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Organization development

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Organization development (OD) is a planned, organization-wide effort to increase an


organization's effectiveness and viability. Warren Bennis, has referred to OD as a response to
change, a complex educational strategy intended to change the beliefs, attitudes, values, and
structure of organization so that they can better adapt to new technologies, marketing and
challenges, and the dizzying rate of change itself. OD is neither "anything done to better an
organization" nor is it "the training function of the organization"; it is a particular kind of change
process designed to bring about a particular kind of end result. OD can involve interventions in
the organization's "processes," using behavioural science knowledge[1] as well as organizational
reflection, system improvement, planning, and self-analysis.

Kurt Lewin (1898–1947) is widely recognized as the founding father of OD, although he died
before the concept became current in the mid-1950s. From Lewin came the ideas of group
dynamics, and action research which underpin the basic OD process as well as providing its
collaborative consultant/client ethos. Institutionally, Lewin founded the "Research Center for
Group Dynamics" at MIT, which moved to Michigan after his death. RCGD colleagues were
among those who founded the National Training Laboratories (NTL), from which the T-group
and group-based OD emerged. In the UK, the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations was
important in developing systems theories. The joint TIHR journal Human Relations was an early
journal in the field. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Sciences is now the leading journal in the
field.

The term "Organization Development" is often used interchangeably with Organizational


effectiveness, especially when used as the name of a department within an organization.
Organization development is a growing field that is responsive to many new approaches
including Positive Adult Development.

Contents
[hide]

 1 Overview
o 1.1 Contractual relationship
o 1.2 Change agent
o 1.3 Sponsoring organization
o 1.4 Applied behavioral science
o 1.5 Systems context
o 1.6 Improved organizational performance
o 1.7 Organizational self-renewal
o 1.8 Early development
 2 Understanding organizations
o 2.1 Modern development
 3 Action research
 4 Important figures
 5 OD interventions
 6 See also
 7 Further reading
 8 References

[edit] Overview
At the core of OD is the concept of organization, defined as two or more people working
together toward one or more shared goal(s). Development in this context is the notion that an
organization may become more effective over time at achieving its goals.

OD is a long range effort to improve organization's problem solving and renewal processes,
particularly through more effective and collaborative management of organizational culture,
often with the assistance of a change agent or catalyst and the use of the theory and technology
of applied behavioral science. Although behavioral science has provided the basic foundation for
the study and practice of organizational development, new and emerging fields of study have
made their presence known. Experts in systems thinking, leadership studies, organizational
leadership, and organizational learning (to name a few) whose perspective is not steeped in just
the behavioral sciences, but a much more multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary approach have
emerged as OD catalysts. These emergent expert perspectives see the organization as the holistic
interplay of a number of systems that impact the process and outputs of the entire organization.
More importantly, the term change agent or catalyst is synonymous with the notion of a leader
who is engaged in doing leadership, a transformative or effectiveness process as opposed to
management, a more incremental or efficiency based change methodology.

Organization development is a "contractual relationship between a change agent and a


sponsoring organization entered into for the purpose of using applied behavioral science and or
other organizational change perspectives in a systems context to improve organizational
performance and the capacity of the organization to improve itself".[citation needed]

Organization development is an ongoing, systematic process to implement effective change in an


organization. Organization development is known as both a field of applied behavioral science
focused on understanding and managing organizational change and as a field of scientific study
and inquiry. It is interdisciplinary in nature and draws on sociology, psychology, and theories of
motivation, learning, and personality.

[edit] Contractual relationship


Although neither the sponsoring organization nor the change agent can be sure at the outset of
the exact nature of the problem or problems to be dealt with or how long the change agents' help
will be needed, it is essential that some tentative agreement on these matters be reached. The
sponsoring organization needs to know generally what the change agent's preliminary plan is,
what its own commitments are in relation to personal commitments and responsibility for the
program, and what the change agent's fee will be. The change agent must assure himself that the
organization's, and particularly the top executives', commitment to change is strong enough to
support the kind of self-analysis and personal involvement requisite to success of the program.
Recognizing the uncertainties lying ahead on both sides, a termination agreement permitting
either side to withdraw at any time is usually included.[2]

[edit] Change agent

A change agent in the sense used here is not a technical expert skilled in such functional areas as
accounting, production, or finance. He is a behavioral scientist who knows how to get people in
an organization involved in solving their own problems. His main strength is a comprehensive
knowledge of human behavior, supported by a number of intervention techniques (to be
discussed later). The change agent can be either external or internal to the organization. An
internal change agent is usually a staff person who has expertise in the behavioral sciences and in
the intervention technology of OD. Beckhard reports several cases in which line people have
been trained in OD and have returned to their organizations to engage in successful change
assignments.[3] In the natural evolution of change mechanisms in organizations, this would seem
to approach the ideal arrangement. Qualified change agents can be found on some university
faculties, or they may be private consultants associated with such organizations as the National
Training Laboratories Institute for Applied Behavioral Science (Washington, D.C.) University
Associates (San Diego, California), the Human Systems Intervention graduate program in the
Department of Applied Human Sciences (Concordia University, Montreal, Canada), Navitus
(Pvt) Ltd (Pakistan), and similar organizations.

