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It's a process that helps to align all parts of an organisation so it best delivers its strategy. The output of this is the operating model. 

It ensures that every part of the organisation is aligned to strategic priorities. 

It drives operational efficiency and effectiveness, from optimising the way work and information flows in the organisation, through to being clear on roles and responsibilities, decision-making, and ensuring the right resource is available when needed.

It improves the employee experience giving greater clarity on how individuals contribute to the overall mission.

A good design process will highlight choices and trade-offs. 

A restructure or downsizing are potential outputs of an organisation design process, where a choice will need to be made on the best course of action to deliver the optimal operating model. 

Common 'triggers' for an organisation may be:

• Scaling ('growing pains')
• A change of strategy
• A need to respond to the environment/market
• Merger or acquisition
• Productivity concerns

Organisations go through stages of a 'lifecycle'. There are a variety of features that can be seen, heard, or felt depending on the stage. We have identified key points in the lifecycle with a Kozo flag - investing here in organisation design is recommended. Our 1-day workshop is a good place to start, to uncover if your organisation is fit for purpose and designed to deliver what it needs to. Whether the focus is a team, department, or the whole organisation, this high-impact workshop gets groups unstuck and focused fast.

At Kozo we use the Galbraith Star™️model as a framework. It is easy to understand and considers the main components of design:

1. Strategy - the focus and direction
2. Processes - the way work and information flows
3. Structure - the form of the organisation and how power is distributed
4. People - the skills and mindsets required
5. Rewards - the incentives and ways to motivate

Culture results from the way the organisation is designed. Simultaneously, culture shapes the organisation. This self-reinforcing relationship must be considered throughout the design process and not be seen as an after-thought.

At Kozo we believe and practice co-design. This means involving full representation of the organisation, so every part of the system has an opportunity to contribute.

It supports in driving greater commitment across the organisation when it comes to making design decisions and implementation. People protect what they help build.

The extent of involvement can happen at different stages of the design process, where senior leaders may be involved initially and then widened to other stakeholders as the design progresses.

We provide pre-reads to help connect design teams with the organisation design process and things to consider. Download these below. 

We talk about choices and trade-offs when designing an organisation. There is no such thing as a perfect design and it is never complete!

Some common mistakes we see include:

• Not being ready - jumping straight in and not recognising how committed leadership are, whether you have the resources to implement the change, or are brave enough to make the tough decisions.
• Starting with the org. chart - until you understand how work and information flows in the organisation, it is very difficult to determine how you should structure and group people.
• Forgetting that there is so much knowledge in the organisation - designing in isolation or outsourcing all the thinking to external consultants.
• Designing around people - whilst people are critical to make things happen, design should be based around the intent of the organisation first and foremost.
• Ignoring organisation design capability - investing in internal organisation design capability means the organisation can continue to adapt, flex, and evolve without reliance on external consultants.

We love Naomi Stanford's car analogy to describe this:

Organisation Design is like designing and delivering a car. Firstly understanding the intended purpose of the car (e.g. F1 race, desert rally, picking up kids from school) then building it (the blueprint, structure, and key driving features) specific for it's use. 

Organisation Development is the ongoing process of maintaining and optimising the car's performance (servicing, fuelling, and training the driver) once it's up and running. 

Organisation design is the architecture (the car itself) and organisation development is the maintenance and performance (keeping the car running).