Distributed management is a

management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

method for people to work together over the

web Web most often refers to: * Spider web, a silken structure created by the animal * World Wide Web or the Web, an Internet-based hypertext system Web, WEB, or the Web may also refer to: Computing * WEB, a literate programming system created by ...

to accomplish desired goals. Management activities are distributed through the people doing the work.

Changed Operating Environment

Traditionally the functions of management are centralised and performed by managers. This limits the amount of work that can be done. The

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

has provided the opportunity for people to work together globally. However, “manager centric” approaches have been unable to provide a practical means to fully utilize the available connectivity.

Social networking A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for an ...

has been tried, but it lacks an underlying management method and the tools to apply the method globally and consistently.

History

In his Doctorate on Introducing Technology into Organizations completed in 1990, Dr. Neil Miller identified the need for a distributed management

paradigm In science and philosophy, a paradigm () is a distinct set of concepts or thought patterns, including theories, research methods, postulates, and standards for what constitute legitimate contributions to a field. Etymology ''Paradigm'' comes f ...

. In 1991, he founde
TASKey
Pty Ltd to develop, operationalise, and commercialize a new distributed management paradigm.

Patents A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

on the core parts of distributed management were granted in Australia (1997) and USA (2000). In 1995, TASKey correctly estimated that the web technologies required to globally implement distributed management would not be available for about 15 years. TASKey has used this time for comprehensive experimentation and to refine TASKey methods and software tools, so they are acceptable and workable for most people with minimal training.

Key Parts

The key parts of Distributed Management are: * Each task has stakeholders (called a task team) with one person responsible * Related tasks are joined through a task tree * Context, task visibility, security and privacy are based on task team membership * Team members list the actions/To-Dos required to do a task * Team members create action teams to do each action * Web software creates a To-Do list for each person based on action team membership * Task progress reporting is based on completed actions

Differentiators

The differentiators between distributed management and traditional management are: * Designed for the web (not just automating existing manual methods) * Anyone, anywhere, at any time, can initiate a task * Handles all tasks concurrently (strategies, operations, governance, projects, personal) * Automatically keeps tasks and people coordinated globally through teams * Sorts out global task information and presents it from each user's perspective * Creates and synchronizes peoples’ To Do lists and Gantt charts * Controls access to information using patented dynamic security and privacy methods * Informs users on a need-to-know basis (so people are not overwhelmed) * Includes specialist software tools for templating, and adjusting complex task, team and To-Do relationships (to match real world situations)

Software Tools

Implementing the distributed management paradigm required new web software to manage the complex dynamic relationships that need to be managed to get work done. Over 13 years, TASKey has developed, validated and commercialized web software calle
TASKey TEAM
for enterprise distributed management an
Me2Team
(a basic version of TASKey TEAM). TASKey web software is unique in that it automatically tracks and organizes all tasks (for strategies, operations and projects), synchronizes all stakeholders’ personal To Do lists, and automatically reports progress.

Validation

TASKey software functionality has been developed and validated in a range of workplaces over 13 years. Case studies demonstrate effective use by both managers and workers.

Management Insights

Management insights that have been gained during the development, validation and commercialization of Distributed Management are explored i
Blog – Articles and Insights

References

* Neil G. Miller (1990), "A Methodology for Introducing Technology into Organizations", Doctorate Thesis, University of New South Wales, Australia

(2000) No. 6,101,481, ttp://pericles.ipaustralia.gov.au/ols/auspat/applicationDetails.do?applicationNo=1997013606 Australian Patent(1997) No. 707,550 * Neil G Miller (2004), "Coordinating Many People Doing Many Projects and Tasks", 8th Australian International Performance Management Symposium, Canberra, Australia
2005 Consensus Software Award Winner for Excellence
in Australian and New Zealand Software
Case Studies
{{Management Management by type