Organization Development

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HERE ARE SOME USEFUL MATERIALS

WHAT IS ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT?
Organization Development (OD) is the process of improving organizations. The process is carefully planned and implemented to benefit the organization, its employees and its stakeholders. The client organization may be an entire company, public agency, non-profit organization, volunteer group - or a smaller part of a larger organization.
The change process supports improvement of the organization or group as a whole. The client and consultant work together to gather data, define issues and determine a suitable course of action. The organization is assessed to create an understanding of the current situation and to identify opportunities for change that will meet business objectives.
OD differs from traditional consulting because client involvement is encouraged throughout the entire process. The ways in which people communicate and work together are addressed concurrently with technical or procedural issues that need resolution.

WHY IS ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT IMPORTANT?
Profitability, productivity, morale and quality of work life are of concern to most organizations because they impact achievement of organization goals. There is an increasing trend to maximize an organization's investment in its employees. Jobs that previously required physical dexterity now require more mental effort. Organizations need to "work smarter" and apply creative ideas.
The work force has also changed. Employees expect more from a day's work than simply a day's pay. They want challenge, recognition, a sense of accomplishment, worthwhile tasks and meaningful relationships with their managers and co-workers. When these needs are not met, performance declines.
Today's customers demand continually improving quality, rapid product or service delivery; fast turn-around time on changes, competitive pricing and other features that are best achieved in complex environments by innovative organizational practices.
The effective organization must be able to meet today's and tomorrow's challenges. Adaptability and responsiveness are essential to survive and thrive.

WHAT DO ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANTS[INTERNAL/EXTERNAL ] DO?
OD consultants custom tailor established social science theory and methods to organizations seeking to improve profitability, productivity, morale and/or quality of work life. Examples of activities which are facilitated by OD consultants are:
Teambuilding
Goal Setting
Group Facilitation
Creative Problem solving
Strategic Planning
Leadership Development
Management Development
Career Management
Conflict Resolution
Developmental Education
Interpersonal Communication
Human Resources Management
Managing Workforce Diversity
Organization Restructuring
High Involvement Work Teams
Sociotechnical Systems Design
Technical Training
Total Quality Management
Often described as "change agents," OD consultants come from varied backgrounds with experience and training in organization development, organization behavior, psychology, education, management and/or human resources. Many have advanced degrees and most have experience in a variety of organizational settings.
There are both internal and external OD consultants. An internal OD consultant is a full-time employee with a given organization. External consultants may be self-employed or on the staff of a consulting firm. "Externals" work with one or more clients contracting for specific projects.
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OD SERVICES[ EXTERNAL/INTERNAL ] CONSULTANTS PROVIDE
Organization Development (OD) consultants provide services to improve organization effectiveness and/or individual employee effectiveness. The purposes are to increase productivity, work satisfaction and profit for the client company. The strategies appearing below "Organization" and "Employee" Effectiveness are defined to help you become an informed user of OD consultant services.

Organization Effectiveness

Consultants apply organization effectiveness strategies such as those shown below when there are needs for assessment, planning, growth, quality improvement, teamwork and other organizational changes.
Action Research - An assessment and problem solving process aimed at improved effectiveness for the entire organization or specific work units. The consultant helps the client organization identify the strengths and weaknesses of organization and management issues and works with the client in addressing problem opportunities. (Some form of action research is generally applied as a foundation for other consulting strategies.)
Conflict Management - Bringing conflicts to the surface to discover their roots, developing a common ground from which to resolve or better manage conflict. Consultants serve as facilitator in a conflict situation or train employees to better understand and manage conflict.
Executive Development - One-on-one or group developmental consultation with CEO's or VP's to improve their effectiveness.
Goal Setting - Defining and applying concrete goals as a road map to help an organization get where it wants to go. (Can also be applied to employee development.)
Group Facilitation - Helping people learn to interact more effectively at meetings and to apply group guidelines that foster open communication, participation and accomplishment.
Managing Resistance to Change - Helping clients identify, understand, and begin to manage their resistance to planned organizational change.
Organizational Restructuring - Changing departmental and/or individual reporting structures, identifying roles and responsibilities, redesigning job functions to assure that the way work gets done in the organization produces excellence in production and service.
Project Management - The general management of specific work, blending diverse functions and s****s, usually for a fixed time and aimed at reaching defined outcomes.
Self-Directed Work Teams - Developing work groups to be fully responsible for creating a well defined segment of finished work.
Sociotechnical Systems Design - Designing and managing organizations to emphasize the relationship between people's performance, the workplace environment and the technology used to produce goods and services in order to effect high level productivity.
Strategic Planning - A dynamic process which defines the organization's mission and vision, sets goals and develops action steps to help an organization focus its present and future resources toward fulfilling its vision.
Teambuilding - Improving how well organization members help one another in activities where they must interact.
Total Quality Management - Through work process analysis, teambuilding, defining quality and setting measurable standards, the consultant assists the organization in becoming more cost effective, approach zero-defects and be more market-driven.


Employee Effectiveness

Consultants use employee effectiveness strategies such as those below when there are needs for employee improvement in s****, commitment and leadership.
Career Counseling - Focused attention on goal setting, career selection and job seeking help individuals make career decisions.
Coordination & Management of Multi-Disciplinary Consultants - One or several different technical specialists team up with an OD consultant to design and install new equipment, work processes, work methods, or work procedures.
Creative Problem Solving - Organization members use practical problem solving models to address existing problems in a systematic, creative manner.
Customer Service Training - Creating interpersonal excellence in public contact positions where the individual and the organization are expected to meet or exceed customer expectations.
Developmental Education - Training in basic math, reading, writing and grammar.
Interpersonal Communication S****s - Increased s**** in exchanging needed information within the organization and providing feedback in a non-threatening, non-judgmental way.
Human Resource Management - Managing the function of hiring, compensation, benefits and employee relations toward systematic goals of the organization's morale and productivity.
Labor Relations - Facilitation of conflict, planning and problem-solving among management and workforce union representation.
Leadership Development - Training in select areas which change managers to leaders. Includes visioning, change management and creative problem solving.
Management Development - Training in various management s**** areas with particular focus on performance management, communications and problem solving.
Outplacement - Providing individual and group job search s****s and services to employees who have been affected by corporate downsizing. Typically paid for by the employer.
Sales Training - Training in the art of selling a product or service.
Stress Management - An individual growth workshop designed to arm and activate healthy responses to stress. It enables participants to maximize positive stressors and minimize the negative, both for themselves and others.
Technical Training - Training in a specific technical area, such as computers.
Time Management - An opportunity for individuals and organizations to effect higher levels of productivity with the time they are allotted.
Training Evaluation - Systematic controlled inquiry grounded in sound statistical practice, assessing on-line training effectiveness and/or business impact. Assessment focuses on course relevance, transfer and cost value.
Workforce Diversity - Facilitating understanding between groups toward the goal where differences among people in an organization become the strengths for competitive advantage, productivity and work satisfaction.