It's Important (Deng Queddeng)

Solve problems, learn from experience, reframe shared perceptions, adapt to external changes, improve performances and influence behaviour are some of the reasons why organizational development or planned change is used by organizations. It’s there for a reason. That is why it’s important!

The four of us all belong to an organization. Even if it were a student org, church, or an outside of school organization, we all have our specific functions. We contribute to society, the mega system where we all belong.

Organization development is a planned system-wide change using behavioural science and humanistic values, principles, and practices to achieve greater organizational performance, productivity, and effectiveness. Organization development may look like a piece of cake but like any cake, you need all those ingredients to make it perfect.

OCHANGE in general will make you realize the value of your minor subjects like psychology, sociology, philosophy, and the other majors that you are taking up as an organizational communication major. In all of this, we learned that whatever needs to be changed must be communicated well. For example, an organization plans to decrease the number of participants in their annual team-building seminar from 20 to 10. And the team-building helps in getting potential future leaders for the organization. With only few slots, it would be difficult to pass the responsibilities of the current officials. This is a huge change since the members are used to the number and the processes will change for sure.. This is where planned change comes in. You don’t just say, “Hey! We’re changing the system.”, without telling the whole organization about it.

In an organization, there will be always restraining and driving force that will influence or affect your decisions for the organization. It is important to know your members’ needs (social sciences will help in this area) and to know what they do not like about the change. Our professor said, if you are encountering problems especially with restraining forces, you have to make them positive assets or cut them off.

You have to establish that the change is directed to increase your organization’s effectiveness. To set the boundaries of your decisions, you have to evaluate different situations and generate potential alternatives in case something goes wrong. You also have to carefully plan the steps you’re going to take and implement the change at the right time, using the right people. And then evaluate the effects of the change to see if it worked or it didn’t.


Source: Cummings, T. G., & Worley, C. G. (2009). The Nature of Planned Change. Organization development & change (9 ed., pp. 22-41). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.