Three Key Areas for Organizational Diagnosis
1. Surgical Check
A surgical approach focuses on the key roles and responsibilities needed for the team to deliver products and services. It's about checking if tasks are being done well. The approach has three main aspects:
- Roles (Position and Formation): Are the necessary tasks well-defined and organized?
- Assignment (Player Placement): Are the right people or teams assigned to these roles effectively?
- Performance (Player Ratings): Are those who are assigned to the roles performing well?
This method checks the basics—whether the right tasks and people are in place to keep the team running smoothly. You can think of it like examining the structure of the human body. Sports teams are a good analogy, where positions and formations need to be managed well for victory. Checking roles, assignments, and performance is similar to overseeing a soccer team.
2. Medical Check
A medical approach focuses on how the team operates, examining the systems and methods used. This includes checking for problems in rules, processes, and systems. Key areas include:
- Decision-Making and Reporting: Is communication between the leader and team members working smoothly?
- Information Sharing and Collaboration: Are team members and departments sharing information and working together well?
- Rules and Guidelines: Are there basic rules and standards in place for work?
- Evaluation and Rewards: Is work being evaluated, and are there rewards based on those evaluations?
Think of this as testing bodily systems like the nervous, digestive, and immune systems. It’s about making sure that information flows well and decisions are made properly at all stages.
3. Psychiatric Check
A psychiatric approach looks at the team’s mindset and culture. This can be divided into thoughts(conscious) and feelings(unconscious), which together form the team’s personality. Even though it’s the hardest to measure and fix, it’s essential. The key areas are:
- Vision and Core Values: The team’s thoughts. Is there a clear direction and values?
- Mindset and Atmosphere: The team’s feelings. What’s the current attitude and vibe within the team?
- Personality: The team’s unique character, formed by combining thoughts and feelings, such as the overall team dynamic or personality types (e.g., MBTI).
Mental health is difficult to deal with, but crucial for a healthy team. Organizations today often focus on this area, and checking the team’s thoughts, feelings, and personality is essential to ensuring they connect well with products and services.
Both physical and mental health are important, and the same goes for teams. That’s why all three areas—structure, systems, and culture—should be regularly checked.
Steps for Conducting an Organizational Diagnosis
1. Questionnaire
Just like when you visit a doctor and they ask where you feel discomfort, the first step in diagnosing an organization’s health is a similar questionnaire. The HR department or CEO should lead this process, assessing the team’s roles, systems, and culture. If some areas are unclear, this is often a sign of problems. If it’s hard to understand or analyze certain areas, it’s important to seek external advice or hire experts in that field.
2. Examination
Just like taking your blood pressure, temperature, or pulse at the hospital, it's important to examine the team’s actual data, such as staff numbers, wages, and organizational charts. It’s also crucial to identify gaps between what was reported in the questionnaire and the actual situation. This information should be continuously monitored to track progress and improvements.
3. Result Analysis
After completing the questionnaire and examination, it’s time to analyze the team’s overall health, identifying strengths, weaknesses, and potential problems. The results should be shared with the whole team, just like a health checkup report. If there’s a serious issue, like cancer, the team should be made aware. However, if the team is not ready to handle such information, it’s better to withhold it.
Regular health checks are essential for the team’s ongoing growth. This process should be continuous, adjusting to changes within the organization. A healthy team is key to long-term success.
