How to build a company of 14,000 employees without a boss?
Buurtzorg’s Case Study: organizational structure and organizational model – source www.buurtzorg.com. In this article, learn about one of the most interesting turquoise organizations and a case study of the development of Buurtzorg. From a startup to a global organization in just a few years.
Buurtzorg is a Dutch company that is an association of community nurses who take care of patients staying at home. Remarkable efficiency and a turquoise work environment have resulted in tremendous growth for the organization. What started as a team of four nurses in 2006 has grown to almost 8,000 nurses in 2014 and 14,000 nurses today with teams in the Netherlands, Sweden, Japan, and now also in the United States.It is self-management and the driving force of people in the organization that allowed the company to develop so quickly. The company and its practices were described in F.Laloux’s book „Work differently”. Other books on this topic are „Quality Doctrine” – prof. Blikle and „From hierarchy to turquoise” – Marek Wzorek – CEO and founder of PerfectCircle.
The founder of Buurtzorg is Jos de Blok . A former nurse who was fed up with the current healthcare system in the Netherlands. Buurtzorg was founded with a vision of more than just primary medical care. The idea was different – to create teams of nurses who would improve the quality of life and independence of their patients. Nurses help patients in life and create deep relationships with them. This assumption has fulfilled its role – Buurtzorg currently has the highest quality indicators for patient satisfaction in the entire Netherlands.
Buurtzorg – fewer work hours, greater effects
The room was packed. Apparently more people showed up than expected. Something that made this event so compelling was that it wasn’t just another lecture on someone else’s theories and ideas. It was a very real experience in a field where you could ask real questions about very real, personal, cultural and structural challenges.
“Essentially, the program enables nurses (rather than nursing assistants or cleaners) to provide the comprehensive care that patients need. And although this meant higher costs per hour, fewer hours were gained overall. Indeed, by changing the care model, Buurtzorg reduced the number of hours of care by 50%. Thus, improving its quality and increasing the job satisfaction of its employees. ”
Buurtzorg’s nonprofit overhead costs are 8%, compared to an average of 25% – meaning „more money for care and innovation.”
As Jos shared his nine years of experience and valuable learnings along the way. The room was focused on his words. After all, starting with four nurses, a budget of €20,000 and no loans to cover two-thirds of all community care provided in the Netherlands is no small feat.
“What happens now will be unstoppable. People feel disempowered by top-down hierarchies, and great potential and innovation are ignored or even unexpressed.”
Self-organization: the key to success
One of the pillars of Turquoise Organizations is self-management– and this is what their success is based on. Such an organization is like a living being whose driving force is human energy and passion, just like in the case of Buurtzorg. Buurtzorg has no manager, and everyone deals with the organizational aspects together. Teams of nurses make decisions themselves, such as renting an office, recruiting, or improving the quality of service.
This works effectively because everyone in the company has a high sense of responsibility for their decisions and their implementation. This has a positive effect in achieving the overall mission of the company. Teams hold regular meetings to improve their work, led by the so-called moderator. They ensure that the meeting order is maintained and that each person has an equal right to speak. In a turquoise company, it is highly desirable that every person should be able to perform this role. Additionally, the members should choose the moderator from among themselves.
Principles-that-will-allow-to-achieve-this-result-in-any-company
In addition to the above-mentioned self-organization and sense of responsibility. Other important principles used by Buurtzorg and allowing the introduction of turquoise to the company include:
Co-workers divided into teams of up to a dozen people. If the team grows, it is divided into two smaller ones;
Regular training in the use of tools and conducting debates, as well as cooperation with coaches;
Cooperation with experts who support the organization in activities that exceed its competences;
Decisions are made on the basis of weak consensus. For instance, part of the team is strongly in favor of making a decision. Meanwhile the other part of the team is not strongly opposed to it, it is made. Of course, if it turns out that the decision made is wrong, you can meet again and change it.
You can read more about Turquoise Organizations in our article:Company Solar System. This article originally appeared first in the magazine Production Manager No. (05)11 2017.
The vision of PerfectCircle®️ is to create a global network of business, executive and coaches supporting the development of people and organizations. We effectively develop self-management in our company and create a turquoise organization. Do you want to meet our team or join us? See who we are currently looking for HERE. Write to us and send your CV or join the nearest Business Coaching OPEN group TUTAJ.
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