Process of Organizational Development: 6 Steps

Organizational Development Process:

Organizational development is the systematic and organized process of bringing change in the organization in order to increase its overall performance. The goal of adopting OD may vary between the organizations but the most common goal is to increase organizational competitiveness.

The main goal of organizational development is to make business more effective and competitive in changing business settings. Let’s understand how the OD process helps businesses identify the area they need to change and how it makes them effective and competitive. The main steps of the process of OD include the following:

Identify the Problem or an Area for Improvement

The first step of the OD process is the identification of the problem or an area for improvement. Such a problem may be causing your business reduction in sales, and profit, or degrading performance.

The problem may be in front of you, however, you may not be sure. Try to consider the opinions of employees and whether or not this is an area of improvement that needs to be enhanced.

At the end of this step, you as a manager must be able to identify the problem or the area of improvement. And, why your organization needs the change. Later, such a clarification helps to increase employees’ acceptance.

Analysis of the Problem

Once the problem is identified, the next step is to analyze it. The analysis should give answers to questions like why the problem exists, the source of the problem, factors preventing the resolution of the problem, how similar nature problems were previously solved, how other companies are solving such problems, and so on.

A clear analysis of the problem will help you to spot the root cause of it and find the best solution for it. Once the investigation of the problem is completed, the next step is to set a plan.

Related: Characteristics of OD

Create An Action Plan

You should develop an action plan that clearly shows the ways how activities would be done to solve the problem. The plan should clarify every employee’s role in achieving the change goal.

The organization’s budget should be linked to the plan. The plan should be measurable and achievable within the company’s competencies. And, it should be communicable to employees.

Communicate to Employees

The plan you created in 3rd step of the OD process should be communicated to employees. In addition to this, the plan should be acceptable to them.

Employees are key players in executing the change plan. Employees should be encouraged and motivated to share the vision for change. You should explain to them to understand what the change is about, why it is taking place, and how the change is helping them and the organization.

Here, your goal should be to make employees accept the plan. However, in order to do this, manipulation or cooptation activity should not be done. Employees’ acceptance and motivation should be earned through truth, fairness, and transparency.

Implement the Plan

Careful implementation of the plan is necessary to generate the expected results from it. During the implementation process, managers should consider offering suggestions, guidance, and counseling to employees when needed.

Read Also: Process of Planning

You should provide the necessary training to them so that the implementation will be most effective. Ongoing feedback is necessary to adjust the implementation. Regular communication with employees and assessment will make the change process easier.

Evaluation

The last step of the organizational development process is the evaluation of the plan implemented. Here, the performance of the plan is evaluated to know whether or not the change met the desired goals. When the goal is met the same change process may be applied in future identical situations. And, if the goal is not met the whole process will be repeated again.