INTRODUCTION TO
ORGANISATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
Interaction Session1
By Anju Chawla

Most Comprehensive definition by
French & Bell
Organization development is a long term effort,
led and supported by top management,to improve
an organization's visioning, empowerment,
learning, and problem-solving processes, through
an ongoing, collaborative management of
organization culture—with special emphasis on
the culture of intact work teams and other team
configurations using the Consultant’ facilitator
role and the theory and technology of applied
behavioral science, including action research.

By LONG-TERM EFFORT we mean that
organizational change and development take time
—several years in most cases. Ralph Kilmann's
book, Beyond the Quick Fix, tell the story
correctly: There is no "quick fix" when it comes to
lasting organizational improvement. In fact, it is
more accurate to describe "improvement" as a
never-ending
journey of continuous change.

The phrase led and supported by TOP
MANAGEMENT states an imperative;Top
management must lead and actively encourage the
change effort. Organizational change is hard,
serious business: it includes pain and setbacks as
well as successes. Top management must initiate
the improvement "journey" and be committed to
seeing it through.
Most OD programs that fail do so because lop
management was ambivalent, lost its
commitment, or became distracted with other
duties.

By VISIONING PROCESSES we mean those
processes through which organization members
develop a viable, coherent, and shared picture of
the nature of the products and services the
organization offers, the ways those goods will be
produced and Delivered to customers, and what
the organization and its members can expect from
each other.
Visioning means creating a picture of the desired
future that includes salient Features of the human
side of the organization and then working together
to make that picture a reality.

By EMPOWERMENT PROCESSES we mean
those leadership behaviors and human resource
practices that enable organization members to
develop and use their talents as fully as possible
toward individual growth and organizational
success. It means involving large numbers of
people in building the vision of
tomorrow,developing the strategy for getting
there, and making it happen.
For empowerment to become a fact of life, it
must be built into the very fabric of the
organization its strategy, structure, processes,
and culture.

By LEARNING PROCESSES we mean those
interacting, listening, and self-examining
processes that facilitate individual, team, and
organizational learning. Peter Senge describes
learning organizations as " organizations where
people continually expand their capacity to create
the results they truly desire, where new and
expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where
collective aspiration is set free, and where people
are continually learning how to learn together."

PROBLEM-SOLVING PROCESSES refer to the
ways organization members diagnose situations,
solve problems, make decisions, and take actions
on problems, opportunities, and challenges in the
organization's environment and its internal
functioning.
It is believed that solutions to problems are
enhanced by tapping deeply into the creativity,
commitment, vitality, and common purposes of all
members of the organization, in contrast to having
only a select few involved.

By ONGOING COLLABORATIVE
MANAGEMENT of the organization's culture
we mean. first,that one of the most important
things to manage in organizations is the
culture-, the prevailing pattern of values,
attitudes, beliefs, assumptions, expectations,
activities, interactions. norms, sentiments, and
artifacts.
And second, managing the culture should be a
collaborative business, one of widespread
participation in creating and managing a
culture that satisfies the wants and needs of
individuals at the same lime that it fosters the
organization's purposes.

Collaborative management of the culture means that
every-one, not just a small group, has a stake in
making the organization work. Just as visioning,
empowerment, learning, and problem-solving
processes are opportunities for collaboration in
organization development, so is managing the
culture.
By 'INTACT WORK TEAMS and other
configurations we recognize that teams are central to
accomplishing work in organizations. We think
teams are the basic building blocks of organizations.
When teams function well, individuals and the total
organization function well. Further, team culture can
be collaboratively managed to ensure effectiveness.

The most prevalent form of teams in organizations is intact
work teams consisting of superior and subordinates with a
specific job to perform.
Team building and role and goal clarification interventions
are standard activities in OD programs directed toward
intact work teams.
But in many organizations today, intact work teams do not
have a boss in the traditional sense—they learn manage
themselves, These self-directed teams assume complete
responsibility for planning and executing work assignments.
In addition to team building and role and goal clarification,
members are trained in competencies such as planning,
maintaining quality control, and using management
information. Over time, self-directed teams control
performance appraisals, hiring, firing, and training the
results are usually gratifying both for the team members and
for the organization.

The phrase using CONSULTANT FACILITATOR role
conveys our belief that leaders can benefit from seeking
professional assistance in planning and implementing OD
initiatives.
By the THEORY AND TECHNOLOGY OF APPLIED
BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE we mean insights from the
sciences dedicated to understanding people in
organizations, how they function, and how they can
function better.therefore in addition to the behavioral
sciences such as psychology, sociology and so on applied
disciplines such as adult education, psychotherapy, social
work, economics, and political science make contributions
to the practice of OD.

And finally, by ACTION RESEARCH we mean
the participative model of collaborative and
iterative diagnosis and taking action in which the
leader, organization members,and OD practitioner
work together to define and resolve problems and
opportunities.
Because of the extensive applicability of this
model in OD, another definition of organization
development could be organization improvement
through participant action research.

The definition that have just been analyzed contains
the elements which are important for OD.
To summarize, here are the primary distinguishing
characteristics of organization development.
1. OD focuses on culture and processes.
2. Specifically. OD encourages collaboration between
organization leaders and members in managing culture
and processes.
3. Teams of all kinds are particularly important for
accomplishing tasks and are targets for OD activities.

