Parameters Of Organizational Health- Part 1

The Organizational Health Index or OHI lists nine parameters of a healthy organization for sustained performance. A project by McKinsey & Company, the research shows these aspects are extremely important for a company to be successful.

This is the first post in a three-part series which looks into the nine health parameters and the potential ways in which they could be instilled in your organization.

An organization is a community that should move forward together for its collective health

Direction

The first parameter of an organization’s health is the direction in which the organization or team moves. As with any journey, a directionless approach comes with the risk of aimless wandering.

A clear direction is only possible for the organization if the following three elements are present:

Shared Vision

While a strong personal vision helps the individual change agents become more motivated and capable of leading a team, the team itself needs a shared vision to progress. This shared vision would act as the destination for the team in the context of a project or transformation process.

The Temenos Vision Lab or TVL is a unique session developed by Temenos+Agility which helps a team realize their Compelling Shared Vision. Created using 25 years of business consultancy experience and psychological insights, some of the best transformation coaches in business guide your team towards their Compelling Shared Vision in TVL.

Strategic Clarity

While a destination is necessary for a fruitful journey, equally relevant is a smooth route to that place. The equivalent in a transformation process is the strategy to achieve the end goal.

This clarity in strategy is drawn partly from the leader’s vision. Lacking in personal vision, the leader would have issues devising a clear route-map or strategy since they themselves are unclear of how a transformation pertains to a vision.(You can think of a shared vision as one of the short journeys in a string of journeys which would culminate in the final destination- the leader’s individual vision). TVL is designed to help in this regard too, since it helps leaders realize their True Personal Vision.

Accountability

The second parameter of organization’s health is accountability. Under this comes the following:

Role clarity

For any business process to succeed, each team member should play his or her role fruitfully. Clearly defining their roles helps in this regard. Now that the goal- or the Compelling Shared Vision- is realized for the team, role-definitions also become easier.

It’s like how once you have decided that a project is to build a house, you could easily assign tasks to relevant persons according to their skills- someone to draw the blue print, another to design the interiors etc.

The Clean Slate session which is a part of TVL is especially important for role clarity. A key issue which adds confusion to the change agent’s mind regarding his or her role is made of the misapprehensions they may have developed about people and processes, based on poor past experiences. This makes them reluctant to take up a novel role that may be needed for a process. The Clean Slate session helps uproot these negativities, so that the change agents could move forward with more confidence and lesser mental baggage.

Performance contracts

A performance contract is a legal device for tasks an individual performs for someone. In the organizational context, this refers to the employment clause the company has with its employees. The insinuation here is that the better an employee is legally protected, the better his or her performance would be.

Consequence Management

This is closely linked to managing a scenario in which an individual’s performance didn’t produce the desired result. Solutions to such issues could often be reached at if you understand what kept the individual from performing well in the first place.

The idea of attunement- the ability of a change agent to glean the contents of another person’s mind would be useful in this context.

Personal Ownership

As any leader knows, personal ownership is a highly desired value in team members. Once the compelling shared vision is realized and the role clarity is provided, personal ownership is almost always a natural outcome.

Personal ownership is also rooted in the idea of a change agent being able to pursue his or her personal vision. Such vision is powerful enough for the change agent to go the extra mile to realize it, that personal ownership is a given in such scenarios.

With different persons in a team,individual accountability is important

Coordination & Control

The ship is in motion now, and the leader should coordinate the team and take control of the navigation. This forms the third health parameter of an organization, and it constitutes the following:

People performance review

One area of management many leaders find problematic is being objective about reviewing performances.

It is hardly advisable to see the individual performance in isolation. Rather, if someone’s performance lacks, it’s a good idea to first take the time to understand what’s on the mind of the other person which hampered his or her performance. Since a team comprises of different types of people, the quality of sympathy- the ability to understand the mindset of a group could help in these situations.

This aspect is particularly important in terms of group performance reviews, whereas for individual assessment, perhaps attunement may be of greater help.

Operational management

Managing the operational aspects of a transformation is quite a challenge. This is made easy if the aspect of strategic clarity which we mentioned before is present.

If you remember, such clarity is possible with a Personal Vision. The various operations need to achieve that vision are then clear to the change agent, thereby making managing the same easier.

Financial management

This is closely linked to the aforementioned operational management aspect.

Further, you could manage the finance even better if you know the context of the organization. While the biggest constituent of context is the collective past experience of team members, it also consists of the financial aspects of the organization. Having a better understanding of this helps you allot finances for particular projects more efficiently.

Professional standards

There are always two options for a change agent to approach a transformation. One is to finish the transformation with minimal regard to how it’s done. The other is to facilitate the transformation with high standards in place.

This is related to the idea of aesthetic.

Not to be confused with the conventional definition of the word, aesthetic here refers to the set of principles and values underlying the work of a change agent. If the leader can instill the same in his or her team, the transformation process would be that much more enjoyable for everyone involved.

Risk management

The final element that supports good coordination & control is efficient risk management. A scenario in which risks are completely avoidable is perhaps utopian. Therefore, it’s better to have a risk management process in place at the outset of a transformation.

To curb poor performance,you could  maybe contemplate assigning functional roles if that would help.

As for risks that come from miscommunication amongst the team members, they could be mitigated to a good extend by encouraging the team members to share their personal vision with others in the team. This helps them understand each other on a deeper level, and smoothens communication. In TVL, change agents are encouraged to share their personal vision with others with the tool of influence maps.

This series will continue in the second and third posts which would be up on this blog soon.

Photo credits: Samuel Austin and Christopher Campbell on Unsplash

For change agents and leaders, not to benefit from meaningful events and gatherings is a missed opportunity! We invite you to indulge in some of the most transformational events from Temenos; designed with hard-earned understanding, organized just for you.

Temenos Vision Lab- Online ( June 29, 2018)

We invite you to this special gathering, which brings together a group of wonderful people who fill workplaces with joy and energy. By connecting with each other, you embark on a journey that leads to better clarity about the changes you seek, gain collaboration opportunities and leave with a concrete action plan.

Temenos Vision Lab- Amsterdam, Netherlands( Nov 2, 2018)

Another venue to take an exquisite inner journey, to find your true Vision.

Temenos Effect Gathering 2018- Bengaluru, India(Dec 8 to Dec 9, 2018)

An event dedicated to the idea of personal mastery, for nurturing your beautiful self, for change agents and leaders to become their true selves.

For more details, visit our website - https://www.visiontemenos.com/events