Organizational development aims to make a company and its employees more efficient and more competitive. Also known as organizational effectiveness, it can involve the entire company, all of its employees and its systems, using a planned change management approach to improve effectiveness. The basic principles of this concept involve teams, competition, communication and confidence.

Strategic Techniques of Organizational Development

One technique for organizational development that a company may choose is that of strategic planning, also referred to as scenario planning. This technique is dependent upon the type of organization and the leadership, complexity, culture, expertise and size of the organization. Essentially, strategic planning is simply sitting down and mapping out goals for the next several years. The goals mapped out would be in regards to finances, marketing, employees and mission statement.

Action Research Method of Organizational Development

The action research technique for organizational development is a five-step process. It involves identifying an issue and developing an initial research question, before researching the issue in more depth. The next stage is to develop a strategy for the study. The process then involves gathering and analyzing data, before taking action and sharing results. It is perhaps the most popular technique for companies today because it identifies one specific area or issue and deals with that one issue.

Organization Wide Organizational Development Applications

If a company intends to undergo organizational development, one technique might be through an organization-wide change. For example, adding or taking away a product or service offered. In order for a successful organization-wide change to take place, there must also be a cultural change within the company--a change among attitudes and expectations of the people.

Transformational Organizational Development

Also occasionally referred to as quantum change, transformational change is the act of changing the interior workings of a company such as changing the management structure from a hierarchy to a team-oriented structure. An example of transformational change would be a new computer system. Another example of a transformational change would be to transform the typical hierarchy of president, vice president, CEO, COO, CFO, and other top management, and divide the company into teams instead; each team with a manager and all employees within the teams on the same level.

The Remedy Technique

A technique of organizational development that helps when there has been unwanted change or a crisis is the remedy technique, or remedial change. If employees are performing poorly or the company has recently released a product that is not doing well in the market, the company may consider remedial change as a solution and technique for organizational development. A remedy would equate to a project – something tangible in which results would be clear and obvious and boost employee morale.

Strategies for Planned Change

A planned change in reaction to an unplanned change is another technique of organizational structure. If something unplanned and somewhat startling occurs, such as a death or the CEO quitting, a planned change in response to this event may be necessary to rebuild the company morale and redevelop some aspects of the organization.