Methods and process of organisational development
Organisational development is an excellent way for an organisation or company to renew itself and become more efficient and flexible than before. Organisational development methods also provide opportunities to increase capacity and effectiveness.
The concept of organisational development
One of the best and most professionally accepted definitions of OD (Organization Development) is that given by Richard Beckard, a renowned expert on the subject, in his book The Strategy and Models of Organization Development.
According to this, organisational development is a planned, top-down, organisation-wide effort to increase the viability and effectiveness of the organisation. These objectives are achieved through planned intervention in organisational processes, using behavioural science.
The aim of organisational development
Organisational development can have many objectives, the most important of which are:
- improve the performance of the organisation,
- increasing the agility and flexibility of the organisation,
- continuously preparing the members of the organisation for change,
- strengthening and harmonising organisational cooperation,
- improving the company's capacity to innovate and solve problems.
The process of organisational development
1. Diagnosis or assessment
- Organisational diagnosis
The first step is to collect and analyse data on the current state of the company, the areas for improvement and the problems to be solved.
- Defining the objectives to be achieved
The state of the organisation as a result of organisational development, identifying the goals to be achieved.
- Assess the strengths of the organisation
An inventory of areas, resources, assets and advantages that can help to achieve the goal of organisational development (SWOT analysis can be an effective tool to identify strengths and weaknesses.)
2. Defining the strategy, setting the direction for organisational development
The first step in developing a strategy is to reach a consensus between the staff of the consultancy or the appointed expert and the management of the organisation.
This means jointly identifying the areas to be developed, the objectives to be achieved and the tools to be used for organisational development. It is also the step in which the implementers of the organisational development tasks are identified and the timing of the tasks is set.
3. Intervention
This step involves the implementation of the strategy set out in point 2. Implementation can take place at the level of individuals, groups or the whole organisation.
4. Intermediate measurements, back-measurement, follow-up
Intermediate measurements should already be taken during the intervention phase. These can be used to monitor the extent to which changes have been made in each area in relation to the objectives set. Depending on the results, we can adjust the direction of the organisational development and, if necessary, create a new strategy.
The feedback exercise that concludes the process of organisational development is equally important. Only with the right results can the organisational development process be considered successful.
Methods of organisational development
The methods that make up the toolbox of organisational development can be divided into two main groups. Methods that work on the individual aim at the development of the members of the organisation, the employees of the company. Structural methods promote the development of the organisation through changes in its structure, hierarchy and culture. Let's look at some examples of both.
Methods that work on individuals:
- Job Reconstruction
- Job and competence analysis
- People-centred leadership
- Skills training, workshops
- Personality tests
- Diagnostic measurements
- Feedback on the survey
Methods acting on structure:
- Team building
- Risk analysis
- Decentralisation
- Developing inter-group relations
- Improving corporate culture
- Or, in some respects, the agile transformations as well.
Frequently asked questions about organisational development
What is organisational development all about?
Organizational development is a planned, top-down, organization-wide effort to increase the viability and effectiveness of the organization.
Are there any organisational development books or textbooks you can recommend?
Among the literature available in Hungarian, it is worth reading books such as Richard Beckhard's The Strategy and Models of Organizational Development or Louis Carter's Best Practices in Organization Development and Change: Culture, Leadership, Retention, Performance Coaching. For those who need help with a book on organisational development in pdf format, we recommend Ludányi-Pacsutai's Leadership, Organisational Development.
Is there any kind of organisational development plan or sample available online?
More organisational development plans and samples are also available online on the internet. For example, the template of the organisational development plan attached to the call for proposals for the Capacity Building of Interest Representation Organisations launched in the early 2010s under the TÁMOP can be downloaded here.
Organisational development training and consultancy - in one place
The key to effective organisational development is to use the services of a well-prepared consultancy with many years of experience. The highly qualified, expert staff of such a company can provide an unbiased and therefore effective overview of the internal conditions of the company being developed. In the same way, they are also able to make recommendations on the strategy for organisational development and the steps to be taken to implement it.
ProMan Consulting is a consulting firm at the forefront of the Hungarian project management and consulting scene. However, our staff does not only provide assistance to corporate clients in the field of organisational development and agile transformation, but we also offer trainings.
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