The chain of command which is usually given by the CEOs of the organization has to always percolate downwards to all of the people who are concerned. Thus if the CEO will have to give a particular command ,it will have to reach the head of the department will in turn communicate to the supervisor. The supervisor will in turn get the same instructions implemented by suitably advising the workers under them.
The subordinates thus have one superior over them to whom he / she has to report to. There is a likely chance that the subordinate may respond to different people where he may express the confusion which happens due to many competing priorities of the organisation. It is the responsibility that the organization must always keep in mind the inherent conflicts and will always try to mitigate all of them. The advancement of the technology and also the trend to empower the employees of the organization which makes the process less relevant; yet the chain of command is not at all going to disappear at any particular time soon.
A proper version of a chain of command, which is always aligned to the missions and visions of the organization always removes all the problems which are involved in multiple instructions. A chain of command has to be always designed as per all the structures and the needs of the particular organization. The process of departmentalization always follows the designers even in how to group the particular tasks. There can never be a watertight compartmentalization in each of the tasks, where many of the people have to contribute through various processes. Besides many other things changing due to the business environments, & the political environment. Such changes always have to be factored in order to ensure the smooth working of the chain of command.
Blog is written by Vikram.
