How it works

Organizational Design identifies the responsibilities and structures the relationships through which business units, functions, teams, and individuals conduct and coordinate their work. Leaving any or all of those undefined can lead to tremendous inefficiencies within and across teams. Given the sheer number of process workflows that govern how every task and element of work is performed across the organization, a prioritization exercise can be invaluable for creating a ranked list of those to address. To that end, effective coordination depends on clarity about the tasks and activities to be performed within an organization, and the information needed (“upstream”) for, and generated by (“downstream”), these tasks. This type of alignment enables the development of specialized capabilities while also providing the foundation for cooperation across various parts of the organization.

looks_oneSelect high-impact tasks and workflows

Aligning on who is responsible and accountable for executing key tasks requires broad involvement from relevant stakeholders, including, at times, those outside the organization. Before identifying the tasks needed to support the organization's core capabilities, there must be agreement on who should be involved in defining the steps and sequencing the major processes. A steering committee or other governing body comprising leaders from relevant business units and/or functions should be established to direct and review the design or redesign of process and information flows.