Organisational Analysis

The method we have developed gives an overview of the fundamental issues which managers have to deal with, constantly and on a regular basis, to make an organisation fit and successful. We call them "life factors".

Our online questionnaire puts your focus on these seven life factors.

Life Factor Screening helps you to manage your organisation and make decisions.

It sheds light on the matters that need more attention and reveals resources that can be tapped more intensely.

If everyone in your company gives attention to these topics and factors on a regular basis, frictional losses are minimised and energy can flow more easily towards implementing projects and reaching the goals of the organisation.

What does a typical Life Factor Screening involve?

1. Process Planning
   In consultation with you we design the analysis process, which includes e.g. internal communication about the proposal, informing the participants, the framework for communicating results, etc.
2. Set-up and Installation of the Tool
   We will work together collectively to define the overall conditions and then adapt the questionnaire accordingly to suit your project and/or your company: Launch, duration, reminders, number of participants, adaptation of the questionnaire, the type and depth of analyses to be made, the nature and number of control groups.
3. Survey and Evaluation
   We will provide you with the access data for forwarding them to the participants, who will then fill in the online questionnaire. When the scheduled survey period has elapsed we will analyse the data and deliver the report of results.
4. Workshop for Result Interpretation
   In a subsequent reflection workshop our consultants will collaborate with you to interpret the analysis results and together we will define recommendable actions and steps to pursue.

What is your benefit?

• You get a quick and effortless way to gain differentiated insights into your organisation.
• This screening is also suitable for individual management or project teams.
• You easily reach all team members and make sure they are involved in planned change processes.
• Systemic questionnaire: We evaluate the organisation, not individual qualities, opinions or assessments. You will receive the "big picture".
• You will be able to identify and juxtapose specific conclusions by comparing functions or company units, which will let you gain relevant information.
• In the evaluation workshops the results and their contextual content will be coupled with interventions.
• If the survey is repeated after a reasonable period of time, changes can be identified and your projects can be evaluated.

Profound change processes consume energy, money and attention - nevertheless, they often fail. A qualitative organisational analysis allows to determine a joint integral view of the initial situation before the change process and of the essential factors that are crucial for success.

During a qualitative organisational analysis we use open-ended interviews to listen in on your company, we observe and we ask questions. Our set of proven socio-scientific methods helps to identify even latent, i.e. subconscious or unexpressed functional factors.

We focus on the organisation and its environments, and not so much on individuals or their traits and relationships. In that way, it is possible to visualise and discuss the topics that are critical to success without the organisation being blocked by arguments about who might be to blame or who might be responsible.

Reading recommendation

Case study (German): Eine Tiefenstrukturanalyse verändert Führung (Ana analysis of underlying structures changes the management)

Oliver Schrader: Licht ins Führen bringen. Qualitative Führungsanalysen als Grundlage für Veränderung, German (The bright side of leadership. Qualitative management analyses as a basis for change)

Book recommendation on qualitative organisational analyses (German)

Oliver Schrader, Lothar Wenzl: „Die Spielregeln der Führung“ (German)

For every organisation it is a hard and tedious task to achieve changes. Therefore, it is essential for the success of any attempted change to ask how it is possible to mobilise and increase the energy of change, and to make it flow.

Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is at the same time philosophy and instrument of change, which uncompromisingly addresses the strengths, capabilities, resources and potentials that exist in an organisation. The central idea of AI is the notion that any change is most likely to be successful if the largest possible number of resources from within the system are identified and used. AI is one of the methods from the field of "positive change" which is based on scientific principles and has proven itself for decades.

The AI Model of Change

1. A problem is a cause to learn, evolve and change. Therefore, every AI process starts with describing the situation that is called the "problem", the current situation.

2. Behind every problem there is a desired reality, a concept how it should be. We identify this desired situation, which then becomes the focus and the intended outcome of the change process. This conceptualised target will be the benchmark for the entire change process.

3. Starting from the target concept the organisation will then be scrutinised:

• Identify: What works well in our organisation? Where is the target concept a reality already in today's practice? How did we solve similar problems in the past? What powers, strengths, resources can we tap to reach the goal?
• Invent: Develop a shared vision about the desired future of the organisation; how do we want our organisation to be when we have reached the goal?
• Plan: What is our plan to implement our vision?
• Evolve: What are our first steps, how do we use all our powers, to reach our goal and to make our vision come true?

The main instrument of this method are "appreciative inquiries", i.e. interviews which can be conducted individually or in a group.

The analysis can be done internally - i.e. by members of the organisation (usually based on a training received from an AI specialist) - or by external consultants.