Sometimes it seems like organizations are always 're-orging'. Or designing departments for the next superstar leader. Are these good ideas? Maybe yes, maybe no. It depends on a few things including whether or not the change enables the organization to be more effective - rather than less.
So more to the point: what principles should guide organization design? What is the big picture of organization design (as if the activity wasn't already big enough)?
This episode with Len Nanjad from MNP is packed full of insight. It may be the longest episode on HR ShopTalk so far because every second was valuable and insightful (IMO). Like:
- Hierarchy is natural
- Bureaucracy is hierarchy plus many rules
- The levels in an organization will be determined by complexity
- Too many levels might result in micromanaging
- There is a limit on the number of positions a person can meaningfully supervise
- Good organization design can save lives!
And on and on. This is a rough outline of our conversation:
0:00 Intro
0:52 What is it?
3:40 Managing the lines and boxes??
9:01 The goal of organization design
10:38 When a re-org is the wrong tool
13:11 The symptoms of bad org design
17:29 The principles of org design
20:30 Designing for a person
23:38 Why so often?
Find Len on LinkedIn at / lennanjad
or www.mnp.ca/en/personnel/len-n...
Find me (Andrea) at www.thehrhub.ca. I'm an HR consultant as well as KZfaqr and provide a wide range of consulting support.