What would your company look like if you could rebuild it from scratch? Not many people answer this question by saying: “Exactly the same.” 20 or 30 years ago, entrepreneurial activity was far more predictable than it is now in the current age of digitalization. These days, most companies have to cope with new challenges, and to do so they have to change their organizational structure.
IIn a non-volatile environment, giving a company a hierarchical structure and bundling functions may be the most efficient way. Today, however, most companies have to cope with dynamic realities: Compared with earlier days, customers have a much broader picture of what the market has to offer, and they want to be served quickly and individually. Competition to provide the best quality and customer experience is fierce.
At the same time, the framework conditions are constantly changing, be it in terms of technology, regulations, political climate or because new competitors and markets are emerging. Companies that can adapt quickly and efficiently to these changes and put the customer at the centre of their activities have clear advantages. In most cases, hierarchical or classical models are no longer efficient
Evolving customer needs and market conditions as well as increasing unpredictability and complexity place new and very varied demands on organizational structures:
Most organizations find that this means overcoming a number of challenges. For example, team-wide transfer of know-how and joint development must be ensured. Profitability and customer orientation must be harmonized, resources used efficiently and established standards and regulations adhered to.
In addition, a new organizational structure and new forms of cooperation mean further evolution of the corporate culture. This includes the allocation of roles within the company and the expectations of employees and management. The proposed change can only be achieved if the people in the company are engaged, facilitated and supported during the transformation process.
Typical goals of an organizational development process are profitability, efficiency, customer focus, quality, fast decision-making and implementation as well as a high degree of self-organization on the part of employees and teams. These ‘ideal aspects’ cannot always be combined without conflicts of interest arising, and this clearly affects those working in the organization.
This is where we consultants can help our clients to find the best path: Using the company's vision and strategy as the foundation, we develop an organizational design that fits both the company as well as its goals. We use an iterative approach in cooperation with our client and the most important stakeholders. The transformation process (from the current state to the target state) is an essential part of achieving the envisioned result.
Our clients particularly appreciate our holistic approach, our extensive experience in organizational design and change management and our flexibility. Another strong point: We unleash the potential for collective intelligence in organizations and teams. This means stimulating the capacity and enthusiasm of each individual to contribute in (re-)creating the entire organization and actively shaping its future.
Recognizing patterns, integrating perspectives and setting specific impulses - these are the strengths of Julia Zirn.
Organizational design is all about finding the most efficient way of running the company. Two different levels must be taken into consideration:
In good organizational design, these levels are mutually supportive. Together, they ensure that the corporate objectives are both structured (organizational structure) and internalized in the daily work (process organization).
There are generally many ways of setting up structure and cooperation within a company. The following steps present an approximate guide towards finding the best option:
The scope of a new organizational design can only be determined on an individual basis. The initial situation already has an influence on how much change is required: It is not always necessary or advisable to restructure the whole company. Often only a part of the organization is involved, such as a few departments that must be newly set up, merged or restructured.
It is generally advisable to review and adapt the work, e.g. through the use of agile methods and instruments, modern tools such as OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) and other dynamic cooperation methods. Experience shows that it is important to support employees and managers by means of training and qualifications to help them cope with new demands.
BA step-by-step and iterative approach is an important factor in transitioning to the new target image. This ensures that the organization is not overchallenged and that solutions are found that really take account of how things are. It is important to realize that the ideal design cannot be planned on a purely theoretical basis. It is vital to incorporate different perspectives on a regular basis: What is going well? Where is the most support currently needed?
We enable our clients to (re-)design their organization as efficiently and expediently as possible by deploying our comprehensive knowledge and experience as consultants as well as know-how from various disciplines.
