Service 04
Organization Design
Structure decides who works with whom, who decides what, and where work waits. We design organizations around the work they have to do, so strategy has somewhere to land.
- Capability 1
- Operating model design
- Capability 2
- Structure and spans
- Capability 3
- Roles and accountabilities
- Capability 4
- Decision rights
The approach
Most structures are a record of past decisions: a merger, a leader who left, a team that grew around one person. Each made sense at the time. Together they leave work crossing too many handoffs, decisions waiting on the wrong people, and roles that overlap in some places and leave gaps in others.
We start from the work, not the chart. We trace how the most important work moves through the organization today, where it stalls and who decides along the way, and agree with your leaders the few principles the new design has to meet.
Then we design the structure, the roles and the decision rights with the people who will work in them, and plan the transition in stages, so the organization keeps running while it changes and the new design holds after we leave.
- 01
Understand the work
We interview leaders and teams, trace how the key work flows today, and agree what the organization must be able to do.
- 02
Design the options
We develop a small number of structural options and test each against the agreed principles with your leadership team.
- 03
Make the move
We detail the chosen design, plan the transition in stages, and support leaders as the organization moves to it.
What you get
Deliverables, not a status update.
- 01
Current state assessment
How the organization works today: structure, spans and layers, handoffs, and where decisions are actually made.
- 02
Design principles
The few criteria the new design must meet, agreed with leadership before any boxes are drawn.
- 03
Operating model
How capabilities, processes, people and technology fit together to deliver the strategy.
- 04
Structure and roles
The new structure with its spans and layers, and a clear description of every role in it.
- 05
Decision rights
Who recommends, who decides and who needs to know, for the decisions that matter most.
- 06
Transition plan
A staged move to the new design, with communications, risks and the measures that show it is working.
Questions
Answered straight.
- Is organization design just a restructure?
- No. A restructure moves boxes on a chart. Organization design starts from the work and the strategy, and covers roles, decision rights, governance and ways of working as well as the structure.
- How long does it take?
- A focused design for one function can take a few weeks. A whole organization takes longer and runs in stages, so early decisions are tested before the rest follows.
- How do you involve our people?
- From the start. The people who do the work know where it breaks, and a design they helped shape is one they are far more likely to make work.
Start here
Is your structure helping the work, or getting in its way?
You will speak to an engineer, and you will leave the first conversation with an opinion about your problem whether or not you hire us.