4. OD focuses on the human and social side of the
organization and in so doing also
intervenes in the technological and structural sides.
5. Participation and involvement in problem solving and
decision making by all levels of the organization are
hallmarks of OD.
6. OD focuses on total system change and views
organizations as complex social systems.
7. OD practitioners are facilitators. Collaborators, and co-
learners with the client system &An overarching goal is
to make the client system and goal is to make this
system able to solve its problems on its own by
teaching the skills and knowledge of continuous
learning through self-analytical methods.

8. OD views organization improvement as an
ongoing process in the context of a constantly
changing environment.
9. OD relies on an action research model with
extensive participation by client system
members.
10. OD takes a developmental view that seeks the
betterment of both individuals and the
organization. Attempting to create "win-win"
solutions is standard practice in OD programs.

WHO DOES OD?
To be successful, OD must have the buy-in,
ownership, and involvement of all
stakeholders, not just of the employees
throughout the organization.
OD is usually facilitated by change agents --
people or teams that have the responsibility
for initiating and managing the change effort.
These change agents may be either
employees of the organization (internal
consultants) or people from outside the
organization (external consultants.)
Effective change requires leadership with
knowledge, and experience in change
management. We strongly recommend that
external or internal consultants be used,

External consultants can manage to
affect ... the power structure in a way
that most internal change agents
cannot." Since experts from outside
are less subject to the politics and
motivations found within the
organization, they can be more
effective in facilitating significant and
meaningful changes.

WHEN IS AN ORGANIZATION
READY FOR OD?
There is a formula, which we can use
to decide if an organization is ready
for change:
Dissatisfaction x Vision x First Steps >
Resistance to Change
This means that three components
must all be present to overcome the
resistance to change in an
organization:
Dissatisfaction with the present
situation, a vision of what is possible
in the future, and achievable first

If any of the three is zero or near zero,
the product will also be zero or near
zero and the resistance to change will
dominate.
We use this model as an easy, quick
diagnostic aid to decide if change is
possible. OD can bring approaches to
the organization that will enable these
three components to surface, so we
can begin the process of change.

OD IS A PROCESS
Action Research is a process which serves as a
model for most OD interventions. French and Bell
describe Action Research as a "process of
systematically collecting research data about an
ongoing system relative to some OBJECTIVE,
GOAL, OR NEED OF THAT SYSTEM; FEEDING
THESE DATA BACK INTO THE SYSTEM;
taking actions by altering selected variables within
the system based both on the data and on
hypotheses; and evaluating the results of actions by
collecting more data

THE STEPS IN ACTION
RESEARCH ARE
1. ENTRY. This phase consists of
marketing, i.e. finding needs for change
within an organization. It is also the time to
quickly grasp the nature of the organization,
identify the appropriate decision maker, and
build a trusting relationship.
1. 2. START-UP AND CONTRACTING. In
this step, we identify critical success factors
and the real issues, link into the
organization's culture and processes, and
clarify roles for the consultant(s) and
employees. This is also the time to deal with
resistance within the organization. A formal or

3. ASSESSMENT AND DIAGNOSIS.
Here we collect data in order to find
the opportunities and problems in the
organization (refer to DxVxF>R
above.) . This is also the time for the
consultant to make a diagnosis, in
order to recommend appropriate
interventions.

4. FEEDBACK. This two-way process
serves to tell those what we found out,
based on an analysis of the data.
Everyone who contributed information
should have an opportunity to learn about
the findings of the assessment process
(provided there is no apparent breach of
anyone's confidentiality.) This provides an
opportunity for the organization's people
to become involved in the change
process, to learn about how different
parts of the organization affect each
other, and to participate in selecting

5. ACTION PLANNING. In this step we
will distill recommendations from the
assessment and feedback, consider
alternative actions and focus our
intervention(s) on activities that have
the most leverage to effect positive
change in the organization.
An implementation plan will be
developed that is based on the
assessment data, is logically
organized, results- oriented,
measurable and rewarded. We must
plan for a participative decision-making

6. INTERVENTION. Now, and only now, do
we actually carry out the change process. It
is important to follow the action plan, yet
remain flexible enough to modify the process
as the organization changes and as new
information emerges.
7.EVALUATION. Successful OD must have
made meaningful changes in the
performance and efficiency of the people and
their organization. We need to have an
evaluation procedure to verify this success,
identify needs for new or continuing OD
activities, and improve the OD process itself

7.ADOPTION. After steps have been
made to change the organization and
plans have been formulated, we follow-
up by implementing processes to insure
that this remains an ongoing activity
within the organization, that
commitments for action have been
obtained, and that they will be carried
out.
8. SEPARATION. We must recognize
when it is more productive for the client
and consultant to undertake other
activities, and when continued
consultation is counterproductive. We
also should plan for future contacts, to

But for successful OD to take place, all
of these steps must be followed. It works
best if they are taken in the order
described.
And, since learning is really an
iterative, not a sequential process, we
must be prepared to re-enter this
process when and where appropriate.

THANK YOU
Any kind of queries or feedback in
regard with the session can be mailed
to anju.chawla1@gmail.com