OVERVIEW OF OD INTERVENTIONS
Meaning and Definition of OD interventions
OD interventions are plans or programmes comprised of specific activities designed to effect change in so facet of an organization. OD interventions are the building blocks that are the planned activities designed to improve the organization's functioning through participation of the organizational members. Numerous interventions have been developed over the years to address different problems or create various results however, they are all geared towards the goal of improving the entire organization through change. Intervention strategies are based on results of the diagnostic process and the specified goals of client system. In general, organizations that wish to achieve a high degree of organizational change will employ a full range of interventions, including those designed to transform individual and group behavior and attitudes. Entities expected smaller changes will stop short of those goals, applying interventions targeted primarily towards operating policies, management structures, worker's skills, and personnel policies.
According to Prasad, "OD intervention refers to an activity that is carried on in an organization with the help of an internal or external OD consultant for achieving a given goal or objective".
According to Rothwell, "An intervention is a change effort or a change process. It implies an intentional entry into an ongoing system for the purpose of initiating or introducing change".
According to Cummings and Worley, "The term intervention refers to a set of sequenced planned actions events intended to help an organization increase its effectiveness. Interventions purposely disrupt the status quo, they are deliberate attempts to change an organization or sub-unit toward a different and more effective state ".
Assumptions of OD interventions
The assumptions of OD interventions are as follows:
1) Units of change are groups: The basic building blocks of an organization are groups (teams). Therefore, the basic units of change are groups, not individuals.
2) Reduction of Inappropriate Competition: An always relevant change goal is the reduction of inappropriate competition between parts of the organization and the development of a more collaborative condition.
3) Decision-making is located where the information sources are present: Decision-making in a healthy organization is located where the information sources are, rather than in a particular role or level of hierarchy.
4) Management of Affairs Against Goals: Organisations, sub units of organizations, and individuals continuously manage their affairs against goals. Controls are interim measurements, not the basis of managerial strategy.
5) Development of Open Communication, Mutual Trust, and Confidence: One goal of a healthy organization is to develop generally open communication, mutual trust, and confidence between and across levels.
6) People Support What they Help Create: People affected by a change must be allowed active participation and a sense of ownership in the planning and conduct of the change.
Types of OD interventions
OD interventions typically address problems that are long-term in nature. For example, a dishonest manager who needs to be terminated is not an OD issue, unless the organization has a tendency towards poor hiring practice or broad ethical issues. With problems that are complex and have taken a while to develop, the solution usually takes a while to implement. Various types of OD interventions are as follows:
1) Team interventions: These interventions are designed to help teams and groups within organizations become more effective.
2) Inter-group interventions: These interventions are designed to enable two or more groups which could be departments or management and union to synergies their activities towards achievement of common
3) Comprehensive interventions: Comprehensive interventions or (system-wide interventions are the change programmes that are aimed at improving processes like organizational problem-solving, leadership issues, policy formulation or task accomplishment either for a major sub-system of the organization or for the entire organization.
4) Structural interventions: Structural interventions focus on improving the organisational effectiveness and human development by focusing on technology and structure.
Implementation of OD interventions
Implementation strategy must have built-in flexibility to accommodate any variation in the change plan, be adaptable to changed conditions, extent of goal-attainment and unanticipated consequences, if any. Implementation of intervention is a learning experience subject to continuous refinement. Interventions can take many forms depending on the problem that the client group is trying to solve. Effective implementation will depend on the factors given below:
1) Goal Clarification: An intervention strategy must be formulated with clearly stated long-term and short-term goals and objectives of change.
2) Effective Structuring of Activities: Activities to promote learning and change should be structured effectively, this is achieved by keeping the following points in mind:
i) All relevant people should be included. Client groups should identify problems opportunities themselves and generate solutions to their own problems and utilize the potential inherent in their own opportunities. The goals and strategies for goal attainment must be clearly stated and shared with every client group.
ii) Activities should be structured in such a way that there is a high probability of success. Goals therefore must be manageable and attainable. Positive feedback regarding success in goal attainment can work as powerful motivator for the client group.
iii) The current climate in the organization should be such as to facilitate the implementation of a particular intervention. In case the client group is defensive and anxious, additional interventions for creating a climate conducive to achievement of changed goals must be thought of.
iv) The focus should not only be on learning "how to solve" one particular problem but on "learning how to learn". This is achieved by helping the client group in acquiring and sharpening such skills and knowledge as are desirable for solving future problems and managing change. The intervention should involve not only the process to solve the problem but also the content, i.e, what is the problem.
v) It is necessary to engage the "whole person" in intervention not just the rational / logical part of him but also his emotional and spiritual self. It is important that the intervention facilitates members of the client group to openly express and confront their thoughts, feelings, beliefs, assumptions, and the paradigm.
vi) Conceptual mode of learning as also experiential learning should be included in the intervention.
3) Choosing and Sequencing OD Intervention Strategy: Michael Beer suggests the guidelines for choosing intervention activities, which are as follows:
i) Maximize Diagnostic Data: In general, interventions that will provide data needed to make subsequent intervention decisions should come first. This is particularly true when change agents do not know much about the situation. Violation of this rule can lead to choosing inappropriate interventions.
ii) Maximize Effectiveness: Interventions should be sequenced so that early interventions enhance the effectiveness of subsequent interventions. For example. interventions that develop readiness, knowledge, or skills required by other interventions should come first. Violation of this rule (leapfrogging) can result in interventions that do not achieve their objectives, regression, and the need to start a new sequence of interventions.
iii) Maximize Efficiency: Interventions should be sequenced to conserve organizational resources such as time, energy, and money. Violation of this rule will result in overlapping interventions or in interventions that are not needed by certain people or parts of the organization.
iv) Maximise Speed: Interventions should be sequenced to maximize the speed with which ultimate organisational improvement is attained. Violation of this rule occurs when progress is slower than is necessary to conform to all the other rules.
v) Maximise Relevance: Interventions that management sees as most relevant problems should come first. In general, this means interventions that will have an impact on the organization's performance or task come before interventions that will have an impact on individuals or culture. Violation of this rule will result in loss of motivation to continue with organization development.
vi) Minimize Psychological and Organizational Strain: A such as anxiety, insecurity, distrust, dashed that is least likely to create dysfunctional effects equations of interventions should be chosen expectations, psychological damage to people, and unanticipated and unwanted effects on organisational performance. Violating this rule will lower people's sense of competence and confidence and their commitment to organizational improvement.
