Creating an Organizational Development Proposal

Running head: OD REALITIES AND MISCONCEPTIONS 1

OD REALITIES AND MISCONCEPTIONS 6

OD Realities and Misconceptions

Student’s Name: Garry Bray

Institutional Affiliation: Ashford University

Course Title: BUS370

Date: April 12, 2021

OD Realities and Misconceptions

Organizational development is one of the most important processes in the growth and success of organizations. Organizational development is a continuous process which requires the contributions of almost every member of the organization. The process also requires the contribution and input of external partners as organizations pursue neutral voices and opinions that could propel them to the next level. McEwan (2018) states that organizational development is a continuous process which may take at least one year for it to get underway and continue for an indefinite period of time. Organizational development is also a complex process that must be supported by top management. Without the support and contribution of the top management, the process cannot be adopted by the organization. Even if the process is adopted in the organization, the lack of the support of top leadership could lead to its failure. The success of organizational development is also determined by the quality of external consultants involved. Companies rely on professional consultants for them to identify new ways that they can implement to achieve their goals. The subsequent parts of this paper are focused on discussing OD problems, their validity, and the criteria for OD consulting.

The Process of Determining the Validity of the Problem

While consultants are meant to help organizations address or solve some of the problems that plague them, not all problems require consultation. Companies have competent employees and managers who are capable of addressing emerging problems or challenges. Less complex problems can be solved through brainstorming and collaboration within companies (McEwan, 2018). There are, however, other complex problems that may require special insight and guidance from professional consultants. Companies should understand the process of determining the validity of the problem for them to differentiate between problems that can be solved locally and those that must be solved by consultants. One of the main strategies that may be used to determine the validity of a problem is examining its impacts on the organization. Problems that have fewer impacts on the organizations are not valid for OD consulting and they should be locally addressed within the respective workplaces (Yip & Lee, 2017). Problems like failure to meet deadlines or targets are usually less complex and can be addressed by employees and their managers within the organization. A valid problem should be complex to the level that it cannot be addressed by employees and company leaders. For example, companies may want to establish whether venturing into a specific field may be rewarding (Yip & Lee, 2017). Therefore, they are forced to seek the services of a consultant who in most cases is a professional in a particular field or the market in which the companies want to venture.

Another important factor to determine the validity of a problem is whether the decision involved is too complex or delicate to be made by company leaders, managers, or employees within the company. Ionescu and Bolcaş (2018) state that there are many instances where companies fail to make the most obvious decisions because the issue at hand is controversial and making a decision may impact an individual’s career. Andriani et al. (2019) further explain that company leaders could be in a board room and all of them know the answer or solution to a particular problem. However, one of them may have the confidence to reveal the solution and execute what is needed to get the problem solved. Such problems therefore require consultants who are not constrained to the views of the company (Andriani et al., 2019). Such consultants have the ability to ask questions that no one else is willing to ask. Therefore, they can easily solve such challenges or problems.

Criteria for OD Consulting

The OD process is made up of five major steps and they are problem identification and definition, data collection, diagnosis and planning of change and its implementation and the evaluation of feedback. Gabriel et al. (2016) state that the first step in the OD process is the identification of the problem in the organization. Organizations should be aware of the challenges facing them so that they can know where they can direct their efforts and resources. The identification of problems also helps organizations to draw up appropriate plans to address the challenges. The next step in the OD process is the collection of necessary data. Data gathering is the most important activity in the OD process because it helps companies to better understand their challenges (Gabriel et al., 2016 ). Some of the methods that can be applied in data collection include personal observations, personal interviews and questionnaires. The nature of the problems facing organizations determines the data collection method applied. After collecting the necessary data, organizations can then proceed to the analysis stage.

McEwan (2018) states that diagnosis is the next stage in the OD process after data collection. After data has been collected through methods like interviews and surveys, it must be analyzed for the organization to better understand the problem and the best course of action. There is no particular formula for accurate diagnosis. Diagnosis requires considerable skills of observation and analysis because most of the challenges facing organizations are usually expressed in ambiguous terms. Before making any decision, the data collected should be subjected to a microscopic examination whose effectiveness is determined by judgment and experience.

The planning of change and its implementation is the successive step after the diagnosis stage in the OD process. After determining the problem, the OD expert shifts their attention to the planning and implementation of change. Intervention is the action phase of the OD process and it involves actively implementing steps to address the problem (McEwan, 2018). After the intervention, the problem is supposed to have been addressed by the company. Intervention is the action phase of the OD process and it involves programmed activities and techniques that require collaboration from different parties within and outside the organization.

Evaluation and feedback is the final step in the OD process. Evaluation is a critical stage because it allows the organization and consultants to know what has been done and whether it had been correctly done. The evaluation stage also allows companies to know whether further work is needed before moving to the next stage. Feedback is also another important step as it relays evaluation reports to the right employees through different methods like reports and special sessions.

From the analysis, it is evident that the OD process is important in every organization. The OD process allows organizations to seek solutions to complex problems by consulting professionals. Companies should know the major steps of the OD process so that they can implement each of them as required. Understanding the OD process ensures that companies identify complex problems and the various strategies that they can apply to address them.

References

Andriani, M., TMA, A. S., Siswanto, J., & Suryadi, K. (2019). Knowledge management strategy: An organisational development approach. Business Process Management Journal, 25(7), 1474-1490. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/BPMJ-07-2018-0191

Gabriel, T. J., Teasley, R., Walker, W. J., Schraeder, M., & Jordan, M. H. (2016). The "corps" of the matter: An illustration of collaborative engagement for organizational development. Organization Development Journal, 34(3), 25-42.

Ionescu, V., & Bolcaş, C. (2018). Organizational development through change. Manager, (28), 47-55. 

McEwan, B., PhD. (2018). Success of organizational development in the 21st century: Focus on sustainability. Organization Development Journal, 36(4), 55-60. 

Yip, J. Y. T., & Lee, R. W. B. (2017). Knowledge elicitation practices for organizational development intervention. Knowledge Management Research & Practice, 15(1), 54-67. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/kmrp.2015.28