Characteristics of Peak Performing Organizations
What is your organization's structure? If you are still operating from a "top down" pyramid where all decisions are made by senior management and trickle down to staff, you are in for a rude awakening. You won't survive without adapting to a dramatic change in work culture.
From local governments to small nonprofits, organizations are adopting a culture that is more receptive, adaptive and generative -- always focused on meeting the needs of stakeholders. Here are seven characteristics of new generation organizations.
- Strong staff involvement - input to the organization starts from those most in-the-know about whether the organization is achieving its preferred outcomes with its stakeholders or not. This way, the organization stays highly attuned and adaptive to the needs of stakeholders.
- Organic in nature - fewer rules and regulations, sometimes no clear boundaries and always-changing forms.
- Authority based on capability - ensures the organization remains a means to an end and not an end in itself.
- Alliances - takes advantage of economies of scale. Alliances can take the form of collaborations, networks, strategic alliances/mergers, etc.
- Teams - shares activities to take advantage of economies of scale at the lowest levels of activities. Ensures full involvement of employees at the lowest levels.
- Flatter, decentralized organizations - less middle management, resulting in top management exchanging more feedback with those providing products and services; also results in reduced overhead costs.
- Mindfulness of environments, changes, patterns, and themes -priority on reflection and inquiry to learn from experience; develop "learning organizations."
Source: Written by Carter McNamara, Ph.D.
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