Process of OD

• OD is planned change in an organizational context. A typical

sequence of events in the initiation & development of an OD
program is as follows
1. Middle or top management of an organization becomes
interested in OD and feels that the organization has
problems, which can be met through training.
2. Management invites an outside OD consultant to visit the
organization
3. After the consultant's entry and contact with a variety of
organization roles and groups, the organization works
out a contract with the consultant specifying the nature of the
projected relationship and its goals and general procedures
4. The consultant, working with insiders, collects data about
the organization via interviews, questionnaire and
observations
 Process of OD
5. These data form the basis of a joint diagnosis of the
points of difficulty in the organization
6. A first intervention is planned
7. The intervention is evaluated following a new
collection of data
8. Subsequent steps in intervention are planned on the
basis of this data, and the process continues.
9. The OD function itself becomes institutionalize within
the organization. An OD department all group is formed
and takes central responsibility for continuing the
OD process
10.The internal OD specialists become increasingly
professionalized and responsible for their own
development
Managing the OD Process
Three basic components of OD programs:
Diagnosis Continuous collection of data
about total system, its sub-
units, its processes, and its
culture. It is to identify the
strengths, problem areas,
unrealised opportunities or
any other discrepancy
between the vision of the
desired future & the current
situation
Action All activities and interventions
designed to improve the
organization’s functioning
Program All activities designed to
management ensure success of the
program
Diagnosis – The Six-Box Model

Purposes
What business
are we in?

Marvin Weisbord
Relationships Structure
Weisbord identifies How do we How do we
manage conflicts? divide our work?
six critical areas
where things must go Leadership
Does someone
right if organisation is keep the
boxes in balance?
to be successful.
According to him, the Helpful Rewards
consultant must Mechanisms Do all needed tasks
attend to both formal Have we adequate
coordinating technologies?
have incentives?

and informal aspects

En

of each box.
vi
ro
nm

This model is still widely

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used by OD practitioners
 Six critical areas to focus on in diagnosis
• Purposes: It involves an organization clarifying and
agreeing on its mission and goals.
• Structure: It addresses how the organization assigns tasks
to workers and how the work gets done.
• Rewards: It deals with the incentives the organization
provides and how people feel about those incentives. The
consultant would like to know which behaviours the
organization rewards and whether the workers value these
rewards.
• Helpful mechanisms :- It concerns systems, such as
budgeting, management, information, planning and control
that assist employees in achieving their work objectives.
For example, what systems are in place to help the
employees become more productive.
• Relationships: examine how the employees relate to each
other. How well do they get along and how do they resolve
their conflicts.
• Leadership: It is the style of management including the
systems the leader uses.
 Diagnosing Organizational Subsystems
Diagnostic targets Information sought Methods of Diagnosis
The total organization Q) What is organization’s culture? • Examination of organizational records –
Q) Are organizational goals and strategy rules, regulations, policies
understood and accepted? • Questionnaire survey
Q) What is organization’s performance? • Interviews (both group & individual)
Large and complex Q) What are the unique demands on this • Questionnaire survey
subsystems subsystem? • Interviews
Q) Are organization structures and processes • Observations
related to unique demands? • Organization records
Q) What are the major problems confronting this
subsystem?
Small and simple Q) What are major problems of the team? • Individual interviews
subsystem Q) How can team effectiveness be improved? • group meeting to review the interview data
Q) Do individuals know how their jobs relate to • Questionnaires
organizational goals? • Observation of staff meetings and other day-
to-day operations
Intergroup Q) How does each subsystem see the other? • Interviews of each subsystem followed by
subsystems Q) What problems do the two groups have in ‘sharing the data meeting’
working together? • Flowcharting critical processes
Q) How can they collaborate to improve • Meetings between both groups
performance of both groups?
Individuals Q) Do people perform according to organization’s • Interviews
expectations? • Information from diagnostic meetings
Q) Do they need particular knowledge or skills? • Data available with HR department
Q) What career development opportunities do
they have/ want/ need?
Roles Q) Is the role defines adequately? • Role analysis
Q) What is the ‘fit’ between person and role? • Observations
Q) Is this the right person for this role? • Interviews
 Diagnosing Organizational Processes
Organizational Information sought Methods of Diagnosis
Processes
Communication Q) Is communication open or closed? • Observations – in meetings
patterns, styles & Q) Is communication directed upward, downward, • Questionnaires
flows laterally? • Interviews and discussion with group
Q) Are communications filtered? ….. Why? How? members
Goal setting Q) Do people set goals? • Questionnaires
Q) Who participates? • Interviews
Q) Do they possess necessary skills for effective • Observations
goal setting?
Decision making, Q) Who makes decisions? • Observations of problem-solving meetings
problem solving & Q) Are they effective? • Analysis of videotaped sessions
action planning Q) Are additional decision making skills needed? • Organizational records
Conflict resolution and Q) Where does conflict exist? • Interviews
management Q) Who are involved parties? • Flowcharting critical processes
Q) How is it being managed? • Meetings between both groups

Superior-subordinate Q) What are the prevailing leadership styles? • Questionnaires

relations Q) What problems arise between superiors and •Interviews
subordinates?
Strategic management Q) Who is responsible for ‘looking ahead’ and • Interviews of key policy makers
& long range planning making long term decisions? • Group discussions
Q) Do they have adequate tools and support? • Examination of historical records
Q) Have the recent long range decisions been
effective?
The Diagnosis can happen at three levels

1. Organization wide analysis:- That cuts across the

organizational divisions i.e. Organizational Structure,
Major Systems, Environmental factors, Organizational
outcomes, Distribution of resources etc.

