ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

For implementation to be effective, the chief executive needs a very good sense of his or her own organisation’s readiness and capacity to respond to these challenges. This suggests a clear need for support by senior level ‘champions’ and much greater involvement of people with organisational development expertise in the strategic application of ICT throughout the local authority.

During recent years ‘Organisation Development’ (OD) has re-emerged as a highly significant concept in the strategic management of change since it provides a holistic approach to help councils focus on and deliver the cultural and organisational change needed for all types of continuous improvement.

What is Organisation Development?

The traditional view of ‘Organisation Development’ tended to focus on top-down activities to improve organisation's ‘systems’ and 'processes’. However, experience in both the public and private sector has shown that to raise organisational performance effectively, ‘Organisation Development’ needs to take account of both internal and external factors rather considering individual components in isolation. Many activities contribute to an appropriate ‘climate’ for sustained OD. For example:

• Identification of key priorities and organisational purpose
• Identification of key obstacles and how these might be overcome
• Identification of key people management and development implications as the organisation develops
• Management of performance
• Promotion of learning, development and the sharing of knowledge
• Promotion of creativity and innovation
• Ensuring staff, elected members and the wider community understand why the organisation must develop and how they can contribute
• Development of mechanisms for giving/receiving feedback and sharing ideas at all levels within the organisation and with stakeholders
• Establishment of processes for consultation/planning and evaluation