Systemic organizational development

Effective accompaniment in high complexity
In order for orga­nizati­ons to remain capa­ble of action and flu­id in com­plex envi­ron­ments, it is neces­sa­ry to have an eye for com­ple­xi­ty at various levels. We keep our ear to the ground and tail­or for­mats that help move the orga­nizati­on toward a future worth sha­ping. We take peo­p­le as serious­ly as struc­tures and mea­sura­ble results. We remain pre­cise and focu­sed on the sub-are­as and keep an eye on the big pic­tu­re. We balan­ce self-orga­nizati­on and lea­der­ship, cla­ri­fy points of fric­tion and ensu­re good trans­fer to day-to-day business.

Systemic organizational development in practice

Sin­ce 2010, I have been on the road as an orga­nizatio­nal deve­lo­per in orga­nizati­ons ran­ging from cor­po­ra­ti­ons to medi­um-sized busi­nesses to muni­ci­pal spon­sors and soci­al­ly dri­ven orga­nizati­ons. During this time, I have accom­pa­nied a wide varie­ty of pro­jects: From smal­ler work­shop for­mats to lon­ger accom­p­anime­nt to mul­ti-year deve­lo­p­ment pro­ce­s­ses in lar­ge staff. It often starts with an orga­nizatio­nal dia­gno­sis to iden­ti­fy key levers and are­as of ten­si­on. A reflec­tion work­shop makes the­se visi­ble and dis­cussa­ble and is the pre­lude to a tail­or-made pro­cess after­wards. We inte­gra­te cus­to­mi­zed work­shops with teams, work with the manage­ment team or indi­vi­du­al key play­ers. We take care of cla­ri­ty and imple­men­ta­ti­on of stra­te­gic gui­de­lines and dri­ving via reso­nan­ce teams and stee­ring committees.

For example:

  • Culture diagnosis of individual areas at a large German service provider with the aim of translating levers for change to the needs of the area. Web-based questionnaires were supplemented with qualitative interviews, and key hypotheses about areas of tension and possible topics for further work were derived. The diagnosis was the basis for a subsequent development process.
  • Organizational development at a social service agency in transition with a focus on guiding the team of 20 employees through changed ownership and new leadership toward new collaborative structures, resolving escalated conflicts, and integrating evolved roles.
  • Working with the management team of a large social welfare organization that has to save money due to tighter legislation and increasing cost pressure and wants to develop new structures and a clearer management culture to achieve this - without giving up its own cultural currencies or losing long-serving employees.

What it could be about:

Strengthen leadership

Work with managers and management teams

Lea­der­ship is an essen­ti­al enabler of coope­ra­ti­on in the orga­nizati­on: as a trans­la­tor of over­ar­ching decis­i­ons into ope­ra­tio­nal action, as a media­tor of the ten­si­on bet­ween stra­tegy and day-to-day busi­ness, as a nego­tia­ting part­ner for manage­ment and employees ali­ke, as a mes­sen­ger of infor­ma­ti­on to the orga­nizati­on as a who­le and a mes­sen­ger of dif­fi­cult news, as a source of impe­tus to the orga­nizati­on and a cata­lyst for inno­va­ti­on. Lea­der­ship often accom­plishes much that is litt­le visi­ble. We streng­then lea­der­ship as a func­tion and lea­ders via work with indi­vi­du­al lea­ders, peers at one level, and lea­der­ship teams in the ver­ti­cal. We bring trans­pa­ren­cy to are­as of ten­si­on and resour­ces with 360° feed­backs and work­shops on lea­der­ship in the orga­nizati­on. And we streng­then lea­der­ship as a dri­ver and sen­se-maker as part of ongo­ing orga­nizatio­nal deve­lo­p­ment processes.

Advice for people with responsibility

For chal­len­ging topics, influ­en­ti­al ide­as and cri­ti­cal moments: We bring cla­ri­ty to com­ple­xi­ty, test dif­fe­rent angles and think ahead to stake­hol­der per­spec­ti­ves. We cla­ri­fy sce­na­ri­os with their inter­ac­tions, levers and oppor­tu­ni­ties. We chall­enge and dive to deeper issues of the orga­nizati­on. And if you wish, to tho­se of your own inner world as well.
Executive Coaching
Team development

Development of teams and functions

Many things come tog­e­ther in teams: Psy­cho­lo­gi­cal inner worlds, team dyna­mics and sources of con­flict enable or hin­der good coope­ra­ti­on. Struc­tures, pro­ce­s­ses and roles of the orga­nizati­on crea­te secu­ri­ty or beco­me a sub­ject of fric­tion and slow down day-to-day busi­ness. Stra­te­gic ori­en­ta­ti­on is trans­la­ted into day-to-day busi­ness or is lost in per­so­nal per­spec­ti­ves. We cla­ri­fy what gets in the way of flu­id team move­ment. The fact that we can take a well-foun­ded look at psy­cho­lo­gi­cal fac­tors such as orga­nizatio­nal frame­work con­di­ti­ons pays off here in par­ti­cu­lar. In the con­text of orga­nizatio­nal deve­lo­p­ment, team deve­lo­p­ment is clo­se­ly lin­ked to the over­all pro­cess: the work­shops remain in a pro­tec­ted set­ting, if that makes sen­se, but can be lin­ked to the lar­ger pro­cess in terms of con­tent — e.g., the work­shops can be held in the con­text of the over­all pro­cess. by con­ver­ging results in stee­ring cir­cles or by cli­ents joi­ning in at agreed times to work together.

Strengthen competence development in the organization

What makes employees suc­cessful is often not their tech­ni­cal com­pe­tence but their pro­fes­sio­na­lism in navi­ga­ting com­plex envi­ron­ments and rela­ti­on­ships: The abili­ty to deal with con­flict, social and emo­tio­nal intel­li­gence, lea­der­ship, pro­fes­sio­nal com­mu­ni­ca­ti­on and one’s own resi­li­ence are often the fac­tors that deter­mi­ne how much power employees can bring to bear in day-to-day busi­ness. Rule of thumb: The less pre­de­fi­ned the work con­tent, the more the qua­li­ty of col­la­bo­ra­ti­on pays off in terms of results. We design cus­tom-fit trai­nings for your orga­nizati­on, indi­vi­du­al pro­fes­sio­nal groups or teams. Inten­si­ve, hands-on, empowe­ring and sus­tain­ab­ly effec­ti­ve via fixed trans­fer workshops.
Trainings & Continuing Education
Pulse checks & diagnoses

Making melodies of the organization audible

Cus­to­mi­zed que­sti­on­n­aires, per­so­nal inter­views, and results-ori­en­ted eva­lua­ti­on work­shops: Dia­gno­ses are very effec­ti­ve inter­ven­ti­ons in the orga­nizati­on. This is also becau­se topics that can­not be dis­cus­sed intern­al­ly beco­me visi­ble, are­as of ten­si­on beco­me clea­rer, and levers are iden­ti­fi­ed to address chal­lenges. Pro­fes­sio­nal­ly sound­ly concei­ved, a dia­gno­sis brings cla­ri­ty to the orga­nizati­on and crea­tes a new foun­da­ti­on for fur­ther work. Through a mode­ra­ted reflec­tion, we crea­te a space for working on the con­cre­te chal­lenges and levers — towards bin­ding agree­ments or clear assign­ments for next steps.
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Overview of the playing fields
Voices about my work
Principles of my work
My background