ORGANIZATION DESIGN PRACTICES IN A
CHANGING WORLD OF WORK
By
Tita Datu Puangco
Recently, I got
a frantic call from a newly appointed CEO to do a “rush job". It is to review
the design of his organization in a day. As we all know, a lot of failures in
organization development interventions are linked to organizational
restructuring.
RESTRUCTURE
WITH CARE
There are in
fact many other organizational levers that can effectively be enhanced such as
values, strategy, leadership style, systems etc. If indeed organization
structure or design is the challenge, then careful thought has to be put into
the initiative. And definitely, it cannot be revised in a day. All that can be
done is to do focus in group discussions on the “pains" or “challenges of
the organization linked to structure.
RAPID
TECHNOLOGY
What are the
common problems that organizations are facing today? One, is rapid advances in
technology and communications. Recently, a management team faced a dilemma, how
can they design the digital organization for technology that still has to
emerge. During the discussions several options in terms of steps emerged. One
person volunteered to check out the researches done by Futuristic Societies in
Silicon Valley and other technology centers in the world. Another lady offered
to explore the use of Theory U in brainstorming possible options. It also means
doing work designed and managed by virtual teams
THEORY
U
Theory U as
introduced by the Presencing Institute proposes “that the quality of results
that we create in any kind of social system is a function of the quality of
awareness, attention or consciousness that participants operate
from". Emerging in 2006 it is
viewed mainly as “framework and method for leading profound change and as a way
of being connected to more authentic and higher aspects of change.”
COMPETITION
AND COMPLEXITY
Two is global
competition and complexity as work cross lines of time, culture and geography.
Today, specially, in our country where business process services continue to
grow and thrive, we have benefitted from companies who feel “at home
here", having outsourced some functions and gaining competitive advantage
in cost and quality of service. Once again the challenge is to find the right
structures and processes. The work force and customer base is changing in terms
of age, gender, race, national orientation etc.
AGILITY
Three is speed
of responsiveness or agility, Organizations have to respond quickly and
decisively to environment changes, organizational crisis and shifting customer
expectations. Organizations able to respond rapidly to shifts win. They expect
the unexpected and respond quickly to rapid change and crisis. Recently I attended a forum who had two
interesting speakers one from Google and the other from Uber. Clearly the basis
for today's economy has become information, more than machines and factories.
ETHICS
Fourth is the
focus on ethics and social responsibility. In the digital environment, how do
leaders ensure ethical practices? How can they respond to pressure from the
public who demand highly, ethical and moral standards of operating?
IMPORTANCE
OF ORGANIZATIONS
More than ever,
organizational growth is importance. They bring together resources that achieve
goals and outcomes, they produce goods and services efficiently, use modern
manufacturing and information technologies and encourage innovation. It is the
organization that adapts to the ever changing environment and creates value for
owners, customers and employees.
OPEN
SYSTEMS APPROACH
Only the open
space approach can work considering the external environment it is dynamic and
often unpredictable. The open systems approach has been defined as “a set of
interacting elements that acquires inputs from the external environment,
transforms them and discharges outputs such as products and services to the
external environment".
DESIGN
GUIDELINES
Some guidelines
that have ensured successful organization design and restructuring assistance
to our clients over the years encompass are the following: One, is to consider the external environment
striving for a balance between change and order, rationality and flexibility.
Two, design the organization maintaining a balance among the different functions. Think of the organization made up of 3
distinct components: the functions, the processes and the individuals in it.
Four, consider the needs and interests of all major stakeholder when setting
goals and designing the organization for effectiveness.
Fifth, all
organizational systems are unique and different. Identify the correct strategy,
goals and management systems for each organization and build the right
structure. Today the trend leans towards more horizontal and modular rather
than vertical and hierarchical. Typically, routine work is outsourced but
strategic work is kept in house. Sixth,
manage collaboration separated by geography and time zones, creating an
environment of openness, trust and understanding. And finally, develop leaders
with the right competencies.
Allocate
adequate time, resources and thinking time, as CEO you truly see organization
design as the core challenge moving forward!
Tita Datu Puangco is the President and
Chairman of the Board of Ancilla Enterprise Development Consulting, a major
training and organization development company in the Philippines with an Asian
reach. It specializes in enterprise transformation, executive coaching,
corporate leadership and functional training, human resource systems, learning
events and management of business training centers. Visit Tita’s Blog at http://titatalkstraining.blogspot.com. For additional information please email author at
tdpuangco@ancillaedc.com.ph or at tita.puangco@yahoo.com
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete