What is the optimal organizational structure for my business?

1. Assess organizational goals

• Description: Clearly identify your organizational goals to align them with your structure.
• Implementation plan: Define long-term and short-term goals. Conduct workshops to align leadership and team members on these goals.
• Roles & responsibilities: Leadership team to set goals; department heads to disseminate goals.
• KPI's: Alignment rate between organizational goals and team understanding.

2. Understanding the driving and limiting forces of your organization

• Description: Evaluate the factors that either drive or limit your organizational success to create a balanced structure.
• Implementation plan: Conduct in-depth interviews, focus groups, and surveys to identify these forces.
• Roles & responsibilities: Strategy and analytics team to conduct the evaluation.
• KPI's: Completion rate of the evaluation; actionable insights derived.

3. Research external organizations for inspiration and understanding

• Description: Investigate the organizational structures of external organizations, particularly those that are leaders in your industry or a similar one, to gain insights and inspiration.
• Implementation plan: Identify organizations that are benchmarks in your industry or face similar challenges. Conduct interviews, if possible, and study publicly available materials to understand their structural elements.
• Roles & responsibilities: Strategy and research team to identify target organizations and gather data; executive team to facilitate and analyze findings.
• KPI's: Number of organizations studied; actionable insights derived for internal organizational development.

4. Apply the viable systems approach

• Description: Utilize the Viable System Model (VSM) to design an adaptable, sustainable organizational structure.
• Implementation plan: Begin with a diagnostic to assess the current organizational system. Consult with VSM experts to tailor the approach to the organization’s specific needs. Finally, implement the model across the organizational hierarchy.
• Roles & responsibilities: Strategy team to liaise with VSM experts, department heads to implement changes in their respective domains.
• KPI's: Alignment of organizational with VSM principles; efficiency metrics post-implementation.

5. Understand and validate design criteria before structuring

• Description: Identify the essential criteria that the organizational structure needs to meet and validate these before considering specific structural options.
• Implementation plan: Develop a list of criteria based on strategic goals, functional requirements, and stakeholder needs. Validate these criteria through stakeholder interviews, focus groups, or pilot testing.
• Roles & responsibilities: Strategy and planning teams to identify and list criteria; executive team to validate through consultations with internal and external stakeholders.
• KPI's: Completeness and clarity of identified criteria; rate of stakeholder agreement or validation.

6. Use scientific approaches to organizational design

• Description: Utilize evidence-based methods for designing the structure.
• Implementation plan: Consult scientific journals and implement tested methodologies.
• Roles & responsibilities: Strategy team in collaboration with organizational behavior experts.
• KPI's: Alignment with scientific criteria; performance metrics.

7. Align organizational structure with value proposition

• Description: Examine how your organizational structure aligns with or supports the value that your company aims to deliver to customers and stakeholders.
• Implementation plan: Conduct workshops and surveys among employees and customers to understand the perceived value proposition. Evaluate how current roles, departments, and communication flows contribute to or detract from delivering this value.
• Roles & responsibilities: Strategy team to design and implement workshops; marketing team to conduct customer surveys; executive team to analyze findings.
• KPI's: Degree of alignment between identified value and current organizational structure; number of actionable changes implemented as a result.

8. Validate organizational readiness for new structure

• Description: Assess to what extent the organization is ready, both in terms of mindset and skillset, to operate within the new structure.
• Implementation plan: Conduct readiness assessments through surveys and focus groups to gauge the organization’s preparedness. Evaluate the mindset and skillset of employees in line with the new structure’s requirements.
• Roles & responsibilities: Human Resources to oversee the assessments; Department Heads to facilitate focus groups; Executive team to review findings.
• KPI's: Level of organizational readiness as measured by the assessment; Number of action items identified for improvement.

9. Inclusive decision-making for new structure

• Description: Implement an inclusive decision-making process to engage all stakeholders in the formulation of a new organizational structure.
• Implementation plan: Create a decision-making committee comprised of members from various levels and departments within the organization. Use methods such as Delphi technique, focus groups, or town-hall meetings to gather input.
• Roles & responsibilities: Executive team to appoint the committee; Committee members to solicit and compile stakeholder feedback; Human Resources to facilitate the meetings and gather data.
• KPI's: Percentage of stakeholders engaged; Level of consensus reached on key structural changes; Number of actionable insights derived from stakeholder feedback.

10. Periodic review and adaptation

• Description: Regularly review the organizational structure.
• Implementation plan: Quarterly reviews of the organizational structure.
• Roles & responsibilities: Leadership and strategy team.
• KPI's: Frequency of review; implementation rate of changes.