Research insights: Part 1
Over the last 6 weeks, we’ve been spending time talking, synthesising and sharing insights as a team. So far we’ve spoken with just 29 people across VCSEs (focusing on smaller and medium sized charities rather than the big players who may already have a good sense of how they evolve), VCSE networks, funders and organisational practitioners.
Research has alway formed a large part of any project development. On this project, we’re taking a design-led approach which means that we start with some initial ideas and evolve them as we go; as a team, with the people who have joined our open call and with those we’re undertaking more in depth user-research interviews with. Rather than starting from a blank slate and trying to find the common themes, it gives people something to push against, challenge or perhaps associate with.
Through this we’ve uncovered a number of common themes and settings and it’s framing our direction as we begin to move into the next phase of design. This process is iterative, focusing on continuously testing, questioning and adapting as we learn. As such what we share today, will likely shift from the feedback and comments we get.
Making a start
We recognise that there are a number of different perspectives about what organisational development looks like in practice. An overall consensus as to “What is OD?” isn’t something we want to concentrate on. As we highlighted in our previous post, it’s hard to agree on terminology and word-smithing isn’t going to achieve something practical. We do however need to find the common attributes and characteristics that enable best practice. Bring in the broader understanding and interpretations that we can incorporate to principles and standards in ways that people can understand.
Something that is important to us as a team is a sense of place in organisational development. That is to say, what is the context within which charities and nonprofits are working today.
Sharing what we’re learning
We’ve been overwhelmed at the openness from people, sharing their thoughts and experiences.
“[Organisational Development] is going through a period of additional flexibility — some classic models weren’t built for the level of uncertainty that exists at the moment.”
It’s become clear that one area that needs change is around the models we use. These have been adapted from a different era and more often brought over from the business sector. We can’t ignore that the world has been forever affected following the pandemic and these no longer apply.
Our early findings have uncovered processes & practices, the inherent behaviours and mindsets that are needed when people think about effective organisational development.
Process and practices
“Organisational Development is ‘not the domain of just the people trained in it — people do it all the time and they are either perpetuating norms or changing them.”
So often organisational development only happens at moments of intervention. When funding permits or new leadership has a vision for a new strategy. The people we’ve spoken to have constantly highlighted that organisational development is effective when it feels organic, interactive and fluid as part of the natural growth or impact life cycle of the organisation. And that this is acknowledged by everyone at all levels.
Behaviours
“…this moment has thrown everything up in the air and raised questions about how to reform for the better, along with reforming Organisational Development principles that haven’t served them in the past.”
Similarly, organisational development needs to be grounded in the culture of the organisation. We’ve heard that building agency and autonomy, coupled with interdependency, has to be a priority. These need to be built on trusting relationships. Where each other’s goals and motives are recognised and understood. And consultants act as long term coaches rather than as quick engagement fixes.
Organisational development has to go further by being shaped as a system and within the community with which it works. That requires collaboration beyond good teamwork and for organisations to look at how they work together. We’re starting to hear about some amazing examples of this in Hackney and Hull. We’re excited that these are being led by people who have accepted to be on our Steering Group who can bring their experience to help our outcomes.
Mindsets
“Effective Organisational Development recognises an organisation as an organic structure, rather than a machine-like one. Therefore changing out one component won’t change the whole. Organisational Development must permeate the whole organisation to be effective, like cells in an organism.”
The conversations we’re having are constantly helping us to expand our thinking. We’re not just looking to challenge the mindsets in many places of work but how we think about the project also.
One area this has been highlighted is in the role of leadership. People have mixed feelings over the need for hierarchies. There are a lot of programmes in place to help with capability building and personal development for people to fulfil what they want from the role they are playing. Yet not everyone wants to be a leader. Rather space is needed for people to take the lead when relevant or beneficial for themselves, the team they work with and of course the community they are supporting.
We’re aware that there’s a lot more we still need to learn. We still have a few 1–2–1 interviews to cover and these themes will continue to evolve. We’re taking inspiration from other principles in different spaces, such as the Government Design Principles or CAST’s Digital Principles. Additionally, our partner IVAR are specifically focussing on desk research and will help to bring a depth of examples and history in this space for us to also call upon and build our resources from.
Moving into phase two
We’ll be continuing to share what we’re learning, through blog posts, questions on social media and open feedback. Our next phase focuses on testing and sense checking through co-design workshops with the networks we’re connecting with and participating in sessions with other related events.
If you know of, or are doing something that you think would be beneficial and think we should be a part of that conversation, then please reach out to us and we’ll try and come along to as many things as we can.
