ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN
“ Organizational design is particularly important to municipalities since it has a direct impact on the quality of services they offer . And it is the quality of service that determines what people think of their municipal government .”
Size doesn ’ t matter Most agreed that the approach to organizational design doesn ’ t really vary whether it is the design of all or part of the municipality ( other than to accommodate differences in scale and complexity ).
If the municipality is only looking at part of the organization , it was felt to be important that the final design align with the overall corporate design . It was also recognized that council might be less engaged and / or interested in the design of part of the organization .
There is no one right approach to design The feedback suggests that there is no standard or commonly accepted approach to the design of municipal organizations .
It was also suggested that there is no single design applicable to every public sector organization and that the context surrounding each organization will determine which design makes the most sense . If this is true , it means that there should be much greater emphasis on the environmental analysis that is typically conducted as part of an organization review .
Even though there may not be a standard approach to organizational design , the feedback suggested several elements that could be considered and potentially included :
• Look at the organization from a “ customer ” perspective ;
• Understand the operating context through an environmental analysis as noted above ;
• Make sure that there is a detailed understanding of the current organization ; in particular , how existing services are delivered , roles and responsibilities and perceived issues , gaps and / or opportunities ; and
• Conclude on when to consider existing staff in the development and / or assessment of organizational options
This last point , when to consider existing staff , is always contentious . Purists would argue that a design should be driven by strategy and not compromised by personnel considerations , at least at the options stage . The pragmatists would argue that you can ’ t just change all existing personnel so you should consider them right up front . Based on experience , both positions are correct – to a degree . The development and evaluation of options should be driven by the organizational strategy and other key design principles , not by considerations of existing personnel . However , once the preferred design has been determined , it then needs to be populated with existing staff and the design potentially adjusted as part of implementation to reflect individual skills and competencies .
There are a number of organizational design principles that could be considered Given that organization design principles are used to help develop and evaluate organizational options , the feedback suggested a number of potential principles :
• Alignment with the overall strategic / corporate direction ;
• Enhance or enable improved customer service ( residents , clients and businesses );
• Create single points of accountability ;
• Balance the scale and scope ( of direct reports ); and
• Ensure cost efficiency
Other principles that were suggested included “ organizational flexibility ” and “ understandability .”
It was also noted that the organization should be clear upfront about the givens or key assumptions that will guide and shape the design effort .
There are commonalities in the thinking around organizational models Given the similarities in the services provided by municipalities , there was not a lot of variability or , as some would say , innovation , in the organizational models that are used .
For the most part , many of those interviewed suggested that a “ functional design ” was either most common or most appropriate given the range of services offered by a municipality .
There were some common “ clusters ” of services identified – community services , operations or public works , planning and development , corporate services and , where applicable , social / health services . However , some were quick to note that there is not one model that works for all and that the actual design depends on local circumstances , environmental conditions and , potentially , existing staff , as noted earlier .
There are often primary and secondary drivers of design . For example , the overall design of a municipality can be based on functions while the next level down can be based on a different design variable such as geography , customer need or service offering .
The size of the municipality was also identified as an important variable . It was observed that the larger the municipality , the greater the tendency to consolidate services at the most senior level with much broader spans of control and areas of responsibility .
Culture and leadership are important to success Culture and leadership were seen to be critical in the design and the overall success of an organization .
NOMADFRA / SHUTTERSTOCK
MUNICIPAL MONITOR 23