community "Opsy" for tech professionals, Caro, shares her experiences in helping startups grow. Kara has worked in early-stage companies and has seen firsthand how the management team can be pulled in multiple directions and hinder growth. She believes that having a structured framework and roadmap can help alleviate stress and provide structure to the growth process.

Caro highlights the importance of being adaptable and embracing change as key ingredients in growing a company. She also emphasizes the significance of having an organizational structure, which can be visualized through an org chart, to help identify problems that may arise during scaling. There are three main types of organizational structures: functional teams, cross-functional teams, and flat teams, and Caro suggests considering factors such as team members' needs, the likelihood of re-organization, and the potential impact of restructuring when choosing a structure.

Caro suggests revisiting job descriptions to ensure everyone is on the same page and to identify areas where improvements can be made. This can involve regular check-ins with managers, keeping a running list of needs and problems, and anticipating the impact of growth on existing tasks. The speaker also recommends focusing on a priority area, such as a business unit or a rapidly scaling engineering team, when creating an org chart to clarify the structure, roles, and responsibilities of team members, which can be edited and updated over time.

Caro believes that teams should be limited to 6 to 8 people, as having a big team can become unwieldy and lead to the creation of unofficial sub-teams. However, there may be exceptions, such as sales teams which are more independent, and the speaker suggests considering the expertise required for new business units, sales, and marketing goals. In conclusion, Kara's talk offers insights on how to prepare a company to grow its team and maintain a clear hierarchy and reporting structure through a structured framework and organizational structure.