Organization design work is a social process

Defining and implementing a new organizational structure is a social process. This social process needs to be orchestrated and planned in order to achieve the desired results. Work with this section to receive guidance on how to bring the framework and the tools of this Kit to action and

• involve key stakeholders in supporting a shift towards self management with their best knowledge and experience. 
• run the analysis and design work to define your organization’s approach towards self-management 
• create the key deliverables and documentation required as a reference for change and implementation

Three broad and iterative phases for your work process

To that purpose, we lay out three broad phases which are key to start, drive, and implement design work on self management: 

1. Set goals and scope
2. Analyze and design
3. Test and codify

Starting points for self management vary depending on context

Having worked with many different organizations switching or exploring the switch towards self management, we are aware that context and starting points vary. For example, one company may only start considering the topic, whereas another wants to consolidate various experiments across the organization. As a result, some of the process phases and steps we discuss may be more crucial than others, or have a different take on the subject, in different contexts. 

Three iterative steps, not a neat sequence of phases

At the same time, the three phases discussed in the following should not be understood as a neat sequence of steps. To the contrary, for example, learnings from implementation will let you revisit your scope and goals, as will insights from your design work. Such a healthy amount of iteration between steps and phases typically is beneficial in design processes concerned with non-trivial questions. 

A Kit to structure a project or project work stream

A work stream on organization design for self-management can be run as part of a larger management or change project. For example, a larger project may be a “future of work” initiative, which makes employee experience and employee autonomy a priority. Another example may be the the start of a new business unit, which provides the opportunity to experiment with new ways to make decisions. Also see the example cases discussed in this Kit.

Download

Download this section as a PDF below.