Techniques of Organisational Development, Advantages, Disadvantages of OD

Table of Contents:-

• Techniques of Organisational Development 
• Advantages of Organisational Development
• Disadvantages of Organisational Development

Techniques of Organisational Development 

Organizational development includes a wide range of strategies and methodologies aimed at improving the effectiveness and efficiency of an organization. By implementing these techniques of organisational development, organizations can enhance their overall performance, adapt to changing environments, and foster a positive work culture.

Various Techniques of Organisational Development are as follows:

List of Techniques of Organisational Development:

1. Sensitivity Training
2. Management by Objectives
3. Grid Development
4. Survey Feedback
5. Process Consultation
6. Socio-Technical System
7. Team Building
8. Work Re-Design
9. Organisation Confrontation

Techniques of Organisational Development are explained below:

1) Sensitivity Training

Under this technique, the different groups of employees are allowed to mix up with each other, communicate freely and build up an interpersonal relationship. Employees learn the reflect on their behaviour and try to improve it. Through this technique, the employees can know each other’s feelings, behaviour and the impact of their behaviour on others.

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2) Management by Objectives

Managing by objectives is a dynamic system that integrates the company’s need to achieve its goals for profit and growth with the manager’s need to contribute and develop himself.

Management by objectives (MBO) is a comprehensive tool of management. It calls for regulating the entire process of managing in terms of meaningful, specific and variable objectives at different levels of the management hierarchy. 

3) Grid Development

Grid organisational development is based on Mouton and Blake’s model of leadership called the Managerial grid model. Their model shows two prevailing concerns found in all organisations concern for productivity & concern for people.

Some managers have a high concern for productivity but a low concern for people. Besides helping managers, it evaluates their concern for people and productivity, the Managerial Grid emphasises the importance of developing team-management leadership styles.

4) Survey Feedback

It is the process of collecting and giving feedback on data from an organisation of its subunits through the use of a survey or questionnaire. The data is analysed and feedback to relevant members of the organisation and thereafter used by them to develop interventions and diagnose the organisation to improve it.

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The perceptional and attitudinal data collected through questionnaires may also be supplemented with data gathered through individual and group interviews. Often secondary sources are used to collect additional information on objective measures of quality,  absenteeism,  productivity, and employee turnover.

There has been another trend to combine survey feedback with other OD interventions like work re-design, structural change, large group interventions, and inter-group relations.

5) Process Consultation

Process Consultation (PC) is a set of activities on the part of the consultant, which help the client to understand, perceive, and act upon process events, which occur in the client’s environment.

The process consultant observes groups in action and helps them to diagnose the nature and extent of their problems and to work together by learning to solve their problems. Process consultation helps the workgroup to solve its problems by making it aware of its process. 

6) Socio-Technical System

Socio-technical System (STS) theory was developed in the 1960s by Eric Trist and prominent Australian psychologist Fred Emery at the Tavistock Institute.

A Socio-technical system in organisational development is the term for an approach to complex organisational work design that recognises the interaction between people and technology in workplaces. 

7) Team Building

Team building can be defined as the process of planning and encouraging working practices that are effective and that minimise the difficulties that obstruct the team’s competence and resourcefulness.

In other words, it is the process of gathering a group of individuals with diverse skills and making them work together as a group. Team building is the cooperative process that a group of people uses to solve both mental and physical challenges.

While using this process and solving the challenges, the group learns how to share ideas, how to praise and encourage one another, how to support one another emotionally and physically, and how to start becoming a team.

8) Work Re-Design

Work re-design or job re-design is a disciplined process of understanding why and how we’ll work gets done now, (the current state); re-designing and implementing what should be (the future state), and laying the foundation to enable systematic improvement.

It is very useful to understand the current state because most people just perform a part of the process and they do not have the opportunity to see how the whole process operates to produce the results. It also creates an opportunity to bring to the surface cultural assumptions embedded in the organisation’s work processes.

9) Organisation Confrontation

Organisation confrontation is also known as confrontation meetings. Beckhard outlined the confrontation meeting. A confrontation meeting is an activity which allows the entire management group, composed of individuals from all levels of the organisation to take a quick reading on its health and, within a matter of hours, to set action plans for improving it.

It consists of a daylong or a half-day session of any type of group (though it was first outlined as a session, especially for the executive groups) and is in many respects a kind of group diagnostic meeting. It is more effective with intact teams that have worked together for some time versus new groups that do not have a detailed history.

