Our Approach

Give people a fish and they eat for a day; teach people to fish and they eat for life.

Leading people, managing change, and delivering results are the focus of the O.D. Systems approach. We help our clients accomplish this focus by providing assessment, consulting, training, and facilitation services that are tailored to meet the specific needs of the client organization. A tremendous benefit to working with O.D. Systems is the close and continuous relationship we develop with each client—a relationship built on trust. All our programs are directed at the individual, work group, and organizational levels, whether configured vertically, horizontally, or through a matrix structure—so that the client´s needs can be addressed in a strategic, systematic, and systemic manner. We are interested in helping the organizations teach people how to fish – not developing dependency on us.

A needs assessment is conducted at the beginning of each project, in order to identify issues, the scope of the project, and the expected outcomes. In response to complex client needs, we often use multiple methods in our approach, such as appreciative inquiry (AI), facilitated dialogue, and group ware to promote interaction, discussion, and consensus building. Training and facilitation projects are experiential in nature—more than 75% participant-based—and may include:

1. Common readings
2.
Participant needs assessment
3. Coaching
4. Leadership/personality styles assessment
5. Management models
6. Planning modules
7. Teambuilding exercises
8. Case studies
9. Structured problem solving and decision making exercises
10. Lecture
11. Individual and small group exercises
12. Role play
13. Speakers and panel discussions
14. Homework exercises
15. Individual and small group consultations

Training alone is rarely the "solution" to the challenges facing organizations today. We have consistently found that complex organizational issues tend to be best addressed through a combination of assessment, consultation, and training. O.D. Systems´ consultants are routinely available to provide individual and small group coaching and consultation. In on-site training and facilitation projects, our associates are available for one hour after the scheduled training day for individual or group consultations. This is offered as a benefit to organizations, at no additional cost, for participants who do not want to raise sensitive questions or issues during open discussion.

Our approach is often based on an organization development (OD) framework using simple management models that provide a structure for analysis and development. Two essential tools are our Four-Stage Analysis & Development model and our Five Factor Organizational Analysis model. The Four-Stage Analysis & Development model is a two-dimensional approach to examining individual, work group, and organizational behavior patterns by focusing on four questions:

Stage 1: Where are we (am I) now?
Stage 2: Where do we (I) want/need to be?
Stage 3: What is keeping us (me) from it?
Stage 4: What are we (am I) going to do about it?

 

        
  © O.D. Systems 2000

 

The Five Factor Organizational Analysis model focuses on the organization´s mission, along with the structures, resources, power dynamics, and culture of the organization that drive, support, or impede mission accomplishment.

        

                     
  © O.D. Systems 2000