The change agent may be a staff or line member of the organization who is schooled in OD
theory and technique. In such a case, the "contractual relationship" is an in-house agreement that
should probably be explicit with respect to all of the conditions involved except the fee.

[edit] Sponsoring organization

The initiative for OD programs comes from an organization that has a problem. This means that
top management or someone authorized by top management is aware that a problem exists and
has decided to seek help in solving it. There is a direct analogy here to the practice of
psychotherapy: The client or patient must actively seek help in finding a solution to his
problems. This indicates a willingness on the part of the client organization to accept help and
assures the organization that management is actively concerned.[2]

[edit] Applied behavioral science

One of the outstanding characteristics of OD that distinguishes it from most other improvement
programs is that it is based on a "helping relationship." Some believe that the change agent is not
a physician to the organization's ills; that s/he does not examine the "patient," make a diagnosis,
and write a prescription. Nor does s/he try to teach organizational members a new inventory of
knowledge which they then transfer to the job situation. Using theory and methods drawn from
such behavioral sciences as (industrial/organisational psychology, industrial sociology,
communication, cultural anthropology, administrative theory, organizational behavior,
economics, and political science, the change agent's main function is to help the organization
define and solve its own problems. The basic method used is known as action research. This
approach, which is described in detail later, consists of a preliminary diagnosis, collecting data,
feedback of the data to the client, data exploration by the client group, action planning based on
the data, and taking action.[4]

[edit] Systems context

OD deals with a total system — the organization as a whole, including its relevant environment
— or with a subsystem or systems — departments or work groups — in the context of the total
system. Parts of systems, for example, individuals, cliques, structures, norms, values, and
products are not considered in isolation; the principle of interdependency, that is, that change in
one part of a system affects the other parts, is fully recognized. Thus, OD interventions focus on
the total culture and cultural processes of organizations. The focus is also on groups, since the
relevant behavior of individuals in organizations and groups is generally a product of group
influences rather than personality.[2]

[edit] Improved organizational performance

The objective of OD is to improve the organization's capacity to handle its internal and external
functioning and relationships. This would include such things as improved interpersonal and
group processes, more effective communication, enhanced ability to cope with organizational
problems of all kinds, more effective decision processes, more appropriate leadership style,
improved skill in dealing with destructive conflict, and higher levels of trust and cooperation
among organizational members. These objectives stem from a value system based on an
optimistic view of the nature of man — that man in a supportive environment is capable of
achieving higher levels of development and accomplishment. Essential to organization
development and effectiveness is the scientific method — inquiry, a rigorous search for causes,
experimental testing of hypotheses, and review of results.

[edit] Organizational self-renewal

The ultimate aim of OD practitioners is to "work themselves out of a job" by leaving the client
organization with a set of tools, behaviors, attitudes, and an action plan with which to monitor its
own state of health and to take corrective steps toward its own renewal and development. This is
consistent with the systems concept of feedback as a regulatory and corrective mechanism.[2]

[edit] Early development

Kurt Lewin played a key role in the evolution of organization development as it is known today.
As early as World War II, Lewin experimented with a collaborative change process (involving
himself as consultant and a client group) based on a three-step process of planning, taking action,
and measuring results. This was the forerunner of action research, an important element of OD,
which will be discussed later. Lewin then participated in the beginnings of laboratory training, or
T-groups, and, after his death in 1947, his close associates helped to develop survey-research
methods at the University of Michigan. These procedures became important parts of OD as
developments in this field continued at the National Training Laboratories and in growing
numbers of universities and private consulting firms across the country.

The failure of off-site laboratory training to live up to its early promise was one of the important
forces stimulating the development of OD. Laboratory training is learning from a person's "here
and now" experience as a member of an ongoing training group. Such groups usually meet
without a specific agenda. Their purpose is for the members to learn about themselves from their
spontaneous "here and now" responses to an ambiguous hypothetical situation. Problems of
leadership, structure, status, communication, and self-serving behavior typically arise in such a
group. The members have an opportunity to learn something about themselves and to practice
such skills as listening, observing others, and functioning as effective group members.[5]

As formerly practiced (and occasionally still practiced for special purposes), laboratory training
was conducted in "stranger groups," or groups composed of individuals from different
organizations, situations, and backgrounds.A major difficulty developed, however, in
transferring knowledge gained from these "stranger labs" to the actual situation "back home".
This required a transfer between two different cultures, the relatively safe and protected
environment of the T-group (or training group) and the give-and-take of the organizational
environment with its traditional values. This led the early pioneers in this type of learning to
begin to apply it to "family groups" — that is, groups located within an organization. From this
shift in the locale of the training site and the realization that culture was an important factor in
influencing group members (along with some other developments in the behavioral sciences)
emerged the concept of organization development.[5]

Case history The Cambridge Clinic found itself having difficulty with its internal working
relationships. The medical director, concerned with the effect these problems could have on
patient care, contacted an organizational consultant at a local university and asked him for help.
A preliminary discussion among the director, the clinic administrator, and the consultant seemed
to point to problems in leadership, conflict resolution, and decision processes. The consultant
suggested that data be gathered so that a working diagnosis could be made. The clinic officials
agreed, and tentative working arrangements were concluded.

