In an article published on www.monographies.com (“Organizational Development: Are“ Best Theories ”complemented by“ Best Practices ”?
- Lessons to be taken by consultants interested in the Organizational Development profession ”) Eric Gaynor Butterfield makes mention of the diversity of conceptual frameworks and also“ Best Practices ”that consultants, managers, executives and practitioners usually use to improve the organizational performance.
There is another perspective - different and that is somehow independent of the conceptual frameworks and "best practices" - to classify the Organizational Development interventions from which we have selected the one carried out by R. Schmuk and M. Miles ("Organization Development in Schools ”in“ Improving schools through OD: An overview ”; Palo Alto, CA: National Press Books - 1971), and it is the one that we must privilege in this work.
Both authors developed just over 30 years ago a classification of Organizational Development interventions that has become known as the “OD Cube” and has served as a roadmap for many consultants in organizational change and development. According to this model the authors made the following three main distinctions:
1. Depending on "What specific unit of analysis" is focused during the intervention;
2. Depending on “The particular type of problem being focused on” when diagnosing the problem;
3. Depending on the particular mode of intervention that has been selected for the consulting intervention.
We are going to begin to analyze the different options that consultants have at their disposal when it comes to "The particular type of problem in which the focus is focused", under which option a series of available alternatives are presented, the main ones being: (in English, and according to the original version):
Goals, plans
Communication
Culture, Climate
Leadership, Authority
Problem-solving
Decision-making
Conflict / Cooperation
Role definition
Others
As we can see, there is a diversity of topics and contents that are directly related to organizational performance and that of course are also related to conceptual frameworks and practices to be followed by consultants, but here the authors prefer to become independent - even partially from them - and to privilege some of the various points referenced above.
For example, some authors within their conceptual frameworks include "one of these particular contents" as is the case of James March & Herbert Simon ("Organizations"; Wiley and Sons, NY - 1958) who make an excellent description of the impact on the results. organizational as a consequence of the treatment given to the objectives. Rensis Likert (“New Patterns of Management”; McGraw Hill - 1961) considers that leadership and decision-making are vital aspects that have an important impact on the results of the company and the authors D. Katz & R. Kahn (“The social psychology of organizations ”, NY, John Wiley.ñ- 1978) include“ role definition ”as a preferred variable.
What we want to share with the reader at this time is that the process of selecting the "way to go and choose" by the consultant before carrying out the consulting intervention is plagued by a large number of alternatives where complexity is not necessarily reduced to combine very good theory with excellent practice.
This process by which the consultant must participate in organizational change and development gains even more diversity since he has before him different possible options in relation to the magnitude of the “participating population”. Being some of them:
The organization as a whole
Intergroup relations (2 or more groups)
Team / Group
Two or three people
A particular role
One Person
Others
Schmuck & Miles also refer to different "Modes of Intervention".
Here too the counselor must possibly have to reach some degree of very high specialization as to how to carry out the counseling intervention; at least with respect to the way in which it initially has to develop it. Some of the different ways in which organizational development and change intervention can be carried out include (also in original English):
OD task force establishment
Process Consultation, Coaching
Techno-structural activity
Training (education)
Problem-solving
Data feedback
Confrontation
Plan-making
Other
It is obvious to the reader the great number of possible options and ways to follow that the agent of change has before him. A quick review of the three main ways to Classify Interventions suggests that there is a combination of 3 factors in numbers of 6, 8 and 8, which statistically and applying the number of possible combinations suggests the existence of 384 alternatives. If we add to this some particular fashionable “Best Practice” (ISO, TQC, CRM, SCM standards, among others) we now have a number of possible combinations above 1,000, which should alert us to the complexity and scope of the work to do. Something that business consultants don't treat seriously enough.
For those interested in a specific list of possible alternatives open to consultants in their consulting processes and interventions, we must refer to the work of Gary Malean & Roland Sullivan (“Essential competencies of internal and external OD consultants”, Unpublished manuscript - 1989 In Rothwell, Sullivan & Malean already mentioned - 1995).
