ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN
Lack of Senior Team Alignmennt
• Overestimating the amount of senior team alignment that exists or assuming that enough will be built during the change process itself to create alignment
Poor Management of Stakeholders
• Paying minimal attention to how the world of stakeholders is responding to the changes being undertaken , ignoring negative reactions and skepticism
Resistance and Distrust
• Not building effective change management strategies to lead and manage the transformation
• Not taking into account how an organization ’ s past experience with change initiatives may complicate or boost implementation
Insufficient Plan for Execution
• Inadequate resources to execute the changes and manage the transformation
• A change plan that does not include a systemic view of the organizational changes required to support the transofrmation
Lack of Followthrough and Accountability
• Lack of clear accountability for designing and implementing specific aspects of the transformation agenda
• Not being able to interpret and escalate key information to executives for rapid decision making and course correction
Lack of Meaningful Measures
M
L
H Service Delivery
• Lack of early warning measures ( i . e ., leading indicatiors ) that allow an organization to know when plans are in jeopardy
• Stronger focus on longer term outcome measures and minimal attention to transfrmation metrics that would track the evolution of the transformation
Leadership was described as being a key factor in the success or failure of an organization – poor leadership can affect attitude , results and ultimately staff turnover . Securing leadership buy-in and support was seen as critical to the success of any design effort .
Culture was felt to be a particularly important factor in implementing and sustaining successful organizational change . Not understanding the existing culture and how it might need to change was seen as a key reason for failure in implementing a new organization design .
The role of council is to provide strategic guidance and advice – not to design the organization Councils are seen as a key stakeholder in organization design and play an important role in providing input to the process .
A clear distinction was made between participating in the process versus leading the process . It was strongly felt that councils should not play a direct role in the actual design of the organization as this was seen as an administrative role . However , it was felt important that councils be kept informed throughout the process .
Implementation is where change really starts Failure in design often comes from failure to execute . Organizations can and do expend a great deal of energy in
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In addition to providing the required support in implementation , it is seen as important that forms , policies , procedures and reward systems be aligned with the proposed organizational changes .
Failure in organizational design results from a number of factors Several factors were identified as contributing to the failure of planned organizational changes as noted above . Other contributing factors include :
• Lack of council support ( and therefore the need for council to be engaged throughout the process depending on the scale of the review as noted earlier );
• Not dealing with the tough people decisions , compounded by putting the wrong people in leadership positions ; and
• Not monitoring and evaluating progress against target outcomes , or making changes if the design doesn ’ t appear to be working
The above diagram summarizes the common reasons for the failure of change initiatives .
Municipal organizations operate in a dynamic environment . They must continually respond to changing circumstances or expectations .
This article has identified a number of common themes in the successful design of a municipal organization . Overall , it was felt to be particularly important that the design be driven by a strategic plan , incorporate the collective experience of other municipal organizations while being tailored to local requirements and that staff be proactively engaged in the design process .
Ian Smith is the president of NDSIK Management Consultants .
24 Q2 2015 www . amcto . com