The consultant held a series of interviews involving all members of the clinic staff, the medical
director, and the administrator. Then the consultant "thematized", or summarized, the interview
data to identify specific problem areas. At the beginning of a workshop about a week later, the
consultant fed back to the clinic staff the data he had collected.

The staff arranged the problems in the following priorities

Role conflicts between certain members of the medical staff were creating tensions that
interfered with the necessity for cooperation in handling patients. The leadership style of the
medical director resulted in his putting off decisions on important operating matters. This led to
confusion and sometimes to inaction on the part of the medical and administrative staffs.
Communication between the administrative, medical, and outreach (social worker) staffs on
mutual problems tended to be avoided. Open conflicts over policies and procedures were thus
held in check, but suppressed feelings clearly had a negative influence on interpersonal and
intergroup behavior.

Through the use of role analysis and other techniques suggested by the consultant, the clinic staff
and the medical director were able to explore the role conflict and leadership problems and to
devise effective ways of coping with them. Exercises designed to improve communication skills
and a workshop session on dealing with conflict led to progress in developing more openness
and trust throughout the clinic. An important result of this first workshop was the creation of an
action plan that set forth specific steps to be applied to clinic problems by clinic personnel during
the ensuing period. The consultant agreed to monitor these efforts and to assist in any way he
could. Additional discussions and team development sessions were held with the director and the
medical and administrative staffs.

A second workshop attended by the entire clinic staff took place about two months after the first.
At the second workshop, the clinic staff continued to work together on the problems of dealing
with conflict and interpersonal communication. During the last half-day of the meeting, the staff
developed a revised action plan covering improvement activities to be undertaken in the
following weeks and months to improve the working relationships of the clinic.

A notable additional benefit of this OD program was that the clinic staff learned new ways of
monitoring the clinic's performance as an organization and of coping with some of its other
problems. Six months later, when the consultant did a follow-up check on the organization, the
staff confirmed that interpersonal problems were now under better control and that some of the
techniques learned at the two workshops associated with the OD programs were still being used.

Organizational Development is a system-wide application and transfer of behavioral science


knowledge to the planned development, improvement, and reinforcement of the strategies,
structure, and process that lead to organization effectiveness. (Abdul Basit - NUST - SEECS)

[edit] Understanding organizations


Weisbord presents a six-step model for understanding organization:

1. Purposes: The organization member are clear about the organization’s mission and
purpose and goal agreements, whether people support the organization’ purpose.
2. Structure: How do we divide up the work? The question is whether there is an adequate
fit between the purpose and the internal structure.
3. Relationship: Between individual, between units or department that perform different
tasks, and between the people and requirements of their job.
4. Rewards: The consultant should diagnose the similarities between what the organization
formally reward or punished for doing.
5. Leadership: Is to watch for blips among the other boxes and maintain balance among
them
6. Helpful mechanism: Is a helpful organization that must attend to in order to survive
which as planning, control, budgeting, and other information systems that help
organization member accomplish.[6]

[edit] Modern development

In recent years, serious questioning has emerged about the relevance of OD to managing change
in modern organizations. The need for "reinventing" the field has become a topic that even some
of its "founding fathers" are discussing critically.[7]

With this call for reinvention and change, scholars have begun to examine organizational
development from an emotion-based standpoint. For example, deKlerk (2007) [8] writes about
how emotional trauma can negatively affect performance. Due to downsizing, outsourcing,
mergers, restructuring, continual changes, invasions of privacy, harassment, and abuses of
power, many employees experience the emotions of aggression, anxiety, apprehension, cynicism,
and fear, which can lead to performance decreases. deKlerk (2007) suggests that in order to heal
the trauma and increase performance, O.D. practitioners must acknowledge the existence of the
trauma, provide a safe place for employees to discuss their feelings, symbolize the trauma and
put it into perspective, and then allow for and deal with the emotional responses. One method of
achieving this is by having employees draw pictures of what they feel about the situation, and
then having them explain their drawings with each other. Drawing pictures is beneficial because
it allows employees to express emotions they normally would not be able to put into words.
Also, drawings often prompt active participation in the activity, as everyone is required to draw a
picture and then discuss its meaning.

[edit] Action research


Wendell L French and Cecil Bell define organization development (OD) at one point as
"organization improvement through action research".[4] If one idea can be said to summarize
OD's underlying philosophy, it would be action research as it was conceptualized by Kurt Lewin
and later elaborated and expanded on by other behavioral scientists. Concerned with social
change and, more particularly, with effective, permanent social change, Lewin believed that the
motivation to change was strongly related to action: If people are active in decisions affecting
them, they are more likely to adopt new ways. "Rational social management", he said, "proceeds
in a spiral of steps, each of which is composed of a circle of planning, action, and fact-finding
about the result of action".[9]
Figure 1: Systems Model of Action-Research Process

Lewin's description of the process of change involves three steps [9]:

"Unfreezing": Faced with a dilemma or disconfirmation, the individual or group becomes aware
of a need to change.

