BRUZZ - organizational design

The Initial Situation

BRUZZ is a Flemish-Brussels media company that emerged in 2016 from a merger of 5 organizations. Today, they employ 55 permanent staff members and an equal number of freelance editors.

The merger was mandated by the government and was intended to increase efficiency, but also to foster more cross-media reporting. This means that news items would be distributed through as many channels as possible (TV, radio, magazine, online, etc.). This strategic choice certainly seemed logical, but implementation proved challenging.

The editorial team was restructured to facilitate this cross-media reporting approach. However, in the following years, tensions within the team steadily increased. Solutions were sought and tested, but they lacked sustainability. It was time to address the organizational issues thoroughly.

The Original Request

Can you guide us through a brief thinking exercise about the most suitable organizational structure?

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The Approach

Step 1

In consultation with the management team and editorial staff, we first assembled a working group of editorial members. This group represented a good cross-section of the editorial team, which we dubbed ‘The Table of Nine.’ Interestingly, the editor-in-chief chose not to join because he wanted to give complete freedom to the working group. I did have a preliminary conversation with him because I needed his genuine approval and trust to conduct this exercise in his absence.

Step 2

With the Table of Nine, we worked through a design process to create a blueprint for the ideal editorial structure. These discussions brought many underlying beliefs and tensions to light:

  • Does our vision for a cross-media approach still hold true?
  • What do we expect from an editor-in-chief as a leader?
  • How centralized or decentralized do we want to distribute power?
  • What do we and our colleagues need to function and perform optimally?

 

This led to a design that addressed many of these challenges. Specifically: the cross-media mission remained intact but would be ensured through specific roles that create cross-pollination, and clusters would be re-established for each separate medium (TV, radio, magazine, online) – just as they had been years ago. Each cluster with its own dynamics, needs, and way of working. Additionally, there was a shift toward more self-organization, and a leadership trio of editors-in-chief instead of a single editor-in-chief.

Step 3

Feedback to management, the board, and the team. This step proved—as I often experience—somewhat less straightforward than expected. During the design sessions, the working group had built up quite a (conceptual) lead and needed time to bring everyone else on board. This makes sense, because any organizational design touches deeply on the vision of collaboration, such as centralized versus decentralized leadership, the degree of autonomy for employees, and the streamlining of internal processes.

Step 4

The HR director and several strong advocates from the working group implemented the model throughout the editorial team. They revisited the definition of roles—especially regarding some new leadership positions—and developed a significantly improved meeting culture.

Result

Soon after implementation, new energy emerged. Trust gradually began to revive, communication improved considerably, and people took on more responsibility again. The new structure and the underlying paradigm of shared authority proved to be robust and resilient during stressful situations.

In the words of management: “The entire editorial team functions significantly better and has become a healthier place to work for many employees.”

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