“We often see business leaders reacting to short term pressures, whether it’s cost cutting, talent retention or pushing for growth, however a focus on just one strategic goal over others is leading to an imbalance and impacting long term and sustainable success” Natalie Firth, Head of Organisation Design at Q5 had to say.
Contrary to traditional belief that companies have to prioritise one goal over another, there is a successful way for leaders to balance multiple priorities. Here, Natalie provides her insights into successful organisational design.
Evaluate your business
Undertaking a deep dive into your organisation as it’s set up today is vital to understand how each element of your business feeds into your strategic goals.
Natalie recommends, “Using the OEM (Organisation Effectiveness Model) which allows for benchmarking and ease of comparisons of different organisational elements by attributing measurable units to them.”
“OEM analysis can not only help prioritise actions, but also highlight gaps and challenges the business is currently facing. For example leadership, culture and behaviours along with structure and processes.”
Set Goals
Defining success for your organisation across the different strategic elements will provide a clear view of what complements or conflicts.
“Liaise with your key stakeholders and ensure they understand and agree with the objectives set out. These goals and objectives need to be ambitious, but most importantly, realistic and founded on practical insights” says Natalie.
Define areas of change
At this stage, you can identify the areas of your business that need the most attention in order to meet your strategic goals. This isn’t about just one goal, but many, so consider all the elements which could be impacting on success.
“Be open to change; certain areas may need to be built out, changes may need to happen to day-to-day operations, and you may need to assign close attention to some activities. As part of this identification process, use data and visualisation tools such as ActivityQ which can map out aspects such as time expenditure and roles to clearly optimise productivity” advises Natalie.
Design to reality
At this stage, leaders need to start differentiating the quick wins, from complex time intensive initiatives which need more consideration.
Natalie says, “testing different design scenarios will help you understand which changes will have minimal or optimal impact on your strategic goals. OrgMaps are excellent for simulating these organisational changes and showcasing real impacts on key metrics such as cost and structure.”