"Changing": The situation is diagnosed and new models of behavior are explored and tested.

"Refreezing": Application of new behavior is evaluated, and if reinforcing, adopted.

Figure 1 summarizes the steps and processes involved in planned change through action
research. Action research is depicted as a cyclical process of change. The cycle begins with a
series of planning actions initiated by the client and the change agent working together. The
principal elements of this stage include a preliminary diagnosis, data gathering, feedback of
results, and joint action planning. In the language of systems theory, this is the input phase, in
which the client system becomes aware of problems as yet unidentified, realizes it may need
outside help to effect changes, and shares with the consultant the process of problem diagnosis.

The second stage of action research is the action, or transformation, phase. This stage includes
actions relating to learning processes (perhaps in the form of role analysis) and to planning and
executing behavioral changes in the client organization. As shown in Figure 1, feedback at this
stage would move via Feedback Loop A and would have the effect of altering previous planning
to bring the learning activities of the client system into better alignment with change objectives.
Included in this stage is action-planning activity carried out jointly by the consultant and
members of the client system. Following the workshop or learning sessions, these action steps
are carried out on the job as part of the transformation stage.[5]

The third stage of action research is the output, or results, phase. This stage includes actual
changes in behavior (if any) resulting from corrective action steps taken following the second
stage. Data are again gathered from the client system so that progress can be determined and
necessary adjustments in learning activities can be made. Minor adjustments of this nature can be
made in learning activities via Feedback Loop B (see Figure 1). Major adjustments and
reevaluations would return the OD project to the first, or planning, stage for basic changes in the
program. The action-research model shown in Figure 1 closely follows Lewin's repetitive cycle
of planning, action, and measuring results. It also illustrates other aspects of Lewin's general
model of change. As indicated in the diagram, the planning stage is a period of unfreezing, or
problem awareness.[9] The action stage is a period of changing, that is, trying out new forms of
behavior in an effort to understand and cope with the system's problems. (There is inevitable
overlap between the stages, since the boundaries are not clear-cut and cannot be in a continuous
process). The results stage is a period of refreezing, in which new behaviors are tried out on the
job and, if successful and reinforcing, become a part of the system's repertoire of problem-
solving behavior.

Action research is problem centered, client centered, and action oriented. It involves the client
system in a diagnostic, active-learning, problem-finding, and problem-solving process. Data are
not simply returned in the form of a written report but instead are fed back in open joint sessions,
and the client and the change agent collaborate in identifying and ranking specific problems, in
devising methods for finding their real causes, and in developing plans for coping with them
realistically and practically. Scientific method in the form of data gathering, forming hypotheses,
testing hypotheses, and measuring results, although not pursued as rigorously as in the
laboratory, is nevertheless an integral part of the process. Action research also sets in motion a
long-range, cyclical, self-correcting mechanism for maintaining and enhancing the effectiveness
of the client's system by leaving the system with practical and useful tools for self-analysis and
self-renewal.[5]

[edit] Important figures


 W. Edwards Deming
 Chris Argyris
 Richard Beckhard
 Robert R. Blake
 Peter Block
 John D. Carter
 Louis Carter
 David Cooperrider
 Fred Emery
 Charles Handy
 vikas paweria
 Elliott Jaques
 Kurt Lewin
 Rensis Likert
 Jane Mouton
 Derek S. Pugh
 Edgar Schein
 Donald Schon
 Peter Senge
 Eric Trist
 Margaret J. Wheatley

[edit] OD interventions
"Interventions" are principal learning processes in the "action" stage (see Figure 1) of
organization development. Interventions are structured activities used individually or in
combination by the members of a client system to improve their social or task performance. They
may be introduced by a change agent as part of an improvement program, or they may be used
by the client following a program to check on the state of the organization's health, or to effect
necessary changes in its own behavior. "Structured activities" mean such diverse procedures as
experiential exercises, questionnaires, attitude surveys, interviews, relevant group discussions,
and even lunchtime meetings between the change agent and a member of the client organization.
Every action that influences an organization's improvement program in a change agent-client
system relationship can be said to be an intervention.[10]

There are many possible intervention strategies from which to choose. Several assumptions
about the nature and functioning of organizations are made in the choice of a particular strategy.
Beckhard lists six such assumptions:

1. The basic building blocks of an organization are groups (teams). Therefore, the basic
units of change are groups, not individuals.
2. An always relevant change goal is the reduction of inappropriate competition between
parts of the organization and the development of a more collaborative condition.
3. Decision making in a healthy organization is located where the information sources are,
rather than in a particular role or level of hierarchy.
4. Organizations, subunits of organizations, and individuals continuously manage their
affairs against goals. Controls are interim measurements, not the basis of managerial
strategy.
5. One goal of a healthy organization is to develop generally open communication, mutual
trust, and confidence between and across levels.
6. People support what they help create. People affected by a change must be allowed active
participation and a sense of ownership in the planning and conduct of the change.[3]

Interventions range from those designed to improve the effectiveness of individuals through
those designed to deal with teams and groups, intergroup relations, and the total organization.
There are interventions that focus on task issues (what people do), and those that focus on
process issues (how people go about doing it). Finally, interventions may be roughly classified
according to which change mechanism they tend to emphasize: for example, feedback,
awareness of changing cultural norms, interaction and communication, conflict, and education
through either new knowledge or skill practice.[11]

One of the most difficult tasks confronting the change agent is to help create in the client system
a safe climate for learning and change. In a favorable climate, human learning builds on itself
and continues indefinitely during man's lifetime. Out of new behavior, new dilemmas and
problems emerge as the spiral continues upward to new levels. In an unfavorable climate, in
contrast, learning is far less certain, and in an atmosphere of psychological threat, it often stops
altogether. Unfreezing old ways can be inhibited in organizations because the climate makes
employees feel that it is inappropriate to reveal true feelings, even though such revelations could
be constructive. In an inhibited atmosphere, therefore, necessary feedback is not available. Also,
trying out new ways may be viewed as risky because it violates established norms. Such an
organization may also be constrained because of the law of systems: If one part changes, other
parts will become involved. Hence, it is easier to maintain the status quo. Hierarchical authority,
specialization, span of control, and other characteristics of formal systems also discourage
experimentation.[10]

The change agent must address himself to all of these hazards and obstacles. Some of the things
which will help him are:

1. A real need in the client system to change


2. Genuine support from management
3. Setting a personal example: listening, supporting behavior
4. A sound background in the behavioral sciences
5. A working knowledge of systems theory
6. A belief in man as a rational, self-educating being fully capable of learning better ways to
do things.[10]

A few examples of interventions include team building, coaching, Large Group Interventions,
mentoring, performance appraisal, downsizing, TQM, and leadership development.

What is an OD intervention? How HR go for it.


These are some of interventions that OD practitioners choose from in partnering with
organizational leaders to create "planned change."

Applying criteria to goals

Here the leadership establishes objective criteria for the outputs of the organization's goal-
setting processes. Then they hold people accountable not only for stating goals against
those criteria but also for producing the desired results.

Establishing inter-unit task forces

These groups can cross both functional parts of the organization (the "silos") as well as
employee levels. They are ideally accountable to one person and are appropriately rewarded
for completing their assigned task effectively. Then they disband.

Experimentation with alternative arrangements

Today organizations are subject to "management by best-seller." The OD practitioner


attempts to get leaders to look for changes that may take 3-5 years to work through. The
meta-goal in these interventions is to create what is being called a "learning organization,"
one that performs experiments on organizational structure and processes, analyzes the
results, and builds on them.

Identifying "key communicators"

The OD professional here carefully determines who seems to be "in the know" within the
organization. These people often do not know that they are, in fact, key communicators.
This collection of individuals are then fed honest information during critical times, one-on-
one and confidentially.

Identifying "fireable offenses"

This intervention deepens the understanding of and commitment to the stated values of the
organization. The OD professional facilitates the work of the organization's leaders to
answer the critical question, "If we're serious about these values, then what might an
employee do that would be so affrontive to them that he/she would be fired?"

In-visioning

This is actually a set of interventions that leaders plan with OD's help in order to
"acculturate" everyone in the organization into an agreed-upon vision, mission, purpose,
and values. The interventions might include training, goal setting, organizational survey-
feedback, communications planning, etc.

Team Building

This intervention can take many forms. The most common is interviews and other prework,
followed by a one- to three-day offsite session. During the meeting the group diagnoses its
function as a unit and plans improvements in its operating procedures See J. E. Jones & W.
L. Bearley, TEAMBOOK, published by HRDQ, for a catalog of team-building interventions.

Intergroup Problem Solving

This intervention usually involves working with the two groups separately before bringing
them together. They establish common goals and negotiate changes in how the groups
interface. [See J. E. Jones & W. L. Bearley, Intergroup Diagnostic Survey, published by
HRDQ, for a catalog of intergroup interventions.

Management/leadership training

Many OD professionals come from a training background. They understand that


organizations cannot succeed long term without well-trained leaders. The OD contribution
there can be to ensure that the development curriculum emphasizes practical, current
situations that need attention within the organization and to monitor the degree to which
training delivery is sufficiently participative as to promise adequate transfer of learnings to
the job.

Setting up measurement systems

The total-quality movement emphasizes that all work is a part of a process and that
measurement is essential for process improvement. The OD professional is equipped with
tools and techniques to assist leaders and others to create measurement methods and
systems to monitor key success indicators.

Studies of structural causes

"Root-cause analysis" is a time-honored quality-improvement tool, and OD practitioners


often use it to assist organizational clients to learn how to get down to the basis causes of
problems.

Survey-feedback

This technology is probably the most powerful way that OD professionals involve very large
numbers of people in diagnosing situations that need attention within the organization and
to plan and implement improvements. The general method requires developing reliable,
valid questionnaires, collecting data from all personnel, analyzing it for trends, and feeding
the results back to everyone for action planning.

"Walk-the-talk" assessment

Most organizations have at least some leaders who "say one thing and do another." This
intervention, which can be highly threatening, concentrates on measuring the extent to
which the people within the organization are behaving with integrity.

This article covers the most common OD interventions. Every practitioner augments this list
with both specially designed interventions that meet the precise needs of clients and with
other, more complex interventions such as large-group sessions, and other popular
programs. It is important, however, that all OD professionals be completely grounded in
these basic interventions.

more at http://www.citehr.com/16421-what-od-intervention-how-hr-
go.html#ixzz0mK90gF2K

Types of OD Intervention
Information-based Intervention
Interventions that define : Activities that specify or clarify the vision, mission, purpose,
process, products, services, market position, roles, relationships, responsibilities, outcomes,
expectations, and so on. Examples: holding sessions to create vision statements; confirming
market direction and market niche; mutually setting performance goals. This intervention is
delivered when people are unclear, disagree, or have different expectations; there are
conflicting objectives; or people do not have a shared understanding.

Interventions that inform: Activities that communicate goals, objectives, expectations, results,
discrepancies, and so on. Examples: producing internal newsletters; holding debriefing
sessions; giving feedback. This intervention is delivered when information has changed, the
people have changed, or the people are uninformed, and the consequence is poor performance;
or people don't get the information they need.

Interventions that document: Activities that codify information (to preserve it and make it
accessible. Examples: setting up libraries; creating manuals, expert systems, job aids, and
decision guides. This intervention is delivered when information is not accessible over time or
is too complex; job aids, manuals, help screens, and so forth are lacking or inadequate,
inaccurate, or hard to access.

Consequences-based Intervention

Interventions that reward: Activities and programs that induce and maintain desired behaviors,
eliminate undesirable behaviors, and reward desired outcomes. Examples: holding public
ceremonies and annual recognition events; paying for performance. This intervention is
delivered when current incentives either reinforce the wrong behaviors or ignore the desired
behaviors; or there are few incentives for people to-do beater, more, or differently.

Intervention that measure: Activities and systems that provide metrics and benchmarks so
people can monitor performance and have a basis to evaluate it. Examples: developing a
scorecard; tracking means and variance in performance over time. This intervention is
delivered when people don?t know what criteria are being used to judge productivity,
performance, value, and so on, and they could better control their own performance if they
knew what the criteria were; measures of good performance are lacking; or measures are
inappropriate.

Interventions that enforce: Activities that actualize consequences and achieve compliance.
Example: policing; reviewing; double-checking; suspending; removing; withholding pay. This
intervention is delivered when consequences for poor performance or unacceptable behavior
are hidden or not enforced.

Design-based Intervention

Interventions that organize: Activities that change the structure or arrange business units,
reporting relationships, work processes, jobs, and tasks. Examples: reengineering processes;
merging functions; reorganizing responsibilities. This intervention is delivered when the
current structure is inefficient, results in redundancy, adds excess costs, overly burdens cycle
times, and hides accountability.

Interventions that standardize: Activities that systematize or automate processes and


standardize tasks, tools, equipment, materials, components, or measures. Examples: adopting
ISO 9000; implementing uniform standards. This intervention is delivered when deviations in
equipment, materials, specifications, procedures, common practices, and so on add extra costs,
result in low yields, and cause variance in the quality of work.

Interventions that (re) design: Activities that result in useful, easy-to-use, safe, and
ergonomically designed environments, workplaces, equipment, and tolls. Examples: building in
safety features; designing for ease of installation, service, maintenance, and upgrading. This
intervention is delivered when the current work space, equipment, tools, or materials encumber,
result in non-value adding activity. Or put employees? health and safety at risk.

Interventions that reframe: Activities and programs that generate new paradigms so that people
can experience new perspectives, find creative solutions, integrate new concepts into their
behavior, and manage change. Examples: challenging assumptions; engaging in dialogue/
entering into new alliances; brainstorming; creating alternative futures. This intervention is
delivered when old attitudes about work are preventing innovation or growth.

Interventions that counsel: activities and programs that help individuals, either singularly or
collectively, deal with work, personal, career, family, and financial issue. Examples: offering
on-site daycare, retirement seminars, on-site physical fitness canters, and employee assistance
programs. This intervention is delivered when people are preoccupied with or distracted by
personal and career issues, and this is limiting productivity or adding unnecessary costs.

Interventions that develop: Activities and programs that expand skills and knowledge.
Examples: offering training, coaching, and structured on-the-job experiences. This intervention
is delivered when current performance is suffering or future performance will suffer because
people lack skills and knowledge.

