Consulting About
Organizational Design
For Product Companies
Every organization is unique in its context while the overarching laws of organizational dynamics are always the same. I do not believe in silver bullets and panaceas. So, I partner with company leaders to design the organizational system based on their unique context, using the knowledge about common laws of organizational behaviors.
SITUATIONS I USUALLY DEAL WITH
- I specialize in Product OrganizationsThis is when the company continuously develops a product and the value this product brings to customers / markets is a critical success factor.
- Growing / Scaling UpManagement of rapidly growing companies often has concerns about the potential of losing their culture, the dropping speed of delivering customer value, and slow progress towards their strategic goals.
- Concerning / Unsuccessful Agile TransformationsAfter commencing the adoption of some Agile framework, management often stumbles across the need to customize it or change to another one. Some companies even go for inventing their own frameworks. Ultimately, the outcomes of many are incomparably weaker than the true potential of their companies.
- Unsuccessful Cultural and Mindset Shift towards AgileSome product companies hire expensive coaches to teach and train their people. However, the expected cultural and mindset shift does not happen and it seems like it is not useful for people to behave and think that way.
- General ConcernsTop management is sometimes just concerned about unsatisfactory / worsening business outcomes with or without any specific suspicion about possible causes.
MY MAIN ACTIVITIES
TEACHING, COACHING, AND MENTORING
There is no one-fits-all approach as every company is unique. Yet, I can help you learn the dynamics of your own organizational system to optimize it within your unique context.
On the other hand, the high-level laws of organizational behaviors are context-agnostic. And I can equip you with guidelines navigating you in the process of designing Agile organizations.
Moreover, we are lucky as nowadays, already quite many organizations around the world experimented with their designs and we can learn from their experiences. I will share a lot of experiences from my own practice and from my close professional network. We are not going to blindly copy-paste anything but to enrich the input to our thinking process.
MIRROR HOLDING
Every organization is a complex system with a critical impact on business success. Its optimization requires unbiased learning of its current state. Moreover, it requires a clear understanding of what this current state actually means.
Like holding a mirror, I help the management with both the learning and understanding of the current state of their organizational system through Organisational Audit (GoSee).
Moreover, by mirror-holding and mentoring based on my previous experiences, I help the management to foresee the consequences of their organizational decisions.
FACILITATION
High-quality discussions and decision-making about organizational systems usually require an approach employing systems thinking and effective collective discussions. I can professionally facilitate these activities to maximize their outcomes.
- GoSee (Organisational Audit)Purpose
As soon as every company is unique in its context, first of all, I need to learn about your context.
Actions
Observations of meetings, learning documentation, and interviewing people.
Output
A presentation with findings based on observations and interviews.
Outcome
You and I are on the same page about the most concerning aspects of the existing organizational system.1 - Set And Promote The Optimisation GoalsPurpose
Organization Design without its Optimisation Goals is like a Product without Vision and Strategy, so this is a must-have preceding any further steps.
Actions
* 1-day training for top managers.
* Workshops with top management to set the optimization goals and their promotion strategy.
Output
A set of Optimisation Goals and their promotion strategy.
Outcome
The top management has decided on the optimization goals and can now make all the organizational decisions verifying them on consistency with the optimization goals. They also know how they are going to promote the optimization goals throughout the organization to ensure that they work at all levels the same way.2 - Redesign the Organisation Consistently With Its Optimisation GoalsPurpose
Create the high-level organizational architecture including its power structures, processes, reward systems, culture, and skills definitions.
Actions
* 2-day training for top managers.
* Workshops with top management to iteratively incrementally redesign the organizational system.
Output
Target state of the organizational design approved by top management.
Outcome
The top management has a clear understanding of the target state of main organizational elements and why they are consistent with the optimization goals.3 - Prepare For The Target Design AdoptionPurpose
Create the optimal conditions for the adoption of the new organizational design.
Actions
* Workshops with management to develop an adoption approach
* Training sessions for employees, coaching and mentoring for managers and other roles, etc.
* Mirror-holding for the top management about the way of preparation
Output
Preparation Approach
Outcome
The organization is prepared for the new design adoption.4 - Adopt The Target Organisation DesignPurpose
Adopt the New Design
Actions
(Different for each company)
Output
(Depends on the actions)
Outcome
The Target Organisational Design is in place5