Organisation Development
Intervention Techiques
-Tarak Bahadur KC, PhD
tarakbkc@gmail.com
Contents
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OD Intervention
Purpose
Strategies / Techniques
Mode /Level
Intervention
To intervene is to enter
into an ongoing system of
relationships to come
between or among persons,
groups, or objects for the
purpose of helping them.
Argyris, C. (1970) Intervention theory and method. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley
OD Interventions
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The planned activities clients and consultants
participate in during the course of an OD
programme for changing the status quo.
An action or set of actions designed to
introduce changes in organisation for
improving its efficiency and effectiveness.
A set of planned change activities intended
to improve organization's effectiveness,
including quality of work life and productivity.
- Cumming, 1993
OD Interventions
 In
a sense, intervention is any event,
directed toward improving organizational
effectiveness, that disrupts an
organization’s normal way of operating.
- Smither, R. et al.,1970
 Interventions
sometimes involve a
consultant from outside the organization,
but many times management itself
intervenes to make organizational changes.
Purpose of OD Interventions
Why OD Interventions?
Interventions are vehicle for causing change, which:
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Disrupt the Status Quo
Address organisational problems
Organisational transformation
Enhance efficiency and effectiveness
Improving HR capacity
Conceptual Framework
OD Interventions
Output
Outcome
Individual
Intervention
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Selection
T&D
Counseling
Promotion
Structural
Intervention
• Org. design
• Job design
• Down sizing
Human Output
• Individual
commitment
Involvement
&
Perceived Org.
Performance
• Improvement
in
cereal production
Process
Intervention
• Goal setting
• Team building
• Decision making
Beer, 1980
Types / Classification of Change
Strategy or Intervention Techniques
 Changing
the Organisation’s Structure
 Changing the Organisation’s
Technology
 Changing the People / Behaviour
Integration of these three strategies for
successful OD intervention is must.
Integrated Approach to Change
Intervention Mode
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Level of Oragnisation
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Target Group
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Top (Policy) Level
Middle Level
Operational Level
Individual
Team
Organisation
Organisational Elements
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Human
Technical
Structural
Process
Interventions designed to improve the
effectiveness of Individuals
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Life and Career Planning
activities
Education and Training
Mentoring, Coaching
and Counseling
T-group (Sensitivity
training)
Job redesign
Gestalt OD
Behavior modeling
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Individual goal setting /
360 degree feedback
Performance appraisal
Leadership development
Values Clarification and
Value Integration
Conflict Management
Action Learning
Self-Awareness Tools
Reflection
Responsibility Charting
Interventions designed to improve the
effectiveness of Teams
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Team building: task /
process directed
Interdependency exercise
Appreciative inquiry
Responsibility charting
Role analysis technique
Decision making, problem
solving, planning, goal
setting in team
Conflict management/
Confrontation meeting
Job enrichment
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MBO
Appreciations and
concerns exercise
Gestalt OD
Visioning
Quality of work life
programmes
Quality circles
Force field analysis
Self managed teams
Process consultation
Interventions designed to improve the
effectiveness of the Organisation
 Interdependency exercise
 Socio-technical systems
 Survey feedback
 MBO
 Appreciative inquiry
 Cultural analysis
 QWL programmes
 Confrontation meetings
 TQM
 Visioning
 Physical settings
 Strategic planning
 Large scale systems
 Performance
change
management
 Succession planning
 Structural changes /
 Employee wellness /
Restructuring: Downsizing,
Reward system
Decentralization and
 Diversity management
Centralization
 KM
Interventions designed to improve
the Process
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Continuous Process Improvement
Process Reengineering
TQM
Benchmarking
Six Sigma
Procedural Manuals
Work Simplification
A Successful OD Intervention
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Communicate more openly
Collaborate more effectively
Take more responsibility
Maintain a shared vision
Solve problems more effectively
Show more respect and support for others
Interact with each other more effectively
Be more inquisitive
Be more open to experimentation and new
ways of doing things
Conclusion
Intervention is vehicle for
causing change. One of the
critical aspects of making an
intervention successful is being
certain the person responsible
for implementing change has a
good knowledge of intervention
appropriate to the situation.
Who will take initiative?
May-14
Who will take initiative?
May-14
Thank You