At the individual level
- Counseling & Coaching being an intervention designed to improve the quality of help in relationships between people. Training that is designed with the purpose of providing knowledge, attitudes, and skills that can be applied immediately at work, by the participant. Establishment of Individual objectives are aimed at improving people's planning skills and abilities in order to achieve "performance improvement" among employees and their immediate superiors. Personnel evaluation systems that seek to improve or change the usual methods of measuring individual performance providing feedback to employees regarding their performance.Statistical Process Control that represents a technique to monitor production and performance levels as well as highlight deviations from certain standards Job Descriptions that represent interventions aimed at analyzing the tasks and duties performed by incumbents with the purpose after describing what are the results that they themselves have to achieve. Changes in Job Descriptions can influence people's behavior as well as their level of achievement Values Rating which is designed to help assess or determine individual and group values Life and career planning that represents an intervention designed to help people plan for their lives and careers.Development of Personnel Policies that is specially designed to establish broad guidelines for action to be followed by personnel when they confront common problems in the course of their work Procedures Manuals that represent an intervention designed to establish or formalize methods for handling common problems faced by different people within an organization. Procedures arise as a consequence of organizational policies. Process Improvement are interventions designed to change the way processes are developed with the purpose of making them more effective and efficient.
At the Team or Unit level
- Team Building and Development whose purpose is to increase the degree of cohesion and cooperation of the different people who work together Work Enrichment which is an intervention designed to change the tasks and duties at work as well as the results that are achieved. they expect from them, providing the different incumbents with greater responsibilities Quality of life at work that represents an intervention designed to improve working conditions and to increase the participation of personnel in decision-making that influences them and the organization.Circles of Quality, which is an intervention designed to make use of small groups, which are usually working groups, to identify different methods to improve production or to solve problems at work.Establishment of Objectives for a Unit or Department that seeks to help the members of a group to establish their own group objectives and that usually also includes “production output.” Conflict Management that is specially designed with the purpose of reducing conflict of the type destructive between the different members of a work unit System mapping - open that is designed to identify those inputs, outputs and processes of the organization Process consulting that is an intervention designed to focus on how people and groups interact.Conflict Management that is specially designed with the purpose of reducing the destructive conflict between the different members of a work unit. System mapping - open that is designed to identify those inputs, outputs and processes of the organization. Process consulting which is an intervention designed to focus on how people and groups interact.Conflict Management that is specially designed with the purpose of reducing the destructive conflict between the different members of a work unit. System mapping - open that is designed to identify those inputs, outputs and processes of the organization. Process consulting which is an intervention designed to focus on how people and groups interact.
At Intergroup level
- Workflow planning that is designed as an intervention with the purpose of planning the workflow between two or more components of the same organization. Schedule Review that consists of an intervention designed to assess and evaluate how work is being scheduled. Development Inter-organizational that represents an intervention designed where two groups or organizations work together to establish and / or maintain more efficient relationships Inter-group Conflict Management that consists of an intervention designed to deal with destructive conflict between two or more units of Third-party intervention consisting of an intervention designed to improve relationships handled in previous conflicts.Cross-functional training, which is an intervention designed to provide both individuals and groups with the knowledge they need to function with another unit or organization.
At the level of the Organization as a whole
- Strategic planning that represents an intervention designed to improve the establishment of long-term organizational objectives, goals, and direction. Confrontation Meetings are interventions designed with the purpose of improving the setting of long-term goals, objectives, and direction. Confrontation Meetings are Interventions designed to bring two or more groups together for the purpose of resolving destructive conflicts. Cultural Transformation is about interventions designed to change existing assumptions about the “right” and “wrong” ways of doing things in the company.Reengineering is an intervention that is also known under the name of process innovation and redesign of the core process - it means a radical redesign of business processes with the purpose of achieving extraordinary results. Job redesign is a type of intervention where the Work itself is changed. Quality and Productivity Systems deal with interventions designed and oriented towards improving quality and productivity continuously and throughout the organization. Survey Feedback is a type of intervention designed to collect information from the different participants organizational, report the results, and make use of the results as the starting point for the action plan and improvements.Structural Change is an intervention designed to alter the relationships of "reporting" and information as well as the purposes and objectives of the different components of an organization. Customer Service Development is a type of intervention aimed at increasing the sensitivity of employees in terms of their efficiency and courteous way of relating to Clients, and includes the allocation of means to staff so that they can carry out an effective service to the Client Socio-Technical Systems are interventions designed to improve interaction / relationship (“Link”) between staff and work technology that is used within the organization. “Large-scale” technology / “Future Search Conferences” are interventions designed to bring together about 300 to 2.300 people from a company at all levels within the organization in order to create an ideal future for the organization.
At Planetary level or of the Society as a whole
- Trans-cultural Planning Processes are interventions designed to improve planning across national or cultural groups. Community Development and Trans-national Problem Solving is a type of intervention designed to improve the degree of trust and collaboration across the different national or cultural groups.
