Creating the “Ideal”: Creating Organizations People Want (Read More) >>

Socio-Logic believes that creating organizations that people want to be part of and seek out, starts with having a vision of organizations that facilitates this idea. To that end, Socio- Logic sees organizations as dynamic, “living” organisms, created and supported by their members to benefit the individuals the organization serves.

Socio-Logic takes a dual-focused approach when working with organizations. We treat the whole of the organization as an entity in its own right. Organizations are “greater than the sum of their parts” and cannot be understood solely by reducing them to individuals. At the same time, we believe it is important that organizations never lose sight of their individual members or the individuals to whom they are dedicated to providing service. Organizations exist for and because of individuals, and in turn, organizations provide context to and impact individuals.

How We Support You - Organizational Development

To support you in creating organizations that people want, we offer full-service, organizational development consulting. Organizational development, can be defined in many ways, but the definition used by Socio-Logic is that it “is the process of increasing organizational effectiveness and facilitating personal and organizational change through the use of interventions driven by social science knowledge.” What distinguishes organizational development work from pure management consulting or change management consulting is its humanistic orientation and its focus not just on performance, but human fulfillment.

Socio-Logic combines formal knowledge of organizations, based on the social sciences, with the practical experience of managing in organizations, with over 10 years of organizational development consulting.

Organizational Development – Understanding First

You might be a founder or CEO trying to better realize the vision and mission of the organization, or  you might be a manager or individual member struggling to engage with other members of the organization in a way that you experience as meaningful and productive. Either way, one of the first challenges is understanding and identifying what it is that you want to change. Understanding and framing a situation in such a way that it can be changed is the first crucial step. Formally, this process can be described as gathering information, using “evaluation research.” Practically, this means to understand your unique situation, we gather as much information about the situation from as many people involved in the situation as possible, in a structured way. And we use this information, combined with social science knowledge, to understand and collaborate on approaches to creating the change you desire to make.

Organizational Development Consulting Services

Every person is unique; every organization is unique; every situation is unique. Socio-Logic offers no out-of-box, one-size-fits-all solutions. At the same time, there are a few categories of general organizational development approaches that are frequently used, once there is an understanding of a particular situation.

Organizational Restructuring.

Sometimes, when organizations are not working the way people intend, the first inclination is to change how the organization is divided into departments, teams, groups, etc. This is so common that when people think of organizational development, they often think of restructuring as the “classic” kind of intervention. While Socio- Logic can help with this type of intervention, it is our professional opinion that restructuring is relied on more often than we would like, is difficult to undo, and often has unintended consequences.

Process Change/Innovation and Work Design.

More often than not, it is not how people are structured within an organization, but the process of how they go about working together that has the most pronounced impact. Sometimes organizations give a lot of thought to the structure of the organization, but do not spend as much time thinking about the process they use to serve their clients. At other times, organizations have given it “too much” thought; that is, they have created “top-down” ways of working that do not match “the realities on the ground.”  

Culture Change.

  Culture is a popular word in organizations today. Organizations see the importance of it and strive to create it. Organizations create lists of values, beliefs, and attitudes to which they aspire and try to foster norms around them. While culture can be viewed as these static lists of values, beliefs and norms, it is also a process of dynamic, shared, and relational “meaning-making.” Culture, and all its elements, are born and “come to life” through the flow of language, communication, and other interaction. From this perspective, the vitality of culture depends on individuals “rubbing up against each other,” metaphorically speaking. For our values to “rub off” on others, it requires an interaction that has the possibility that some of their values will “rub off” on us as well. While organizations are often adept at describing the beliefs and values to which they aspire, they sometimes struggle to enact the dynamics of a thriving, “living,” culture.

Diversity and Inclusion.

Closely related to the concept of culture are the concepts of diversity and inclusion. Most organizations realize the importance of including views and people from diverse backgrounds. At the same time, they sometimes need assistance in doing so in a way that they find productive and members of the organization find meaningful.

Team Design, Development, and Management.

Teams are smaller in scale than organizations, but they can be seen as microcosms (or miniature versions) of organizations and can experience some of the same challenges. Sometimes it can be a challenge to structure teams in a way that they perform well, but are also satisfying to the members of the team. At other times, it is more about the process of how they work together or about the quality of the interpersonal connections between the people on the team.

Executive and Leadership Coaching.

The smallest scale of organizational development intervention Socio-Logic provides is executive and leadership coaching. While there is no replacement for large-scale change in organizations, sometimes even smaller-scale changes can have a dramatic impact. Because managers and executives are often the hub of smaller networks within the organizations, they have the potential to create profound change in the areas in which they work.

Conflict Management, Engagement, and Transformation.

It sometimes seems like conflict is a “dirty word,” that people would rather not discuss. Yet, whether it is directly discussed or not, conflict in some form is at the heart of every situation an organization is trying to change. Whether people are not working together or serving clients in the way it is hoped, chances are there is some kind of conflict underlying the situation. Sometimes that conflict is more “explicit” and can be seen in the way people interact and relate to one another. At other times, it is more subtle; people avoid conflict and avoid engaging in activity that might produce a sense of conflict, creating a “drag” effect on productivity and morale. Socio-Logic is proud of its expertise in managing and facilitating productive engagement in conflict, because it is so essential to providing organizational development services.

How can we help?

Socio-Logic trusts that you know your situation better than anyone. We combine your knowledge of your situation with our social science expertise and practical experience with organizations, groups, and individual interaction to develop custom solutions for your unique situation. If you want to find out more about how we generally work together, you can check here. Otherwise, the next step is a free consultation.