2. Group Analysis:- That examines data on group level i.e.

Group structure, tasks and behaviors, Group
composition, Group Norms & relationships, Group
productivity, satisfaction & skills etc.

3. Individual analysis:- That collects and examines data at

individual level i.e. Personal characteristics, Job
Characteristics, Job Enrichment for the individual,
Individual productivity, satisfaction & skills etc.
 Data collection methods
1. Secondary sources of data:-
Existing information such as accounting info; productivity
data, HR records, performance indicators etc.

2. Employee surveys:-
They are critical sources of data.
They serve as information / improvement tools.
They help identify opportunities for improvement and
help evaluate the impact of changes made.
They are an effective communication tools.
They facilitate dialogue on potential improvements
between managers and employees
 Data collection types
1. Questionnaires (quantitative):- Useful for surveys of attitudes,
values, beliefs etc. Impersonal, anonymous, easy to analyze
reliable, valid etc. Info. gathered has limited depth but can be
useful for general overview of commonality of perception
among employees. Need to inform employees re. purpose,
how info will be used etc. (informed consent). Consultant
obligation to ensure confidentiality of all data and to provide
feedback to all participants.
2. Socio-metric approach:- It focuses on interrelationships
between groups, according to specific dimensions. Asks open
questions such as "Who do you prefer to work with?" "Who do
you prefer to communicate with?", "Who helps you most with
technical problems?" etc. A diagram is developed (sociogram)
which indicates frequently named persons (stars) and
infrequently named (isolates). Individuals who choose each
other are called fall into the mutual choice category. Helps to
identify one-way choices and cliques.
 Data collection types
3. Direct observation:- It is about how people perform their
tasks and how they react in response to certain situations.
Identifies attitudes, norms, inconsistent / discordant
behaviour etc. Observer should be inconspicuous and
non-threatening.
4. Interviews:- They are flexible, two way communication and
can give way to probing / questioning of responses for a
detailed and better diagnosis.
They can be of the following types:
a) Directed,
b) open-ended,
c) closed,
d) non-directed (structured, unstructured, semi-structured).
It requires sufficient time and honesty.
 Diagnosis process must watch out for
It is important that Diagnosis is conducted efficiently for
further interventions. Most of the time, it is because of
faulty diagnosis that OD programs fail. It is therefore
important for a diagnosis process to be successful one
must watch out for:
1. Validity of data
2. Time required to collect data
3. Cost of data collection
4. Organization culture and norms
5. Hawthorne effect (is your presence influencing the data
that is being collected?)
6. Confidentiality
7. Over-diagnosis
8. The threatening and overwhelming diagnosis
Orientation

Diagnosing This process is known as

‘Action Research’
Taking Action Three ingredients:

1. Participation
Re-Diagnosing
2. OD consultant (as collaborator & colearner)

Taking New Action 3. Iterative process of diagnosis & action

Change occurs based on the actions

taken

New knowledge comes from

examining the results of the actions.
Action Research
Data Collection
Feedback of data to client system members Diagnostic

Action planning based on the data Participant

Types
Taking action Empirical

Evaluating results of actions Experimental

Diagnostic Researcher enters a problem situation, diagnoses it and make

recommendations for remedial treatment (recommendations may
not be put into effect by client group)
Participant People who are to take action are involved in the entire process
from the beginning (involvement increases the
likelihood of carrying out the actions once decided upon)
Empirical Researcher keeps the systematic, extensive record of what he/
she did and what effects it had (may encounter situations too
divergent from one another, which may not permit
generalizations)
Experimental It is controlled research on the relative effectiveness of various
techniques (is difficult to do when client wants
immediate answers)
Actions
Interventions are the actions taken to produce desired changes.
Four conditions that give rise to the need for OD interventions:
1. The organisation has a problem
(corrective action – to fix it)
2. Organization sees an unrealized opportunity
(enabling action – to seize the opportunity)
3. Features of organization are out of alignment
(alignment action – to get things back ‘in sync’)
4. Yesterday’s vision is no longer good enough
(action for new vision – actions to build necessary
structures, processes and culture to make new vision a
reality)
 Survey Feedback Process
The study of Survey Feedback played an important role in formation and
history of OD. Developed as an organization wide intervention by Mann
and his associates (Year 1957 -1965), survey feedback is a process in
which organizational members complete questionnaires on various
organizational issues, receive feedback on the results, then take
appropriate actions to address the critical needs and concerns. It
generally follows a four phase cyclical process given below.

Developing Survey instrument

Summary & Analysis of Results

 Survey Feedback Phases
1. Developing a survey instrument:- In the initial phase of survey
feedback, the OD consultant works with the management very
closely to develop a questionnaire to collect information about the
key issues in the organization. The key success factor at this stage
is the active participation of the organization members.
2. Administering the survey, data collection:- Active participation by all
department also bring in a sense of ownership during data collection
and higher involvement during action planning activities later. The
OD consultant can build trust and commitment and also bring about
openness by announcing confidentiality of the responses
3. Summarizing and analysis of results:- Once the survey data is
collected, they must be summarized in form that is meaningful to the
organizational members. Brief summary reports are prepared by the
consultants and presented in a series of focused, facilitated
meetings, starting with top management and going downwards.
These meetings are used both, to identify problem areas and also
develop action plans to resolve them
4. Feedback on the results:- To ensure effective feedback meetings,
the OD consultant needs to train managers to create and promote a
participative atmosphere and to avoid defensive behaviour that
might block open and constructive discussion