Learning and organizational development

Learning and organizational development

- Suppose you manage a work group that's not functioning particularly well and you know that you're not the only manager in your organization who faces this problem. What might you do to turn the situation around? What can your fellow managers do to improve the performance of the work groups that they manage? One approach is called organization development, which itself is based on action research, a systematic, long-range program designed to improve the performance of your work group as well as that of the broader organization.

While action research may assume many forms, one of the most popular is survey feedback.The process begins with a preliminary diagnosis. For example, by an outside consultant who's known as a change agent. He or she should be skilled in the methods of applied behavioral science. The preliminary diagnosis may include interviews with managers and a few of the employees in each work group. The purpose of these interviews is to enable the consultant to get a general sense of the key issues the work groups are concerned about.

The next step is a comprehensive assessment of the way each of the work groups, including yours, is currently functioning. One way to do this is to administer anonymous questionnaires to all group members. For example, using a rating scale that ranges from Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree, you and each of your employees rate a number of items, typically 10 to 30 or so. For example, these might include items such as, "Decisions usually are made on the basis of the best information available." "Cooperation across different parts of the organization is actively encouraged." And, "There is continuous investment in the skills of employees." The outside consultant then tabulates responses for each individual work group and for the organization as a whole.

You, as well as each of your fellow managers, receive a summary of this information based on the responses of the employees who report to you, and for the other managers, the employees who report to them. Then the outside consultant meets privately with you, as well as with each of the other managers, to maximize understanding of the survey results. Following this, the consultant/change agent attends a meeting, face to face or virtual, of you and your work group members, the purpose of which is to examine the survey findings and to discuss implications for corrective action.

The role of the consultant is to help you and your work group members to understand the survey results better, to set goals, and to formulate action plans to improve the way the work group functions. The consultant then repeats this process with every other work group throughout the organization. Roughly six months or so after each work group actually implements its action plan, the consultant returns for another preliminary diagnosis and the entire process begins anew.

If the plans are successful, your work group, as well as the others, will improve over time, and the results of those improvements can be demonstrated objectively. This is what organization development is all about