Organizational Design, Diagnosis, and Development Session 17 Human Process Interventions, II

Objectives To review group level human process interventions: process consultation, team building To review systems wide human process interventions: organization confrontation meeting, large group interventions, and grid organizational development To examine the effectiveness for these human process interventions in producing change

Process Consultation Communication Functional roles in groups Problem solving and decision making Group norms Leadership

TYPICAL ORGANIZATIONAL ROLES Task specialist -- Person who because of experience, skill, or knowledge has edge in task competency Maintenance specialist -- human relations guru

Problems in Group Decision Making Evaluation Conflict Domination

Group-think as a Dysfunctional Norm The tendency of highly cohesive groups to conform to group pressures and to suspend reality testing and engage in consensus seeking. Antecedents –High cohesiveness –Group structure –Stressful situations

Group Think Cont Symptoms –Overestimation of the group –Close-mindedness –Increased pressure for uniformity Consequences –Defective decision making –High probability of a bad decision Preventive tactics

Leadership Training Problem stating in an objective manner Providing and sharing relevant information Drawing out group members Preventing domination Avoid moving to evaluation prematurely; Stimulating discussion and clarify points; Summarizing to mark group progress.

Team Building Types of Teams: Work teams, task teams, management teams Family group diagnostic meeting Team building meeting Results of team building

Organization Confrontation Meeting Groups of are convened The groups discuss problems There is a plenary session with reports on the problems The problems are classified Smaller groups re-form and work on problem solving Action plans are submitted to management along with a time table The problem solving groups meet periodically to review what is happening and report to management

Large Group Interventions Preparation for the large group meeting Conducting the meeting Follow up on meeting Results

Organizational Grid Development

People orientation -- consideration, the leader is concerned about the well being of employees and being fair. (1,9) Production orientation -- initiation of structure, the focus of this leader is on goal attainment (9.1) Leader Behaviors

Consequences of 1.9: This style of works well when the task is intrinsically satisfying, or when the task is extremely structured and clear Consequences of 9,1: This style works best with situations where there is pressure due to deadlines, ambiguous tasks, or external Consequences of Managerial Style

Backwards & Forwards Summing up: Today we reviewed group and organization wide interventions, including process consultation, team building, organizational confrontation meeting, large group interventions and grid development which is really managerial development. Looking ahead:Next time we begin to examine techno-structural interventions.