Organizational Development: A Manual for Managers and ... - FPDL

It is good to do problem solving work with a group of people who have different information, skills,
attitudes and interests related to the matter. John S. Oakland called this ‘the team approach to
problem solving’ and stressed some clear advantages to using it:
• ‘A greater variety of complex problems may be tackled – those beyond the capability of any
one individual or even one department – by the pooling of expertise and resources.
• Problems are exposed to a greater diversity of knowledge, skill, experience, and are solved
more efficiently.
• The approach is more satisfying to team members, and boosts morale and ownership
through participation in problem solving and decision making.
• Problems that cross departmental or functional boundaries can be dealt with more easily,
and potential/actual conflicts are more likely to be identified and solved.
• The recommendations are more likely to be implemented than individual suggestions, as
the quality of decision making in good teams, is high.’ (Oakland, 1995)
In any case, all objective and subjective factors that may influence the process must be taken into
account. All risks should be evaluated, necessary check-points identified, and resources
estimated. The range of tasks should be defined and sequenced. Jobs should be allocated to
those who will perform them and linked with resources. Then finally, the plan is near perfect. But
life is not; it will deviate from the plan. And again - here is a job for a manager, or a self-managed
team.
The implementation process may go well or may be a disaster. The latter is more likely. Thus,
monitoring is needed and corresponding control is inevitable. Since everything used as a basis for
the action plan was only an assumption, monitoring should continuously check if each assumption
comes sufficiently close to the actual reality, otherwise all related decisions need to be revised and
corresponding plans corrected. This is inevitable in the long run. Any plan is an instrument for
optimization of actions, not a trap. In the short run – an action plan is an order for execution. Plan
execution may be controlled by a manager or by an executor, or group, or team - it does not
matter. Somebody should be in charge to ensure that what was planned is done. Somebody in
charge should also ensure that the plan remains relevant. And somebody should monitor to
determine if the original problem still exists - and if it is still the same problem. Unless all problems
are solved and a state of comfort restored forever (which is impossible…) – the circle keeps
turning around and the spiral goes up.
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