Management by “Grilling”

At ICE, we do not want to operate within a system of rewards and punishments, nor do we believe in blindly assigning tasks and enforcing their completion. We have been working long-term to increase the autonomy and  self-management of our teams.

Autonomy does not mean the absence of control or dissenting opinions, and self-management does not mean anarchy. The more freedom we have with decision-making, the better our communication must be. 

ICEgile

Agile tools have been a standard for us since 2018. These tools include an agile mindset, shared documents, a system of meetings, and precisely defined team roles. In 2021, we aligned closer to the Scrum methodology and expanded our team roles to include precisely defined roles for product owners, project coordinators, and navigators. Product owners have taken over the tasks typically handled by middle management in corporate governance.

Self-managed team

By 2022, we had fully transitioned into a company composed of self-managed cross-functional teams, both specialist and project-based. These teams have proven to be very effective, and thanks to them and agile management, our projects have minimal errors. Additionally, our projects are rarely delayed due to our actions. 

The main teams, of which there are about twenty, have developed their own strategies. We have nearly perfected operational functioning, but in 2023, the need to coordinate individual team strategies with each other emerged. 

This is why we introduced "Grilling"

If meat comes to mind, that's not the case this time. Our inspiration for the term "Grilling" came from the book An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield. In one chapter, he describes how all astronauts, after returning from space missions, are confined to meeting rooms for several weeks and subjected to cross-examination. 

Scientists, researchers, and technicians try to extract every detail of their mission from the astronauts. The insights gained from these "grillings," as the astronauts call these sessions, are crucial for making future space flights as efficient and safe as possible. 

Strategic plan grilling

Similarly, just as astronauts undergo cross-examination after their missions, we continually analyse our operations. We meticulously examine every aspect to identify ways to improve how we function. We "grill" the strategic plans of individual teams until they are refined. If they end up "burned to a crisp," we know it's necessary to create new strategic tasks that better align with the main ICE strategy. 

If you are looking for planned EBIT in the strategic  tasks, you won't find it there intentionally. In our  view, EBIT is the outcome of the preceding  equation. Through appropriately set strategic  operations, we aim to maximise it.