Why organisational design is important in 2024 – Embrace Organisational Design and change to keep up.
It’s that time of year again… you’ve made some New Year’s resolutions, and you’re either sticking to them or you’ve let them slip. Change can be hard. Perhaps you’ve taken some time out to reflect on your past year of work with the benefit of hindsight. Maybe organisational design played a central part of this reflection? Well, you’re not alone. We have seen a rise in the need for organisational design and restructures over the past year to help organisations better achieve their objectives and goals. It’s safe to assume that the need for re-structuring and re-designing will only become more necessary throughout 2024. If this resonates with you keep reading to understand why it’s so important.
Let’s find out why getting your organisational design just right can be such a benefit and expand on how to do this…
- The pace of change isn’t slowing down – “40% of respondents point to complex organisational structure as a cause of inefficiency and a similar proportion cites unclear roles and responsibilities” (McKinsey). Organisations are having to adapt to fast-paced changes in technology, customer demands and ambitious strategies. The process of re-design is becoming more complex often needing to adapt designs at speed with constant re-iterations. Making sure you are involving the right people to maintain trust and consistency in the process to enable the best choices possible is fundamental.
- Organisation design can be a political hot potato – you’ve got the right people on board to support the redesign process but as soon as leaders of organisations start to utter the word organisation design fears and anxieties arise with a ripple effect. All changes in the way organisations are designed will result in people having to sacrifice something or establish new ways of working which can be tricky. A successful design will weigh up the technical needs of an organisation as well as the needs of its people. As leaders you need to attend to both, ensuring you are looking at your organisation holistically as a system.
- Organisation design vs. leadership – change initiatives often have a start and an end point. As much as we would like this to be true for organisation design, unfortunately it is an ever-evolving activity for leaders. Planning, adapting and transitioning all require ongoing attention, collaboration and direction across leadership. Be ready for this constant need to evolve and make sure your People Team are onboard.
- Timely decision making – no matter the size of your organisation, decision-making and processes need to be clearly defined. As organisations grow, decision-making can often form a bottle neck at the top. By taking the time to assign specialised roles to lower-level team members the organisation can make better quality decisions faster. The goal is to empower teams to share ownership of decision-making across the organisation.
- Transitions take time, resource and can be culturally disruptive – the time to transition your organisation can influence your team’s commitment to the new design, their relationships across the organisation and on occasion the psychological contract (CIPD) with you as an employer. Moments where culture can be nurtured or diminished need to be carefully planned where team members at an individual level need to change how they work as part of the wider team. Take the time to understand the culture you want to nurture injecting a ‘just-enough governance’ approach to continuously assess where you are.
At Nine Feet Tall we design with transitioning your people in mind. If organisational design is something you are considering and you need an objective view on starting on the journey or you’ve hit a wall and need some independent advice, we’d be happy to chat through your goals and challenges. Get in touch today.
