Reference no: EM133076884
Step 1: Assess the current state of your organization
Prepare a short note that describes your organization (either the total organization or an important unit that you are familiar with) and assess or diagnose its current state. Make reference to the issues you feel require attention, which could be problems or opportunities. If you feel there is a need for some kind of change to ensure that these issues will be managed more effectively, justify this view. Do not explain the kinds of interventions you think may be necessary to bring about any required changes. The aim of this exercise is to diagnose the current state of the organization (and assess whether it is and will continue to perform effectively), not to provide a prescription of actions required to improve matters.
Step 2: Identify the information you used to make this assessment
Think about the things you considered when making your assessment in the first step of this exercise. Identify and list the "kinds of information" that you considered. Focus on the information that you actually considered. Try not to let the kind of information you think you "should" have considered influence your list. Identify, if possible, at least 25 different bits of information and record them in a table. Table 7.1 provides some examples of the types of information that people might consider when assessing the state of their organization. These are only offered as examples to stimulate your thinking; your own list may contain none of these.
Step 3: Developing categories for organizing your diagnostic information
Some of the types of information you used to make your assessment might be related and it might be possible to group them together into a number of more inclusive categories. These categories reflect the main elements or variables of your diagnostic model.
Group related information in the category boxes in a table (use exercise 7.1 for format). Typically, people identify 4-12 categories, but there are no restrictions on the number of categories you might identify.
When you have categorized your information, describe the rationale you used for including information in each category.
Step 4: Specifying relationships between categories/elements
The categories identified in Step 3 reflect the elements of your implicit diagnostic model. Step 4 of the model-building process focuses on interdependencies and causal relationships between the elements. These can be identified by considering whether a change in any one element will have an effect on any other element:
Using the format of Table 7.3, list the elements (categories) identified in Step 3 down the left-hand column and across the top of the table.
Take each element down the left-hand column in turn and assess the impact a change in this element might have on every other element, using a three-point scale, where 0 = no or slight impact; 1 = moderate impact; and 2 = high impact.
Sum the scores for each row.
Rank the scores (1 = highest). The rank order of the elements indicates your assessment of the key drivers of performance.
After completing Step 4, explain the challenges associated with the diagnostic model you have completed. What does this tell you about the system you work within and the need for alignment when addressing the change initiative?