The name of the intervention might suggest that it is intended to expose or manage group conflict, but what is “confronted” are the group’s obstacles, broadly defined. The rapid nature of the confrontation meeting permits for an effective gathering and sharing of data without the extended expense and time of an organisation-wide survey.

Advantages of Organisational Development

Organisation development is beneficial as it:

1) Gives Opportunities to Function as a Human Being

Provides opportunities for people to function as human beings rather than mere resources in the productive process.

2) Helps in the Utilisation of Foll Potential by Members

Gives opportunities to each member of the organisation to develop his full potential. 

3) Helps to Achieve Goals

Seeks to make the organisation more effective in meeting all its goals.

4) Gives Organisation a New Environment

Tries to create an environment in which exciting challenging work can be found.

5) Helps People to Influence the Organisation through Work

Gives people in organisations the chance to influence how they relate to work, the organisation, and the work environment. 

6) Analyses Alternative Organisation Structures

Gives orderly, well-planned analysis of alternative organizational structures.

7) Identifies Requirements of Functional Areas

Helps in the identification of functional areas, and activities that need to be added and/or emphasised. 

8) Helps in the Fulfilment of Personal Appraisal Capabilities

Helps in the appraisal of personnel capabilities relative to present and future organisation needs.

9) Gives Recommendations as per the Needs of the Organisation

Provides recommendations regarding the present, interim, and proposed organizational changes such as changes in reporting relationships, the need for new positions, the need for new people skills, re-defined job positions, increased emphasis on certain activity areas, or changes in levels of authority.

10) Helps in Organisational Change

Organisation development is playing an increasingly key role in helping organisations to change themselves. It helps an organisation to assess themselves, and their environment, and revitalise and rebuild their structures, processes and strategies.

Organisational development OD helps organisation members go beyond surface changes to transform the underlying values and beliefs governing their behaviours

11) Helps Personnel in Effective Performance of Tasks

Organisation development can help managers and staff personnel perform their tasks more effectively. It can provide the knowledge and skills required for establishing effective interpersonal relationships.

Disadvantages of Organisational Development

Organisation development is an important technique for introducing change but it has certain disadvantages, which are as follows:

1) Based on Behavioural Science Concepts: OD is heavily based on behavioural science concepts. Behavioural science has many limitations that apply to organisation development. 

2) Requires Initiators: OD requires the use of certain persons who can take the initiative to bring about change: Complacent people cannot help implement organisation development.

3) Requires Consideration of Circumstances: Organisational development cannot be applied without giving due consideration to the circumstances existing within the organisation. The local circumstances may create a problem in adapting to change.

4) Time-Consuming: When a company engages in organisational development, some processes can become time-consuming and slow its productivity. Surveying employees on the effectiveness of internal processes, waiting for customer feedback on a marketing programme before moving forward with changes and evaluating logistics plans to improve shipping efficiency are important for company growth, but they can also slow down the company’s ability to make changes and react to pressing issues.

5) Put Administrative Challenges: Organisational development adds responsibility to the managers and employees to maintain open communication and continuously re-evaluate the needs of the organisation.

Because organisational development tends to add elements to the corporate structure, such as managing workforce diversity, the formation of workgroups to address issues and changes in the company’s strategic planning to meet the needs of the staff, it can be a challenge to maintain an efficient organisational development programme.

6) Other Limitations: It includes the following: 

i) Substantial expense

ii) Delayed pay-off period

iii) Possible failure 

iv) Possible invasion of privacy

v) Possible psychological harm 

vi) Potential conformity

vii) Emphasis on group processes rather than performance

viii) Possible conceptual ambiguity

ix) Difficulty in evaluation, and

x) Cultural incompatibility.

Conclusion:-

Techniques of organisational development are like tools that businesses use to make good and lasting changes in how they work. The objective of organisational development is to make the workplace more efficient, better, and adaptable for the employees who work there and also to make sure they are doing well.

Some common tools or techniques they use are:

1. Strategic Planning: This is like making a smart plan for the future of the company.
2. Change Management: This is about helping everyone in the company adjust to new and better ways of doing things.
3. Team Building: This is like making sure everyone in the company works well together as a team.
4. Leadership Development: This is about making sure the people in charge (the leaders) are good at their jobs and can guide the company well.
5. Process Improvement: This is like finding ways to do things more efficiently and effectively.

These tools are used to create positive and long-lasting changes in the company. The idea is to make the company better at what it does, so it can compete well and achieve its goals.

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