ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE
‘From more than twenty decisions to one’
How a simplification of procedures triggers an organisational change
Annelies Gerritsen
As an Overall Account Holder at my employer, the Municipality of Amsterdam, I coordinate the collaboration with a large welfare organisation. This role is part of the Unambiguous Management of Welfare Organizations project, which concerns a new form of commissioning. As a client, we want to make the provision of services to citizens more effective and reduce the administrative burden for the implementing organisation. The integral assignment is central. We make clear agreements on contact moments, reports, accountability and results. This working method basically requires trust, we want to trust the professionalism of our partners. In this way we give more space to the expertise of the professionals.
“Sandra thinks practically, listens well and what I find very important, she makes my wishes clear and specific. Her way of working appeals to me because she steers in a helpful way, without being dominant. Sandra has taken a group of people into a change process and made them enthusiastic about it. Difficult seems to be easy.
Safe Context
I realised that this process optimisation would have a lot of impact. That is why I asked Sandra in 2018 to guide me and my counterpart from the welfare organisation with the fresh view of an outsider. Not that I expected resistance because everyone supported this improvement. But in recent years, roles have become hugely intertwined, creating false expectations.
“Sandra was eminently able to create that safe context in which everything could come to the table.”
To clearly assign the “what” to the municipality as the client and the “how” to the executing body, we really had to take a close look at our own share and make the processes transparent. Sandra was eminently able to create that safe context in which everything could come to the table. Complex situations should just be able to exist and did not have to be solved immediately which gives some kind of relaxation in the process. She has always given us clear advice on how to keep the process moving, while at the same time she hosted the participatory working methods in which all parties involved could contribute to the solution on an equal basis.
Successful
In 2019, we succeeded in formulating the welfare assignment for my city districts in one subsidy decision instead of twenty-three as the year before. In order to place everything in one decision, you have to make choices. In terms of information provision, for example, you can no longer request endless reports and we feel compelled to re-fill our clientship.
“Sandra observes and listens, she brings clarity in my wishes.”
That still feels quite uncomfortable, in fact the real organisational change is only now being discussed for us. We would like to rely on the expertise of the implementing organisation and learn to have a conversation about what really matters. Working on the basis of trust requires something else from you than working from control. Fortunately, I can then ask Sandra to take a look and make my wishes concrete. What I liked during the process is that Sandra listened carefully to what I told her and that she always offered suggestions that were really helpful. We have also managed to issue a single decision for 2020!
Organisational Change
The honest organisation
Change is a process of vulnerability and lasting change is a huge challenge. You will not get there with a cosmetic trick. Organisational change starts with the courage to really look at what is there, that forms the real basis from where you continue.
MOROSOPH helps you build an honest organisation in which the invisible becomes visible. An open and honest discourse creates insight, understanding and trust. MOROSOPH invites people to take responsibility for their share in the organisation and their own development. An honest organisation offers employees guidance in times of change and is the best guarantee for a lasting and meaningful result.
“You can’t do anything on your own, you have to do it together” -Johan Cruijff
MOROSOPH is the wise fool who knows like no other how to tap into the group wisdom. This starts with creating a safe context that allows people to speak from their hearts and stand for what matters to them. Bringing out the inside of the organisation, the prevailing culture, what people think, feel and want, is crucial to achieve sustainable innovation. That goes beyond creating support. Support is a concept that you, as an employee, must attach to when you have found it.
MOROSOPH designs organisational change as a sociocratic process based on equality and a future focus. The question “how?” is answered from connectivity, from the group’s wisdom.
Does Morosoph fit your bill? Let’s get acquainted!
Are you ready for the sage who puts her finger on the sore spot with humour and lightness? Let’s make an appointment for a closer acquaintance on the way to meaningful change.
Visioning: from don’t to do
“The idea is that you develop people and organisations from what is already good and thus create the foundation for further development based on trust. Sandra guides you in looking beyond what went wrong and how not to do it. She is particularly interested in how things can be done. In addition, employees usually know very well what is needed to achieve an improvement and Sandra can get that wisdom from a group par excellence. ”
Coaching: focus on perception and harmony
“It was a bit different than I had previously imagined in coaching. I don’t know if I thought I would go home with a marketing plan, but I do know that that wouldn’t make me happy. Sandra took the time to elaborate on my intrinsic motivation, my motives for making music. ”