Bring your corporate strategy to life
Developing the solutions to integrate your team is essential in a modern, remote-first work environment. Regardless of industry, ensuring that your corporation or enterprise is streamlined across verticals and functional departments is paramount if you want to succeed and be relevant and competitive in a high-stakes marketplace.
By implementing a data-driven operating model and updated organizational design, you can position your enterprise to thrive, even in a challenging climate.
Executing a well-planned organizational design can be a complex task without expert advice. The team at Hunter Stevens LLC can provide insight and experience to simplify organizational design (or redesign) and facilitate a smooth transition into a new workflow. Contact our professional team today to begin the organizational design process.
What is An Operating Model In Organizational Design?
When formatting a model of operation for your organization, it’s important to consider all of the functional departments of the business. Whether you are starting from scratch or in the process of corporate restructuring, an intentional approach will create a cohesive workforce.
To create an effective system and workflow, begin by examining your corporation’s value proposition. Ask questions such as:
- How do departments work together from project inception to completion?
- How do we provide value to our customers?
- What is our strategy for long-term success?
Designing an operating model to target the right customers is dependent on three key components: people, process, and organization. When these aspects of the operation are in alignment, there is a clear sense of coordination; all of the parts work together to create a succinct whole. This is why operations consulting is a value add for your organizational restructuring process.
Four Structures of Organizational Design
There are a few types of organizational design, many overlap and others are specific to certain business models. Choosing the right organizational structure for your business will help align design and objectives.
- Functional
This is the most common or traditional form of organizational design, particularly for small and mid-sized companies. In a functional design, work groups are segmented based on function. Each department or division is responsible for a specific functional output for the business. These typically include siloed work in divisions like accounting, HR, legal, production, sales, marketing, manufacturing, etc. where each group works independently of the others.
- Multidivisional
This style of organization exists primarily for large-scale organizations that have many products or services. Each product or service is segmented into a division of the corporation and operates as a separate business entity. Companies may also opt for a multidivisional design if they work with diverse target audiences, or across different global regions.
- Flat
This design structure is common among modern start-up companies. Flat organizational design opposes the stereotypical hierarchical design which imposes a strict chain of command-based workflow. On the contrary, flat design is less concerned with rank, and more in tune with an autonomous and interdependent work style. It encourages organic collaboration across departments and statuses.
- Matrix Structures
A matrix organizational design is a unique approach to a workflow that serves well for businesses that engage employees in cross-functional workloads. In a business that follows a matrix organizational structure, employees may be part of various teams at once, report to several superiors in different departments, and attempt to meet (and ideally merge) multiple cross-department objectives within one role.
Keep in mind that there are many organizational designs and the right one for your organization could be a combination of design structures. A specialty consulting firm can help you select and implement the right structure for your corporation.
Does Your Organization’s Design Support Your Strategy?
When establishing an organizational design structure, a strategic approach is a must. One operational model may seem like the right choice in theory, but in practice, a different approach would make more sense for long-term business success.
This will depend greatly on your goals. If optimizing financial outcomes is most important, you may implement one structure. On the other hand, if growing market share is most important, you may opt for a different strategy.
Keep corporate strategy front of mind while restructuring your organizational design. When the design you implement matches business plans, achieving strategic goals goes from possible to probable.
Design and strategy should also be seen as an iterative process. Updating one implies updating the other. Due to the changing nature of global markets, industries, and businesses, any large-scale variable that impacts design or strategy will also impact its counterpart. Prepare to update your plan consistently to strategically set up your company for success.
Revise your operating model with expert support
At Hunter Stevens LLC we bring years of experience and knowledge to facilitate organizational restructuring. Our team is prepared to support them from an operating model strewn with bottlenecks, to a smooth framework for a streamlined workflow.
Contact our office today to discuss your current position and gain insight into the transition to an organizational design that better aligns with your long-term business goals.