Читать книгу Organization Development - Donald L. Anderson - Страница 52

Beckhard (1969) writes that “the basic building blocks of an organization are groups (teams)” (p. 26). They are central categories in the organizational system and, as a result, the major target for many interventions. Organizational members almost always belong to at least one, if not several, interdependent teams, organized by function (e.g., marketing, human resources) or level (e.g., vice presidents, second-shift managers), for example. French (1969) writes that organization members generally want to participate in at least one group of this type (the immediate department being the most common), to both contribute and to be accepted, and that group effectiveness is at least in some way dependent on the group’s taking some of the major task and maintenance responsibilities of the leader. These groups both reflect and affect the larger organization’s functioning, since the successful functioning of finance, marketing, or sales affects other departments that depend on them. Therefore, successful team functioning is essential to larger systemwide success. Coghlan (1994) concludes, “As the success of an organization’s change endeavors depends on an effective utilization of teams and groups to move the change through an organization, skills at understanding and facilitating groups and teams are essential for the management of change” (p. 22). Because of their prevalence and importance, paying attention to the health of groups and teams is a key value in OD.

In addition to formal groups and teams, individuals are also members of informal groups of colleagues, friends, and associates, often from multiple departments, that exert a powerful impact on an individual’s behavior. Formal and informal group norms and cultural beliefs of groups comprise the unwritten code of behavior, and these codes are taught to new members. Understanding these norms and codes, what they tell individuals about how to behave, and what impact they have on the organization is an important part of understanding the group’s ability to contribute to organizational change.