ORGANIZATION

AL
DEVELOPMENT?
Understand the System before you change it

“If you want truly to understand something,

try to change it”

Kurt Lewin
More than 40 Definitions OD is all ac
tivities eng
and helper aged by m
s that are d anagers, e
maintainin irected tow mployees,
a pla n n e d p ro ce ss of change in an system Ma
g the healt
h of the or
ards build
ing and
*OD is g h th e utilization of nagers are ganization
lt u re th ro u as a total
organization's cu g ie s, rese a rch, and theory. just a healt primary pr
h individua a ctitioners of O
techno lo
behavioral science maintainin
g their hea ls or g ro ups need h
D. But
lth, so orga elp in
cr e a si n g aw a re n ess of implicit maintainin nizations n
eed help in
in g their syst
OD is a process of th a t h e lp and hinder em health
tt e rn s .
behavioral pa Edgar Sche
development" in, Academ
y of Mana
gement OD
O rga n iza tio na l Development A Newslette
r, Winter 1
W Warner Burke, ing a nd Changing, 1994 978
Process o f Le a rn
What: a field of knowledge to guide the effectiveness
of organizations, especially during change.
e ffo rt to im p ro v e an organizations
OD is a long-range e w a l p ro ce ss e s particularly How: Using group and human dynamic processes from
nd ren
problem solving a cti v e a nd collaborative applied behavioral science methods, research, and
m o re e ffe
through a n cu lt ure with special theories to facilitate the movement of groups and
rg a n iza ti o
management of o f fo rm a l work teams, with organizations.
lt u re o
emphasis on the cu g e a g e nt o r catalyst and the
a ch a n
the assistance of lo g y o f a p p li ed behavioral Outcome: To improve the health and effectiveness of
techn o
use of theory and g a cti on research. organizations and people that work within in a
scie nce in cl u d in
sustainable way.
999
French and Bell, 1
Cheung Judge and Holbeche 2011
ORGANIZATIONA
L DEVELOPMENT
is a critical and science-based
process that helps
organizations build their
capacity to change and
achieve greater effectiveness
by developing, improving,
and reinforcing strategies,
structures, and processes.
Critical and It is not about trying something out
and seeing what happens. It is about
science-based using scientific findings as input and
creating a structured and controlled
process. process in which assumptions are
tested. Lastly, it is about testing if the
outcomes reflect the intention of the
intervention.
Build capacity It, therefore, has a number of
(business) outcomes. These can
to change and differ between organizations, but
usually, they do include financial
achieve performance, customer satisfaction,
organizational member engagement,
greater and an increased capacity to adapt
effectiveness. and renew the organization. These
are not always clear-cut. Sometimes
it is about building a competitive
advantage, in whichever way we
define that.
Developing,
improving, and This implies a system-approach,
where we focus on an entire
reinforcing organizational system. This can
strategies, include the full organization, one or
more locations, or a single
structures, and department.

processes.
CHARACTERISTICS
OF OD
made to develop the
whole organization so
that it can be
responding to changes
effectively. In
contrast, traditional
training programs
tend to focus quite
narrowly on specific
jobs or small work
groups.
Systems organization:
OD is concerned with
structure, process as
well as attitudes. It lays
emphasis on how parts
relate, not on the parts
themselves.
Problem solving: OD seeks to
solve problems rather than to
discuss theoretically. This
focus on real ongoing
problems, not artificial ones, is
called action research. This
characteristic of OD is so
important that OD is
sometimes defined as
“organizational improvement
through action research.”
Experiential learning: OD offers experiential learning which
means participants learn by experiencing in the training
environment the kind of human problems they actually face on
the job.
Contingency orientation: OD is said to be situational or
contingency-oriented. Unlike traditional training approaches
which emphasize one best way to solve the problems, OD is
flexible and pragmatic, adapting actions to fit particular
needs.
Team building: OD’s general role is to build better team
work throughout the organization. OD attempts to
integrate four elements- people, structure, technology
and environment.
Feed back: OD relies on data feedback to
participants who made decisions using it.
 Assumptions of
Organizational Development
About People as Individuals

