Organisational design – it’s for your business too!

Organisational design (OD) aims to identify the optimal shape for a business to fulfil its purpose and objectives.

At a high level, organisational design is a planned, strategy-centric and systematic approach to defining the best structure to achieve process efficiency, position clarity, effect collaboration between roles and teams, and contribute towards a positive organisational culture.

Why is organisational design important?

As businesses grow, processes, structures, and systems that once worked well start to outlive their usefulness, if organisations fail to continually adapt these to current needs and opportunities.

To avoid this fate, businesses must periodically “regenerate” to meet customer needs and fit the realities of their internal and external environments. That’s where organizational design comes in.

Good OD considers many different aspects of life at work: technical systems, team formations, skills sets of employees, working hours, reporting lines, working from home arrangements, decision-making procedures, communication channels, and more.

Bottom line? The organisation’s strategy determines the optimal organisational design.

Is organisational design relevant for a small business?

While large businesses typically engage in scheduled or formalised organisational design activities, small businesses often overlook the benefits of a tailored approach to OD to capitalise on the competitive advantages they hold over their larger counterparts. Although small businesses often enjoy being nimbler and more responsive, less bureaucratic and closer to their end customers, they can also be an inefficient and confusing places for employees.

One simple OD component to get you heading in a better direction? Defining the structure of reporting lines via an organisational chart.

An organisational chart is a visual representation of the structure of a business, depicting the roles, relationships, and reporting lines within the company. The chart makes it easy for new and existing employees to see where they fit in and understand your reporting structure. Done well (and kept up to date!), an organisational chart provides clarity for employees, assists in resource and succession planning, helps to manage workload, contributes to building unity and reduces uncertainty.

Example of an organisational chart? Check out this one from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Theirs is a single page. Imagine how simple yours could be!

Bare Bones Consulting can help you tailor the best of big business HR to your organisation. Our expert advice guides you to find and keep the best people, increase productivity, improve employee engagement and ensure you’re compliant with your lawful obligations as an employer. We keep things simple and we tailor our advice and documents to your business…not someone else’s. Why not call or contact us today to see what we can do for you?