Organization Development

Organization Development

Organization development can be defined as a systemwide application of behavioral science knowledge to the planned development, improvement and reinforcement of the strategies, structures and processes that lead to organization effectiveness. So just in its definition, it is easy to see that OD has a far reaching, important role in the success of any organization. The achievement of a cohesive work environment takes a number of well organized and responsive reactions that result in a desired successful outcome.

The OD Practitioner, be it an individual who is specializing in OD, in fields related to OD or a manager and administrators who has gained competence in OD, each of these individuals can be characterized as a viable OD practitioner. With that being said, the OD consultant/practitioner is also classified into two subgroups, internal or external.

The internal consultant would refer to an individual that works within the company, an employee who is already working close with the organization. This type of consultant already has access to employees, has built relationships and many times understands the root cause of a problem. The other type of consultant is that of an external consultant. This type of consultant is formally contracted to come into an organization in order to fulfill OD needs in a more objective manner or offer a particular expertise.

The OD process will begin when an organization recognizes that a dilemma exists and that this situation impacts the mission of the organization. The process can also begin when leadership has a vision of a better method of operation and wishes to improve. The ability to see the need for change is many times witnessed by those in management positions and is therefore mostly recognized at that level.

Once the decision is made to change, the next step is to assess the current situation. This assessment should be conducted by documentation review, organizational sensing, interviewing, and surveying the subject individuals. The assessment could be conducted by internal (inside) consultants or by external (outside) OD consultants.

Once the current circumstances are assessed, defined, and understood, the next step is to plan an intervention. The type of change desired would determine the nature of the intervention. Interventions could include training and development, team interventions such as team building for management or employees.