About People in Groups and About Leadership

About People in Organizational Systems

The Assumption About
People as Individuals
Most Individuals have a drive towards personal growth and development.
In an environment that is supportive and challenging, most people want to
become most of what they are capable of becoming. In other words,
individuals want personal growth and development, which can be attained
in a supportive and challenging work situation.
Most people are capable of making a higher level of contribution to
organizational goals. A tremendous amount of constructive energy can be
tapped if organizations recognize this. The implication of this assumption is
that people are experts. Organizations must remove obstacles and barriers
and reward success.
What the manager should do: ask, hear, support, challenge, encourage risk-
taking, allow failure, remove barriers and obstacles, delegate authority and
responsibility, set higher standards and reinforce success through rewards.
The Assumption About People in
Groups and About Leadership
The most psychologically relevant reference group for most people is the
workgroup. It basically implies that what goes on in the work team, especially
at the informal level, has great significance for feelings of satisfaction and
competence. Therefore, individual goals should be integrated with group
goals.
Most people wish to be accepted with at least one small reference group.
This helps them greatly increase their effectiveness in helping their reference
group to solve problems. Therefore, the growth of individual members is
facilitated by relationships, which are open, supportive and trusting.
Group members must assist each other with effective leadership and
member behavior. For a group to optimize its effectiveness, the formal
leader cannot perform all the leadership and maintenance functions in all
circumstances at all times and therefore assistance in leadership is required.
Suppressed feelings and attitudes adversely affect problem-solving, personal growth and
job satisfaction. The culture in most groups and organizations tends to suppress the
expression of feelings and attitudes that people have about each other and their behaviors
– both positive and negative – and about where their organizations are heading. If feelings
are allowed to be expressed, it tends to open up many avenues for improved goal setting,
leadership, communications, and conflict resolutions, problem-solving between the group,
collaboration and morale. Attitudinal and motivational problems in organizations require
interactive and transactional solutions. Such problems have the greatest chance of
constructive solution if all parties in the system alter their mutual relationship, co-
operation is always more effective than conflict.
Level of interpersonal trust, support, and cooperation are much lower in most groups
and organisation that is either desirable or necessary. Typically a number of forces
contribute to such situations, including an absence of viewing feelings as important
data, lack of group problem-solving skills, and leadership styles that reinforce
dysfunctional competition.
Solution to most attitudinal and motivational problems in organizations is
transactional. Such problems have the greatest chance of constructive solution if all the
parties in the system or subsystem alter their mutual relationship.
What manager should do: encourage to form work teams, give an opportunity to
teams to flourish, replace one-on-one style with a leadership style, encourage active
participation of members in problem-solving and decision making, provide substantial
training, enable members to deal with both positive and negative feelings, encourage
members to find solution to their problems through mutual interactions. The manager
(the leader) must invest in teams or groups.
Assumptions About People in
Organizational Systems
Traditional hierarchical forms of organizations are obsolete. Therefore, experimenting with
new organizational structures and new forms of authority is imperative (very important/
essential). Creating cooperative rather than competitive organizational dynamics is a primary
task of the organization.
Win-lose conflict strategies are not optional in the long run to the solution
of most organizational problems. Most organizations’ problems can better
be approached in terms of “how can we all win?’
People are an organization’s most important resource. They are the source
of productivity and profits and should be treated with care. An
organization can achieve higher productivity only when the individual
goals are integrated with organizational goals.
What manager should do: Integrate individual goals are integrated with
organizational goals
Who practices
OD?
 YOU

Internal OD External OD
practitione
rs Everyone practitioner
s

Public
Sector
Should Private
sector
Managers Have an HR
and
leaders OD Practitioners

Charities mindset Non-profit

L&D
Practitioners
 Leadership
and Performance Organization
Strategy
Management Management design +
process

What can it
improve?
Ways of Future of
working e.g Culture Values work
Hybrid readiness
working
 1-2-1 and/or Feedback
Small group Large group and
Interventions
group Training
Interventions
Coaching Reflection

How do we do OD?
Conflict Workshop/
Organization Process Capability
Design Resolution Meeting Development
Consulting
facilitation