OD Interventions

Ramakrishna Kongalla,
Assistant Professor
R'tist @ Tourism
OD interventions

"Interventions" are principal learning processes

in the "action" stage of organization
development.

are strctred activities sed individall! or in

com"ination to improve their social or task
performance.

introdced "! a change agent as part of an

improvement program

"#trctred activities" mean sch diverse

procedres as e$periential e$ercises,
%estionnaires, attitde srve!s, intervie&s,
relevant grop discssions, and even lnchtime
meetings "et&een the change agent and a
mem"er of the client organization.

'ver! action that in(ences an organization)s

improvement program in a change agent*client
s!stem relationship can "e said to "e an
intervention.
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+here are man! possi"le intervention strategies from &hich to
choose. #everal assmptions a"ot the natre and
fnctioning of organizations are made in the choice of a
particlar strateg!.
,eckhard lists si$ sch assmptions-
+he "asic "ilding "locks of an organization are grops .teams/.
+herefore, the "asic nits of change are grops, not individals.
An al&a!s relevant change goal is the redction of inappropriate
competition "et&een parts of the organization and the development
of a more colla"orative condition.
Decision making in a health! organization is located &here the
information sorces are, rather than in a particlar role or level of
hierarch!.
Organizations, s"nits of organizations, and individals
continosl! manage their a0airs against goals. 1ontrols are interim
measrements, not the "asis of managerial strateg!.
One goal of a health! organization is to develop generall! open
commnication, mtal trst, and con2dence "et&een and across
levels.
People spport &hat the! help create. People a0ected "! a change
mst "e allo&ed active participation and a sense of o&nership in the
planning and condct of the change.
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Interventions range from those designed to

improve the e0ectiveness of individals throgh
those designed to deal &ith teams and grops,
intergrop relations, and the total organization.

+here are interventions that focs on task

isses .&hat people do/, and those that focs
on process isses .ho& people go a"ot doing
it/.

3inall!, interventions ma! "e roghl! classi2ed

according to &hich change mechanism the!
tend to emphasize-
for e$ample, feed"ack, a&areness of changing
cltral norms, interaction and commnication,
con(ict, and edcation throgh either ne&
kno&ledge or skill practice.
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One of the most di4clt tasks confronting the change agent is
to help create in the client s!stem a safe climate for learning
and change. In a favora"le climate, hman learning "ilds on
itself and contines inde2nitel! dring man)s lifetime.
Ot of ne& "ehavior, ne& dilemmas and pro"lems emerge as the
spiral contines p&ard to ne& levels. In an nfavora"le climate,
in contrast, learning is far less certain, and in an atmosphere of
ps!chological threat, it often stops altogether.
5nfreezing old &a!s can "e inhi"ited in organizations "ecase
the climate makes emplo!ees feel that it is inappropriate to
reveal tre feelings, even thogh sch revelations cold "e
constrctive.
In an inhi"ited atmosphere, therefore, necessar! feed"ack is not
availa"le. Also, tr!ing ot ne& &a!s ma! "e vie&ed as risk!
"ecase it violates esta"lished norms.
#ch an organization ma! also "e constrained "ecase of the la&
of s!stems- If one part changes, other parts &ill "ecome
involved. 6ence, it is easier to maintain the stats %o.
6ierarchical athorit!, specialization, span of control, and other
characteristics of formal s!stems also discorage
e$perimentation.
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+he change agent mst address himself to all

of these hazards and o"stacles. #ome of the
things &hich &ill help him are-

A real need in the client s!stem to change

7enine spport from management
#etting a personal e$ample- listening, spporting
"ehavior
A sond "ackgrond in the "ehavioral sciences
A &orking kno&ledge of s!stems theor!
A "elief in man as a rational, self*edcating "eing
fll! capa"le of learning "etter &a!s to do things.

A fe& e$amples of interventions inclde team

"ilding, coaching, 8arge 7rop Interventions,
mentoring, performance appraisal, do&nsizing,
+9:, and leadership development.
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:a;or +!pes of Interventions

+he 2eld of Organization Development

ses a variet! of processes, approaches,
methods, techni%es, applications, etc.,
.these are often termed "interventions"/
to address organizational isses and
goals in order to increase performance.

+he follo&ing partial list of interventions

is organized generall! in the order
presented "! 1mmings and <orle! in
their "Organization Development and
1hange" .<est P"lishing, =>>?/.
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6man Process Interventions
7iding Individals

1oaching
1onseling
Delegating
8eading
:orale .,oosting/
:entoring
:otivating
7rop*,ased

1on(ict :anagement
Dialoging
7rop 3acilitation
7rop 8earning
#elf*Directed <ork
+eams
+eam ,ilding
@irtal +eams
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+echnostrctral Interventions

Do&nsizing and Otsorcing

Organizing +asks, Ao"s and Roles
Organizing #ta0
,siness Process Re*'ngineering
I#O>BBB
+otal 9alit! :anagement
#trategic Interventions

