How Bottom-Up Works

Nowadays, the bottom-up approach is fast becoming the order of the day, especially in 21st-century businesses. The bottom-up approach considers input from all members of staff. In this management style, the management gathers different opinions starting from those at the lowest position.

The bottom-up approach allows management to interact with professionals at different levels of their field in the decision-making process. Results obtained are looked at by top management, which will summarize it and unanimously arrive at a final decision. Since all staff members are involved in the decision-making process, it will boost the employee's morale and make them feel important.

Real-World Example of Bottom-Up

The bottom-up management approach is being used by companies worldwide and across a variety of sectors to address a wide range of challenges. It is yielding tremendous results by helping companies to achieve their goal and innovatively create new products.

An excellent example was the product "Digital Dream Kids" created by Sony. Before Sony made this product, the former president of Sony, Nobuyuki Idei, charged his engineers to become "Digital Dream Kids." This charge enlisted all employees at Sony to think and imagine the future they wanted to create. The engineers begin to do research and develop the Digital Dream Kids product.

Some of the companies that follow a bottom-up approach include newspapers and consulting firms like The New York Times or Ernst and Young. These businesses rely on the employees taking responsibility for finding stories or bringing in new business, and the management will then focus on strategic alignment and implementation.

Significance of Bottom-Up

One of the benefits of the bottom-up approach is that it will help create a mental and emotional attachment in staff members. Since they are involved with the organization's product or project development, they will work for the company for an extended period. It will also make them obligated to make processes work out in the workplace and encourage others to do so.

The bottom-up approach will bring about a greater degree of interaction and cooperation among staff members because it has helped remove the bottlenecks caused by the hierarchy in the workplace. This will also help the organization to arrive at solutions to any problem or project quicker.

The bottom-up approach helps bring out the best in each staff member and helps to utilize every employee to their full potential. This approach will help to develop the junior staff as it allows them to learn from their seniors through the rubbing of minds and execution of projects. This approach often produces a great result which is why most organizations are now adopting this management style.

Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up

While the bottom-up process asks for feedback from all employees of any status in the company, top-down approaches executives first before getting input from lower-level employees. Depending on the project, the company will decide which process they should follow and whom they will seek advice from.