Assessing the Current State
Many organizations today are simply – just trying to survive. In one of our favorite books, David Hanna lays out strategies and methods for Designing Organizations for High Performance. Although published in 1988, Hanna’s book continues to offer timeless “survival skills”, such as: “the ability to read the business situation, the ability to sense new business opportunities, a remarkable degree of flexibility, and a sense of ownership among employees”. (Hanna, 1988, p. 33 & 34)
Most organizations want to do more than survive, they want to grow – preferably in double digits! But determining a survival and/or growth strategy first requires an understanding of the current state of affairs. PORTICO can help you conduct an assessment of organizational effectiveness using features of Hanna’s Organizational Performance Model.
PORTICO can help you:
- Compare your current business results with the future business situation
- Examine your culture to determine the symptoms
- Analyze key design elements to understand the root causes of your culture, considering organizational structure, tasks, people, rewards, information and decision making systems
- Identify operating strategy to understand forces that influence the design elements
- Compare your actual operating strategy with the business situation.
Results from assessing the current state identify those things that are out of balance and those things that are functioning effectively. (Hanna, 1988) As a result, your organization will have a better understanding of why your business results fit or do not fit the business situation you face and what elements are helping or hindering your journey to high performance. Once the assessment is complete, you will be able to focus on working on the right things at the right time to build a high performing organization.
Reference: Hanna, D. (1988). Designing organizations for high performance. Reading, Massachusetts, zip: Addison-Wesley.