Interventions that align: Activities and programs that work toward congruency between
purpose and practice. Examples: setting up cross-functional teams; soliciting customer (internal
and external) feedback. This intervention is delivered when current massages, behaviors,
systems, structures, or environments do net support the organization?s goals.

Source of Reference:
Judith Hale, The Performance Consultant's Fieldbook : Tool and Technique for Improving
Organizations and People, Jossey Bass Publication. You can obtain this fine book here

Organization Development Interventions


Meaning of OD Interventions
Types of OD Interventions

Sensitivity Training
Survey Feedback
Process Consultation Interventions
Team Interventions
Force-field Analysis
Intergroup Team-Building Interventions
Third-Party Peacemaking Interventions
Structural Interventions

Chapter Summary
Organization Development (OD) is a unique organizational improvement strategy. The sets of
structured/planned activities adopted by groups or individuals in an organization as a part of the
organization development program, are known as OD techniques or OD interventions. While change
programs may involve either external or internal consultants, OD interventions mostly involve external
consultants.

Some OD interventions include sensitivity training, survey feedback, process consultation, team
interventions and intergroup interventions, third party peace making interventions, and structural
interventions. The most widely used structural interventions are parallel learning structures, self-managed
teams, Management by Objectives (MBO), Quality Circles, Total Quality Management (TQM), Quality of work
life (QWL) projects, large-scale systems change, organizational transformation, and process reengineering.

CDs

Introduction

Career Development & Outplacement

Coaching & Personality Assessments

Cross-Cultural Training & Orientation

Meeting Design and Facilitation

Myers-Briggs® Personality Type

Organizational Development Consulting

Team Building

Training

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We believe that people and organizations are doing the best they can -- all the time. If they are not satisfied with their
state and are interested in changing, we help them:

 clarify their current state


 identify their goals, next steps, and barriers
 maintain the energy and momentum they need to achieve their objectives

What is Organization Development?

Organization Development (OD) utilizes what we know about systems, and what we know about human behavior, to p
manage the development of organizations into thriving, growing, healthy, organic human systems that meet the needs
stakeholders.

OD practitioners improve the effectiveness of an organization by applying knowledge from the behavior sciences -- psy
sociology, cultural anthropology, and other related disciplines. Since its beginnings in the 1920s, the art and science o
accumulated a significant body of knowledge through actual OD work in organizations.

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Human Dimension OD Services Include:

Change Management

All people and organizations are constantly going through change. Change is just another word for growth -- and conti
growth is the way of the world now. If you and your organization are not growing, you and it will soon be obsolete in t
world. We provide understanding and support processes to improve an organization's ability to implement change in h
least destructive ways.

Coaching

People and organizations have their own answers. We provide the processes that help them become aware of those an
develop actions plans that help them get where they want to go.

Conflict Management

Differences are healthy and necessary for personal and organizational growth -- but only if they are worked through to
We help our clients do that, and we help them view differences not merely as problems to be solved, but rather, as the
steppingstones they are.

Cross-Cultural Understanding

Today's global world requires that people understand other cultures and act with awareness and appreciation of differe
also means that a person needs to understand his own culture and its effects on people of other cultures. We heighten
awareness, and awareness of one's own culture and the cultures of others, as appropriate.

Emotional Intelligence

Research shows that social and emotional abilities are four times more important than mental abilities in determining p
success. All leaders need to have a high "EQ." We provide instruments that measure emotional intelligence to identify
competencies and areas for growth, and the coaching to support that growth.

Facilitation and Group Meeting Design

Sometimes people in organizations are too close to the questions to find the answers. We provide processes that facilit
taking a clearer, more objective view, while at the same time ensuring that they are gathering the energy they will ne
implement the answers.

Interpersonal Skills Training

All people in organizations need interpersonal skills to work in today's collaborative work environments -- even a two-p
team needs special skills. We provide custom workshops that increase people's interpersonal competencies.

Management and Leadership Development

Leadership can be taught. All managers have a leadership role. All employees have leadership roles these days. We pr
assessments for determining their current reality, coaching to help them identify actions they can take to achieve their
support along the way.

Personality Type Training

We have found that personality type training is an excellent foundational tool for people to understand themselves and
is useful in conflict management, self-management, stress management, teamwork, cross-cultural understanding, man
leadership, group problem-solving and decision-making, and in many other ways. We teach it to as many people in ou
organizations as possible.

Team Building

Teamwork and collaboration are greatly facilitated by team building processes. We provide workshops, meeting design
facilitation that enable teams to accelerate growth. We believe that two heads are indeed better than one, but only wh
an atmosphere of trust and mutuality, with systems that allow people to say what they really think and feel, and proce
decision making that that take those thoughts and feelings into account.

Training Your Trainers

Whenever possible, we like to transfer skills to our client's in-house staff. This is not always possible of course, depend
size of the company. For smaller companies we endeavor to provide ongoing support at a cost they can afford. We also
resources for trainers.

