III. Finalize Organizational Modeling & Realignment Approach
In this task, organizational planning and design teams familiarize themselves with the three disciplines used in the IT organizational modeling and realignment process. These disciplines include:
- Chaordic approach for establishing an IT governance structure and drafting an IT constitution
- Hub-based organizational modeling process to be used to define the as-is and redesigned IT infrastructure
- The participative design approach, which allows the people who perform the work to participate in the design and governance of the IT organization
Chaordic Governance Structures
A chaordic governance structure establishes a purpose, guiding principles,
participant structure and constitution for the new organization. The process
used to accomplish this is based on an approach developed by Dee Hock, founder
and CEO emeritus of VISA International. According to Hock[1], a chaordic
organization is any self-organizing, self-regulating, adaptive, non-linear,
complex organization, the behavior of which harmoniously exhibits
characteristics of both order and chaos. It exhibits diverse patterns and
probabilities not governed or explained by the behavior of its parts
- in
harmony with the fundamental organizing principles of nature and evolution.
Figure III.A highlights the key elements in a chaordic governance structure.
Figure III.A
Statement of Purpose
This clear, commonly understood statement must articulate why the IT
organization exists (i.e. its purpose) and bind all applicable individual and
organizational components to the IT organization. Design teams will draft a
statement of purpose for the IT organization as a whole and for each major
functional unit within IT.
Guiding Principles
Principles are a collection of clear, commonly understood statements
defining how participants will conduct themselves in their efforts to achieve
the organization�s purpose. Participants are free to fulfill these principles
using whatever ethical means are at their disposal, as long as they do not
violate other principles or the overriding purpose. Design teams will create a
set of guiding principles for the IT organization as a whole and for each major
functional unit within IT.
Participant Structure
The participant structure identifies the individuals to be involved in the
oversight, design, deployment and evolution of the new IT infrastructure. This
process unfolds throughout IT council and design team mobilization, existing IT
organization modeling process and finalization of the overall infrastructure.
Organizational Concept
The organizational concept element of chaordic governance is addressed in
the following section outlining how to create hub-based organizations. The
hub-based organization is in harmony with, yet more fully defines, the
organizational concept element of chaordic development.
The IT Constitution
The chaordic approach facilitates creation of a constitution to
institutionalize the purpose, principles, participant model, infrastructure and
practice guidelines in a single document. The constitution governs the actions,
motives and activities of participants across the enterprise. The cultural shift
required to move to a chaordic organization is significant. The constitution,
which must include a process for amending itself, serves as an ongoing guide to
participants undergoing this transition process.
Hub-based Organizational Structures
Creating an alternative to hierarchical organizations requires use of the
hub-based organizing model. The difference between a hub-based structure and a
hierarchical organization is that, whenever possible, decisions are made in
peripheral hubs - where the work is being done. Central hubs address issues
that cannot be dealt with by one or more outer hubs. In addition, hubs can
self-organize as needed without approval from a central authority. These
concepts, which are based on work by organizational development consultant Hina
Pendle[2], are in stark contrast to command and control structures within a
hierarchical organization.
The IT hub structure includes all information management functions, clarifies relationships and streamlines communications among functions, and ensures representation of relevant and affected parties in decisions that impact those parties. The following points describe the creation and deployment of hub-based organizational infrastructures.
- The hub structure addresses the organizational concept element of chaordic governance.
- A hub is a functional organizational unit with a shared or common purpose.
- A hub may be an internal or an external (in the case of an outsourcing unit for example) functional entity.
- Micro level functions cascade into macro level functions via the hub structure.
- All hubs, with the exception the innermost or core hub, are satellites connected to inner hubs via lines called spokes.
- Each satellite sends a representative to the next innermost hub.
- Innermost satellites (macro functions) send representatives to the central hub (IT Council).
- Outer hubs are functional, bound by common purpose and principles.
- Inner hubs, comprised of representatives from outer hubs, focus on coordination and policy.
- There is no limit to the number of hubs or spokes.
- Hub structures are self-organizing; adding, reforming or eliminating hubs as needed to fulfill the purpose of the organization.
Each hub represents some level of activity necessary to delivering quality information across and beyond the enterprise. Activities are distributed as required by a given hub. To distribute decision-making authority to the periphery, each hub is comprised of individuals that self-organize to fulfill the functions of that hub. Hubs set goals, measure progress, assign responsibilities and collaborate. Figure III.B depicts a central hub with eight satellites, two of which have their own satellites.
Figure III.B
A coordinator or leader, selected by the hub, is responsible for assessing if goals are being met, reviewing personnel issues and representing the hub at the next inner hub. Representatives of peripheral hubs gather in centralized hubs to set goals and strategies. Each representative communicates goals and strategies back to satellite hubs. The hub model is a key element of chaordic governance because it supports the concepts of managing at the peripheral and self-organization.
Participative Design & Self-Organizing Techniques
According to organizational development consultants Barbara Benedict Bunker and Billie T. Alban[3], "Cut off from the majority of the workforce, the design group can engender resistance or apathy because it usually (1) deals with only a small, "specialized" part of the system rather than the system as a whole, (2) never changes the underlying bureaucratic structure, and (3) draws little or no ownership from the majority of workers".
To address this problem, Bunker and Alban promote the concept of "participatory design" where "the people who do the work are responsible for controlling it and coordinating it". Participative design is essential to understanding and modifying the IT organization and particularly so when deploying a chaordic governance and hub-based infrastructure. No central authority can fully understand or redesign a functioning IT organization without participation from the people in that organization. The following principles are key to participative design.
- Everyone that currently performs or will be performing an information management function should have an opportunity to participate in the creation of the new organization.
- Design teams are created following the evolution of the hub structure, with major hub functions serving as the focal point for a given design team.
- The core design team drafts the initial organizational model and constitution for the new organization.
- Local design teams draft purpose, principles and participant model for various functional areas.
- The core design team reincorporates the distributed design back into the organizational model.
- This iterative process ensures that some level of participative representation has been established across the enterprise.
Since everyone in a large organization cannot be on a design team, each functional unit should select participants to be a part of this process. The participative design process is symbiotic with chaordic governance and with the hub-based organizational model insofar as allowing decisions - including design decisions - to be made at the periphery. Design teams can change a hub or a hub's immediate satellites as needed, as long as the hub continues to function within the overall governance purpose and principles set forth in the organization's constitution.
(1) Dee Hock, Birth of the Chaordic Age, (Berrett-Koehler, 1999)
(2) Hina Pendle & William Ulrich, Organizational Metamorphosis, (www.systemtransformation.com/becoming_the_hub.htm, 2000)
(3) Barbara Benedict Bunker and Billie T. Alban, Large Group Interventions: Engaging the Whole System for Rapid Change, (Josey-Bass, 1997)