Diagnosing Organizational Systems (Psychology)

Complete an exercise designed to simulate the process of evaluating, selecting, designing, and conducting an organizational assessment.
As discussed previously, an organizational assessment is the process of evaluating various areas within the organization with regard to what is working well and what could be changed. An organizational assessment determines how internal factors affect external competitiveness. It involves a full-systems view of where the organization stands to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness in achieving the organization's mission. When viewed as an open system, organizations can be diagnosed at three levels: organizational level, group level, and individual level.

Identify an organization to diagnose. You may continue to use the organization you have evaluated in previous modules' assignments, or you may select a new organization. It is best to select an organization where you are currently working or were previously employed. This may be a nonprofit or volunteer organization. However, it is essential that you can identify the organization in terms of structure, culture, and work process. Think of the organization as a system.

Complete the following parts of this assignment for your selected organization:

Part A
Identify and document all of the following at the organizational level (1-2 pages):
The organization's mission and purpose
All inputs to the system
All outputs to the system
All processes your organization performs to transform inputs to outputs
Organizational environments
Organizational alignment
Feedback mechanisms to determine correctness or performance measures

Part B
Identify and document all of the following for a specific group or department at the group level (1-2 pages):
The group's mission and purpose
All inputs to the system
All outputs from the system
All processes your group performs to transform inputs to outputs
Organizational fit
Feedback mechanisms to determine correctness of performance measures

Part C

Compare and contrast two different organizational assessment tools that could be used to gather data for your organization. Identify their pros and cons (1-2 pages).

Part D

Develop an organizational assessment tool (ten questions) at the individual level. This can be in a format of your choice such as a written questionnaire or a survey form (2 pages).

Do the following when developing this tool:

Identify a situation in your organization to be assessed. This situation should consider areas such as funding streams, workflow processes, organizational structure, outcome measurement, client satisfaction, employee turnover, or its capacity for change. Develop questions you believe will assess the situation effectively. Write ten questions in total for your tool.

Explain the rationale for your approach in developing the questions (1-2 paragraphs).

Explain how you would administer the tool to the employees in your chosen organization. For example, would this be a one-time event, an annual survey, or an as-needed assessment? You do not have to actually administer the tool; just develop a plan for administering (1 paragraph).

Assess and explain your chosen organization's capacity to change and achieve greater effectiveness including financial performance, customer satisfaction, and employee engagement (1-2 paragraphs).

Select an appropriate communication and feedback method for how you would present the assessment and OD intervention results to your organization (1-2 paragraphs).

Write a 7page paper, include a copy of the tool you created along with your paper.