How to determine organizational structure?

Having worked in organizational systems analysis in a past lifetime, I can tell you the first thing to do is learn how the office operates at this time, and use that as the basis for working forward with a more organized unit. I suggest you do the following in the order they are presented:

1. Gather up all existing information that will tell you the organizational structure and operating procedures as they have existed. Keep in mind that what is on paper will likely not reflect how the office has "actually" operated to this point in time.
2. Develop a questionnaire that asks the following information of all the existing employees:
   • Job title
   • Job description
   • Who is your immediate supervisor (name and title)
   • Who answers to you (names and titles)
3. Develop a questionnaire that asks the following information of all existing employees (give them one questionnaire for each operating procedure they are asked to describe:
   • Please write the title (to the best of your ability) for a specific operating procedure for which you have some or all responsibility to conduct.
   • Please describe the operating procedure, step-by-step, and who is involved in that specific step.
   • Please describe each form used in that operating procedure.
4. Gather up all the information from all of these questionnaire, and begin constructing what your employees perceive to be the organizational structure and operating procedures.

After these four steps I believe you will find what everybody else finds when conducting (re)organization. Some of the symptoms will likely be duplication of effort, gaps in oversight, valuable loss of time in procedural actions not necessary or repeated at a point in time when it is not necessary, some lack of communication regarding supervisory and procedural responsibilities and more.

The next step is critical. You are dealing with an existing, internal, political organizational structure requiring change from one degree to another. People are very resistant to change, especially if they have survived in the present environment. You will want to consider the following:

1. Let everybody know this is not a witch hunt. You are charged with finding the best way to reorganize the office in a manner that makes "everybody's job" easy to do.
2. Let everybody know that reorganizing and fine-tuning the office can result in less expense and greater opportunities to make money. If the office becomes more profitable then it is more likely to remain intact, but changes must be made to insure that.
3. Let everybody know you want them to be involved in the reorganization. They need to know their involvement is believed to be valuable. They have worked in the system and are in very good position to offer insight on how to change things in a manner to make it work better for everybody.
4. However, you also need to let them know you do have the final decision in all changes that are made. You have been given that responsibility, and if it doesn't work you are the one who is out of a job. So if you succeed then the office personnel succeeds.
5. Begin developing your project timeline for revising job descriptions, organizational structure and operating procedures. Allow the employees to view your "preliminary" revisions and to submit feedback on those revisions. Afterwards, based on all your information and their feedback, put the new system in place.

Allow for a period of trial and error for the new system to work. You may to conduct some additional revision. This is the fine-tuning process.

In the end, you will learn as much as possible and allow the employees to feel they have been a very integral part of the total process.

I wish you the very best.

Steve Windhaus