,siness Planning
1ltral 1hange
8arge*#cale Interventions
Organizational +ransformation
#trategic Planning
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6man Resorce :anagement
Interventions
'mplo!ee Performance :anagement
'sta"lishing Performance 7oals
Performance Plans
O"servation and 3eed"ack
'valating Performance
Re&arding Performance
Recognizing Performance Pro"lems
."Performance 7aps"/
Performance Improvement C
Development Plans
#ta4ng
3iring 'mplo!ees
'mplo!ee Development
1areer Development
8eadership Development Planning
:anagement Development Planning
Personal Development
Personal Prodctivit!
Personal <ellness
#pervisor! Development Planning
+raining and Development
'mplo!ee <ellness
Programs
Diversit! :anagement
Drgs in the <orkplace
'mplo!ee Assistance
Programs
'rgonomics- #afe
3acilities in the
<orkplace
6I@CAID# in the
<orkplace
Personal <ellness
Preventing @iolence in
the <orkplace
#afet! in the <orkplace
#piritalit! in the
<orkplace
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most common OD Interventions that
companies practice
=. Appl!ing criteria to goals
here the leadership esta"lishes o";ective criteria for
the otpts of the organization)s goal*setting
processes. +hen the! hold people acconta"le not
onl! for stating goals against those criteria "t also
for prodcing the desired reslts.
'$ample-
Organizations are implementing the concept of
,alanced #corecard, D*:atri$ etc., to captre the
goals of the emplo!ees, &hich in trn is helpfl in
their assessment and mid*term correction of their
performance.
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E. 'sta"lishing inter*nit task forces
+hese grops can cross "oth fnctional parts of the
organization .the "silos"/ as &ell as emplo!ee levels.
+he! are ideall! acconta"le to one person and are
appropriatel! re&arded for completing their assigned
task e0ectivel!. +hen the! dis"and.
'$ample-
Organizations have introdced varios schemes for
re&arding their emplo!ees for their performance,
like-
* Introdcing the concept of @aria"le pa! in as a part
of 1+1
* #pot Recognition A&ard
* Pro;ect "ons, performance "ons etc.,
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?. '$perimentation &ith alternative arrangements
+oda! organizations are s";ect to "management "!
"est*seller." +he goal in these interventions is to
create &hat is "eing called a "learning organization,"
one that performs e$periments on organizational
strctre and processes, anal!zes the reslts, and
"ilds on them.
'$ample-
Organizations toda! are targeting at streamlining
the process of 8earning and Development and
encoraging the cltre of 8earning in the
organizations.
* +argeting achieving mandator! man*da!s of
training for their emplo!ees
* Introdcing the 1ompetenc! "ased practices
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F. Identif!ing "ke! commnicators"
+his is to carefll! determine &ho seems to "e "in the
kno&" &ithin the organization. +hese people often do not
kno& that the! are, in fact, ke! commnicators. +his
collection of individals is then fed honest information
dring critical times, one*on*one and con2dentiall!.
'$ample-
De2ning the process of Organizational 1ommnication
polic!
* Introdcing +op G do&n and ,ottom G p 1ommnication
approach
* Introdcing 'mplo!ee 3orms and #ggestion ,o$
options for emplo!ee interaction
* Identif!ing 1ritical emplo!ees in the organization and
making them the ,rand Am"assadors of their compan!
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H. Identif!ing "3irea"le O0enses"
+his intervention deepens the nderstanding of
and commitment to the stated vales of the
organization. +his facilitates the &ork of the +op
:anagement to ans&er the critical %estion, "If
&e)re serios a"ot these vales, then &hat might
an emplo!ee do that &old "e so a0rontive to
them that heCshe &old "e 2redI"
'$ample-
* P"lishing and Instilling @ales and ,eliefs
among all emplo!ees
* Introdcing Policies like <histle ,lo&ing, #e$al
6arassment etc.,
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J. In*visioning
+his is actall! a set of interventions that help to
"accltrate" ever!one in the organization into an agreed*
pon vision, mission, prpose, and vales. +he
interventions might inclde training, goal setting,
organizational srve!*feed"ack, commnications planning,
etc.
K. +eam ,ilding
+his intervention can take man! forms.
'$ample-
+he most common is intervie&s and other pre*&ork,
follo&ed "! a one* to three*da! o0site session. Dring the
meeting the grop diagnoses its fnction as a nit and
plans improvements in its operating procedres.
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L. Inter*grop Pro"lem #olving
+his intervention sall! involves &orking &ith
the t&o grops separatel! "efore "ringing them
together. +he! esta"lish common goals and
negotiate changes in ho& the grops interface.
'$ample-
+his is practiced in Prodct Development
1ompanies and most of the I+ and I+'#
1ompanies.
* 3ocsed grop discssion are encoraged "!
the management, for generating "etter ideas
and concepts
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>. :anagementCleadership training
:an! OD professionals come from a training "ackgrond. +he!
nderstand that organizations cannot scceed long term
&ithot &ell*trained leaders. +he OD contri"tion there can "e
to ensre that the development crriclm emphasizes
practical, crrent sitations that need attention &ithin the
organization and to monitor the degree to &hich training
deliver! is s4cientl! participative as to promise ade%ate
transfer of learnings to the ;o".
'$ample-
:ost of the organizations toda! are focsing at 8eadership
:anagement for their emplo!ees. 'arlier, this &as targeted to
the +op :anagement alone, "t no&, organizations are seeing
its relevance to inclcate the leadership skills in their middle
management and ;nior management as &ell.
* ,siness Organization Retreat .,OD/ is "eing the most
common practice, is a part of this initiative.
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=B. #etting p measrement s!stems
+he total*%alit! movement emphasizes that
all &ork is a part of a process and that
measrement is essential for process
improvement. +he OD professional is
e%ipped &ith tools and techni%es to assist
leaders and others to create measrement
methods and s!stems to monitor ke! sccess
indicators.
'$ample-
* +he concepts like #i$ #igma, +9: etc act as
:easrements tools for the process follo&ed
in the organization.
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+hank MoNOOO
Ramakrishna Kongalla
e*mail- artist.ramakrishnaPgmail.com
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