Organizing on Purpose The purpose for which a group exists should be the foundat

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Organizing on Purpose

The purpose for which a group exists should be the foundation for everything its members do — including the choice of an appropriate way to organize. The idea is to create a way of organizing that best suits the purpose to be accomplished, regardless of the way in which other, dissimilar groups are organized.

Only when there are close similarities in desired outcomes, culture, and methods should the basic form of one organization be applied to another. And even then, only with careful fine tuning. The danger is that the patterns of activity that help one group to be successful may be dysfunctional for another group, and actually inhibit group effectiveness. To optimize effectiveness, the form of organization must be matched to the purpose it seeks to achieve.

The Design Process

Organization design begins with the creation of a strategy — a set of decision guidelines by which members will choose appropriate actions. The strategy is derived from clear, concise statements of purpose, and vision, and from the organization’s basic philosophy. Strategy unifies the intent of the organization and focuses members toward actions designed to accomplish desired outcomes. The strategy encourages actions that support the purpose and discourages those that do not.

Creating a strategy is planning, not organizing. To organize we must connect people with each other in meaningful and purposeful ways. Further, we must connect people with the information and technology necessary for them to be successful. Organization structure defines the formal relationships among people and specifies both their roles and their responsibilities. Administrative systems govern the organization through guidelines, procedures and policies. Information and technology define the process(es) through which members achieve outcomes. Each element must support each of the others and together they must support the organization’s purpose.

Exercising Choice

Organizations are an invention of man. They are contrived social systems through which groups seek to exert influence or achieve a stated purpose. People choose to organize when they recognize that by acting alone they are limited in their ability to achieve. We sense that by acting in concert we may overcome our individual limitations.

When we organize we seek to direct, or pattern, the activities of a group of people toward a common outcome. How this pattern is designed and implemented greatly influences effectiveness. Patterns of activity that are complementary and interdependent are more likely to result in the achievement of intended outcomes. In contrast, activity patterns that are unrelated and independent are more likely to produce unpredictable, and often unintended results.

The process of organization design matches people, information, and technology to the purpose, vision, and strategy of the organization. Structure is designed to enhance communication and information flow among people. Systems are designed to encourage individual responsibility and decision making. Technology is used to enhance human capabilities to accomplish meaningful work. The end product is an integrated system of people and resources, tailored to the specific direction of the organization.

Also, let's not forget the Critical Thinking component this week. Here's another building block for your skill set. Watch the video, and see what you can draw from it for this week's discussion which is below!

https://youtu.be/OpNoCmNtP5c

This week we’re going to discuss this integration of people a bit more. Listen to the audio found on the following link. It focuses on the consequences of work-based friendships. (Simply click "download".)

http://www.npr.org/2016/06/21/482900150/researchers-study-the-consequences-of-work-based-friendships

After hearing this, as a worker, do you agree or disagree, and why? As a manager, what are your thoughts? Should work-place friendships be encouraged? And remember, this is a fact based study!

Explanation / Answer

Worker :

It depends on the situation that I counter in the organization. The terms of my agreement and disagreement is dependent on that.

Considering I get engaged in a very good group and my work/involvement is being recognized by the team. I earn the mental confidence from them and this helps me to perform better and achieve even higher. In this situation, i'll definitely AGREE to work in groups.

Considering I get engaged with an group where there is no rightful recognition to my activities. If my colleague whose performance is inferior to me, gets a very good promotion/hike - that'll set my mood off. Politics inside groups are very dangerous and it greatly reduces productivity. In this case, i'll definitely DISAGREE to the fact of working in groups.

Manager's Thoughts :

As a manger I have mixed thoughts about working in groups. It has its own ups and downs. As implied in the passage, all groups cannot have same working strategy.

Some of the postivie things about groups are as follows,

Some of the negative things about groups are as follows,

Work-Place Friendship :

This is one of the tricky portion inside an organization. Successful organizations have balanced work-place friendships'. "The engagement of team where there is very few bias and much higher transparency determines the level of work-place friendship."

From my point of view it can be encoraged to a certain point until all the employees in a organization strictly adhere to work ethics. When work ethics is not followed, there is no point in having a friendly atmosphere.

Eg : Consider a manager is aware of some confidential information in the organization. He/She shouldn't communicate it to any of his team members/colleagues stating their friendly relationship. It is the responsibilitty of manager to strictly adhere to work ethics and it is the responsibility of all members in the organization.

Please rate the qulaity of my work :-)

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