The Organisation Development Company Newsletter

Greetings,

We trust you are taking opportunities to enjoy the summer warmth as you dive into your working year.

This newsletter reflects some of our leading edge work in exploring and developing informal networks of relationships in organisations. Derived from the field of sociometry, mapping and displaying relationships is made easier by technology. Recognising that grapevines, alliances, subgroups, cleavages, complex inter-group relationships exist in your own organisations and teams can be unnerving for both participants and leaders, and our work assists everybody to approach these sensitively and responsibly with proven methodologies.

Taking time to reflect on yourself, your priorities and your progress is a key for all executives and professionals. There are many ways to do this; from regular meditation, weekly reflection times, retreats and great holidays. Another way is with another person as sounding board -often known as executive coaching. We outline our approach in this newsletter. Please forward this to colleagues you think will be interested. Regards,

Organisation development, well led, can be exhilarating. Or it can tear at the very fabric of interpersonal networks.

Informal social networks in organisations are how things get done; people naturally form sub groups and alliances and information is shared, problems are identified and new things are learned when people enjoy working together. A flexible relationship between formal and informal networks is crucial to organisation development, sharing of knowledge, experience and expertise, and releasing creativity and imagination of people at work, aligned to the decision- making processes.

Sociometric interventions enable companies to explore and map informal relationships to revitalise networks. It is not enough to just reveal these networks, it is then working with the group with what they discover about their networks. Done well, organisations achieve lasting and successful change because much of the real work in a company happens in spite the formal organisation structure, rather than because of It.

Diana Jones, New Zealand’s only accredited sociometrist, has been a practitioner in this field for the past 10 years. Her work with both individuals and groups centres on identifying, exploring and developing informal trust and relationships networks amongst leadership teams and between business units in public and private sector organisations.

Social Network Exploration

In March Diana will be presenting a series of sessions on social network explorations in organisations, so you can learn more. Email Diana on dianaj@orgdev.co.nz to be included when details are finalised.

Shift in emphasis

Team development has been the mainstay of The Organisation Development Company for over 18 years, but recently we refreshed our approach. In the past we responded to requests for one and two- day workshops often linked to business or strategic planning. While participants enjoyed these sessions, and made great gains, both they and we noticed they tended not to implement what they had decided on, and at times, carried on with what they had always done.

Oh dear! We realised that significant change in behaviour is not going to occur after one or two days’ discussions and interactions, no matter how good the intentions are.

So now, we contract to work with a group and their development for a minimum of a year, so that interventions can be planned, and evolve as the group implements and refines what they decide on. This enables us, and our clients, to remain responsive to what is happening as it occurs. Some team developments are better worked with in individual sessions or in small groups, while other matters are worked with more effectively with everyone present. This flexibility means group development is attended to throughout the life of the group and not as a specific activity over one or two days.

The Organisation Development Company generates both data and computer-generated sociograms (pictures of the relationship networks) as group information to assist group members to better understand and work with its informal structures. Our interventions assist group members participate in creating new relationship patterns for themselves releasing spontaneity, creativity and imagination generating greater satisfaction and better business results. This approach is more effective than restructuring!

Contact Diana to discuss the ongoing needs of your team, leadership and group development.

Sounding Board, Coaching, Professional Development Supervision  

Having the chance to talk through complex organisation or interpersonal challenges (which everyone faces from time to time), is essential for most managers and professionals at some time. Having an independent sounding board helps you keep your vitality and ideas fresh as you approach new or difficult situations, and integrate insights into new behaviour.

Executive Coaching Benefits

• Independent sounding board for past events and future plans
• Ability to see dilemmas from a range of perspectives
• Ability to take a systems perspective, notice trends and inter-relationships
• Greater ability to match your self perception with the perception of others
• More satisfying work and personal relationships
• Increased self confidence
• Less stress and greater success in producing the outcomes you want
• Greater capacity to work with ambiguity and complexity