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OD Consultants are Different From Management Consultants

OD consultants are different from management consultants in that our "client" is the total organization, not just the m
team. Of course, the growth of an organization and the growth of the people in it, especially the management team, a
inextricably tied. Warner Burke, Ph.D., who teaches OD at Columbia University, once said that an OD practitioner's clie
"lines" on the organization chart -- the interactions between processes, departments, people, customers, suppliers, the
directors, shareholders, the community, and all other stakeholders.

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OD Tools and Processes (Interventions)

Like every field of practice, OD uses many specialized tools and processes. These are called Interventions. There are fo
categories of OD interventions. These are not distinct or exclusive methods and they are usually used in conjunction w
other:

1. Human Processes: team building, conflict resolution, personal growth workshops, interpersonal skills and
communications training, emotional intelligence training, coaching skills training...
2. Techno-structural: total quality management, work process redesign...
3. Human Resource Management: job design, hiring and selection, performance management, reward system
multicultural training, coaching...
4. Strategic: strategic planning/management, Future Search conferences that help large diverse groups discover
values, purposes, and projects; corporate culture change, building a "learning organization" in which people at
are continually learning, Open Space and other large group meeting methodologies...

OD Consultants use many tools and processes in their work. Because the list of tools is constantly growing, OD Consul
always "in training."

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OD is a Step-by-step Process

Implementing OD processes is a lot like going to a physician. An OD practitioner first helps the organizational member
accurate data about the current state of their system. What is the current reality of the system? What are the system'
and weaknesses ? The presenting symptoms? The problems? The issues? Then the OD practitioner helps the organizat
devise ways to intervene into the system to facilitate its growth or stop its decline. After you make the intervention, w
see what happens before deciding the subsequent steps. (What has the impact been? What would be the appropriate n
keep the energy going in the desired direction?) With today's accelerated pace of constant change, this is the only way
works. In the past, organizations would assess, plan, and implement massive change projects, sometimes spanning ye
the OD profession focuses on helping organizations to deal with constant change and on building its capacity to learn -
individual, team, and organizational levels of their system. When this becomes a way of life for the organization, the o
becomes flexible like the mast of a sailing ship that naturally adjusts to the changing winds.

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Importance of Getting the Process Right

In OD work, how you do something is equally as important, and often more important, than what you do. It is critical
intervention not only be the correct one, but also that it be done well, with the right group of people, and with the righ
facilitation and support. The first rule is, "Do no harm." Many of us have experienced meetings that were more frustra
helpful because the wrong people were invited, or team-building sessions that fell flat due to ineffective facilitation or l
And many of us have also experienced the thrill of a well-executed OD intervention, like a training workshop that was
transformative, or a wonderfully energizing strategic planning session, or an insightful coaching session.

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How to Choose an OD Consultant

The ever-increasing plethora of tools, processes, and interventions can easily overwhelm anyone looking for OD help.
yourself, "What should we look for? Should we hire someone to do Action Reflection Learning? Should we hire someon
team building? Should we get a management coach? Who would that be, and who would he/she coach? And how woul
the person to be coached? How should we set goals for the coaching process? Should we get someone who will do exp
consulting to the management team in the area of organization development? Should we get someone to lead an Appr
Inquiry or an Open Space meeting?" Using the wrong intervention can be worse than doing nothing. It can falsely raise
expectations and lower their faith in management, in addition to wasting the company's resources of time, money, and
can frustrate the search and can even freeze the selection process. See http://members.aol.com/odinst/skills.htm for
Institute's very comprehensive list of characteristics you might look for when choosing an OD Consultant.

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Consultant Must Fit With Your Management Team and Your Culture

The personality and style of your OD Consultant is as important as his or her experience and expertise. Think of it as h
member of your management team. It is equally important. Your OD consultant must be a person who can work within
corporate culture, and speak a language your management team and employees can relate to and comprehend. He or
be credible to everyone. He or she must be able to sit on the boundary of your organization as an interested, objective
observer. He or she must provide accurate, informed feedback -- the mirror in which organizational members can see
clearly.

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Consultant's Method Must be Congruent With the Client's Need

OD practitioners must model the behaviors the client organization wants and needs to learn. He or she also must be a
providing a special presence that encourages and supports the people in the organization to be constantly aware of the
their system.

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The Human Dimension is a Full-Service Consultancy

There are many kinds of organizations that properly list themselves under the category, Organization Development. As
fields of practice these days, specialization is normal and natural. Many firms specialize in providing one or a few OD in
such as management training, or large group meeting technologies, or employee surveys, or Action Learning or other
interventions. Some firms provide a full-service consultancy, including assisting management to develop an Organizati
Development strategy, and directing and assessing the ongoing implementation of the interventions that underpin the
Due to the global requirements of organizations, many firms form networks of practice to provide this full service. We
these full-service firms. We like to help our clients diagnose their problems and determine an appropriate, targeted int
While it is sometimes obvious what type of intervention an organization needs, (for example, teambuilding) most often
implementing an off-the-shelf intervention is a hit-or-miss proposition. Sometimes it works beautifully; sometimes it m
things worse, wastes a lot of time, energy, and resources, and reduces employee confidence in management. The con
competence is a critical factor.

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