A List of OD Interventions
A List of OD Interventions
A List of OD Interventions
Rothwell, W. J., R. Sullivan, G.N. McLean. (1995). Practicing Organization Development. Jossey-
Bass/Pfeiffer Publishers, San Francisco
Individual
Team or unit
Intergroup
• Work-flow planning - designed to plan the flow of work between two or more components of an
organization
• Scheduling review - designed to assess how work is scheduled
1
• Interorganizational development - intervention in which two groups or organizations work together to
establish and/or maintain more effective relationships
• Intergroup-Conflict management - designed to deal with destructive conflict between two or more work
units
• Third-party intervention - designed to improve relationships that have been marred by previous conflict
• Cross-functional training - designed to provide individuals or groups with the knowledge they need to
function with another unit or organization
Total Organization
Societal/Planetary
• Transcultural planning process - designed to improve planning across national or cultural groups.
• Transnational community building and problem solving - designed to improve trust and collaboration
across national or cultural groups.
Internal-design-component interventions
2
• Work should be organized in a way that is compatible with the organization’s objectives.
This often leads to a participative process that promotes employee involvement in work
design.
• Only those features needed to implement the work design should be specified. The
remaining features should vary according to the technical and social needs of the
situations. This helps employees control technical variances quickly and close to their
sources.
• Design components affected:
• Technology
• Performance management
• Structural design - involves structure and technology
• A consultant divides the organization’s tasks into specific groups or units and then coordinates
them to achieve overall effectiveness
• Four basic organizational structures:
• Functional
• Self-contained units
• Matrix
• Networked
• When selecting a structure for the organization, the consultant needs to consider the following
factors:
• Environment
• Size
• Technology
• Goals
• Design components affected:
• Structure
• Technology
• Reward-system - includes performance management and feedback systems
• Focus on rewarding desired behaviors and work outcomes. Because people generally do those
things for which they are rewarded, rewards can powerfully shape work behavior
• Skill-based and performance-based pay fit in with this
• Design components affected:
• Performance management
• Feedback systems
• High-involvement - involves changes in an organization’s culture and, consequently, affects most design
components
• Incorporates aspects of several interventions
• Key emphasis of this change effort is a shift from a control-oriented organization to one based on
commitment.
• Seeks to diffuse power, knowledge, information, and rewards throughout the organization.
• Based on the fundamental belief that people are an organization’s most important asset and,
consequently, they need to be more involved in work-related decisions
• Design elements include: self-managing teams, dispersed information systems, flexible
structures, social and technical training, egalitarian practices, skill-based pay, pay for
performance, and participative goal setting.
• Design components affected:
• Culture
• All design components
3
Person-focused interventions
• Typology
• By the person or group that initiates the intervention
• By intervention mode - self-study, reflection, feedback, coaching, or mentoring
• By theoretical basis
• By the person or group that takes the active role
• Participant-active interventions
• Laboratory-Training groups
• Instrumentation
• Reflection
• 3. OD Consultant-Active Interventions
• Training
• Feedback
• Coaching and mentoring