Organisation Design
Aligning Structure with Vision
Organisation Design generally follows a standard 7 Step process. I can guide you through that process to ensure that your organisation design “sticks” and is fit for purpose.
The seven major steps are;
- Identify the Business Need
The key question for an organisation before it begins an organisation design process is to understand what is the key strategy and purpose of the organisation?
- Data gathering
This step is about gathering all the information you need to inform your design. This can include job descriptions, business metrics, performance data, HRIS data and anything else that will help you in your decision making.
- Determine Organisation Design Principles
One of the most important steps I have found in developing an organisation structure is to be very clear in the early stages of the process what your key design principles are to guide your decision-making. Establishing Organisation Design Principles are a key step in the process to determine the best “fit for purpose” structure for an organisation or business unit. They are based on what characteristics of a structure are needed in order to be able to achieve the intent and mission of the structure.
The principles then become the criteria by which you assess draft structures against because those structures that align with the principles are more likely to result in a sustainable and effective design.
- Identify the work that needs to be managed
This is a key step in the process and involves understanding and describing what work processes and activities are done in the organisation and what you need to have oversight or control over.
- Confirm how the work is to be organised
This is a step that involves putting together a number of options about how the work can be organised and structured. I have always found it important to develop a number of different options that can be tested out with the key stakeholders. Frequently you will end up implementing a structure that is a hybrid of one or more options.
- Assess the skills and capabilities that are required
This is a step that once you have determined how the work will be organised is about identifying the particular skills and capabilities that you require and the people who need to make that structure work.
- Implement the desired structure
Once you have completed step six, you now in theory have a structure that will work. The question now becomes how do we make that happen, and put in place the infrastructure and establish working processes to make sure it works in practice? How we manage the change process is almost as important as the design we choose.
