The Elements to Consider
in an Organizational Redesign Process

Have your Read Part 1 of this article - where we discussed the principles behind organizational redesign and the team needed to be involved in the process?

Describe the Vision

Firstly the Design team describes the Vision for the Future. The organization's Internal Compass (the Behaviors, Values, Principles, and Mindset) will be clearly defined at the end of this body of work.

However, it is vital that the members of these teams stay open to this being modified as the Design Team delves further into the re-design process.

Review Current Design Choices

Next, time is spent analyzing the external environment, social and technical systems and identifying the symbols, rituals, and legends that create the current culture of the organization and keep alive beliefs about 'how we work around here'.

The interactions of the various systems and organization design choices you have previously made will either make it easier or disrupt the cultural changes you are attempting to implement.

In analyzing the external environment, the Design team needs to be aware of the needs and expectations of:

Recommend New Structures, Symbols and Systems

Once the Design Team has reviewed all the elements within the current organization design, they can now begin recommending the changes that need to occur to achieve the desired Vision.

At this stage of the organizational redesign process, it is critical that a communication plan is put in place, to enable feedback between all team members of the organization.

Success Criteria: Nominate the outcomes desired in these four categories: Customer, Stakeholder, People, Community

Culture: Identify the values, behaviors, skills and, characteristics that the people working within the business must have. Generate the guiding principles that encourage people to use these behaviors and skills, to achieve the vision and mission.

Strategies to Influence: Determine the strategies needed to manage and reduce variability and demands from the external environment. This enables you to meet both the requirements of the external environment as well as achieve your desired performance outcomes.

Key Performance Indicators: Choose KPI's which will deliver the business performance required, along with inspiring the behaviors and characteristics expressed in the Culture.

Technical System: Analyze and re-design in terms of how tasks are performed, technologies required and the layout of buildings/facilities so that the People and the Technical systems are unified to produce high performance.

Structural System: Design the structure for each of the three teams: Front-Line, Resource (Management) and Strategic so that they foster the culture required to deliver high performance.

Decision-Making & Information System: Establish what, where, how decisions are made. What information is needed to make those decisions and how it is captured, stored and shared.

People System: Define the Competencies, Job Design, Selection, Induction/Orientation, Learning, Performance Contracting, Career Development systems that support the new organization design.

Reward System: Choose how people's contributions are recognized and rewarded and ensure the system encourages people to focus on organizational goals.

Renewal System: Decide how you will regularly review your business and make any design changes needed to ensure continuing optimum performance.

Develop an Implementation Plan: This identifies who is responsible for implementation, timelines, resources required, potential bottlenecks and contingency plans.

Execute the Plan: Time to make it happen!