Organization development

The development aid organization

Organization development is the process through which an organization develops the internal capacity to be the most effective it can be in its mission work and to sustain itself over the long term. This definition highlights the explicit connection between building a strong and healthy organizational culture and the achievement of organizational mission.

Organization development is a planned effort, organization-wide, managed from the top, to increase organization effectiveness and health, through planned interventions in the organization's processes.

An organization develops when is aware of the results obtained through its activities and learn form them. An organization learns and develops itself when it:

1. articulates its mission through well planned programmes,
2. is aware of the results it obtains though a constant activity of  monitoring and evaluation,
3. collects, organize and shares within the organization the knowledge produced by M&E activities for:
   • improving programme management
   • empower the human resources.

Improving the programme management includes:

• Manage the current programmes revising scope and schedules  on the basis of the results provisionally achieved and the quality provisionally obtained so as to put the programme in track with the expected objectives and results.

• Assess the organizational scope and the beneficiary needs for further programme design and development.

• Improve the organization's partnership management

• Improve the  organization M&E system. 

Empower the human resources means:

• to manage learning in the organization,

• generate a healthy communication climate

• build up a  team spirit amongst employees at various levels.

Even if development is meant to be a positive change, it is still a change which may have to overcome resistance and so it has to be managed carefully considering the typical dynamics of organizational and individual change.

A basic assumption of this manual is that the best managerial style for the development aid organization is designing and managing itself and its culture in such a way as to make itself :

• a projectized organization;
• a learning organization
• an employee empowering organization

See aslo

• Programme Governance
• Middle Management Capabilities, Empowerment and Accountability   -  
• Politics, Power, and Influence

• Characteristics of a "learning organization" - The Knowledge-Based Organization: Managing Its Human Resources   -  

  Communication, management and organizational development

   

   

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what is the novelty of the Outcome mapping ?

In fact, I would say we evaluate in order to: •check whether the programme or project is being implemented according to plan •assess whether the programme of project is resulting in the changes or impacts we anticipated •consider how sustainable the programme or project impact is likely to be, •consider how successfully the programme or project is addressing or having an impact on gender issues •identify key learning and action points to feed back into this programme or project and inform future projects, programmes and policy.

Other resources: Europe Aid: Institutional Assessment and Capacity Development

Spider diagram of organizational capacity