Organizational dynamics is a critical concept in human resource management and organizational performance. Over an extended period of time, patterns of interactions form between employees and members of an organization based on their workflow and other interaction. The ways that people behave alongside how managers execute strategic management to guide these interactions can significantly influence performance, effectiveness, and efficiency. The optimal objective of organizational development is to manage the process of organizational dynamics in a way that employees can cooperate and participate most effectively.
The importance of organizational design on workflow, operations, relationships, and overall organizational dynamics is highly underestimated. Poorly planned design can create significant inefficiencies or even conflicts, consistently creating barriers for the organization working with clients, stakeholders, and even internally. The issue is that many managers are reluctant to adopt organizational design change to support their staff and business model or do so poorly, resulting in consequences such as inappropriate staffing, functions working against each other, responsibilities overlooked, and the organizational structure does not align with strategic objectives.
There is an inherent mechanism between organizational design and structure, and the mechanisms of information, communication, trust, and incentives in a company. The core of organizational design should effectively combine the division of tasks with coordination (ensuring the task’s work in concert) (Burton & Obel, 2018). The elements listed here including evaluating management structures, clarifying job roles, and ensuring clear policies can strongly contribute to the process of revamping organizational design in a way that ensures a smooth-flowing system of operations.
Organizational dynamics is inherently a cross-discipline concept. That indicates people have to work across structures, departments, and cross-functional teams. Therefore, when structures are inefficient, there are consistent barriers. However, when the organizational design is well-planned, the organization becomes efficient and flexible in many ways.
Communication is the staple of highly effective performance in organizations, particularly in the context of a modern hospital that has multiple departments and complex workflow processes. It is in the best interest of the organization to foster this communication and collaborative initiatives as they contribute to trust, discourse, teamwork and shared input. In other words, it contributes to the relationships which make up the organizational dynamics and contributes to the effectiveness of performance.
There are many ways to foster interdepartmental collaboration and communication, but it has to be done right so that the measures are effective and permanent. It may require a combination of means, including removing systemic barriers which may prevent such communication but also artificially pushing for collaboration on specific projects or team-building. With the correct tools, it should be effective to start building collaborative relationships across cross-functional teams, an aspect that is highly relevant in healthcare environments where interdisciplinary teams are expected to collaborate for best performance.
The beneficial role of interprofessional collaboration and communication in healthcare has been demonstrated numerous times in literature. This serves as an additional argument for promoting and fostering such relationships for better effectiveness among departments. In turn, their increased experience and problem-solving abilities can then address the needs of the organizations. Furthermore, the organizational dynamics will benefit as relationships among teams would grow to recognition of each other’s roles and mutual respect.
Despite the common perception that organizational culture is a naturally-occurring phenomenon, it is in fact built and developed. Ranging from the visible policies and promoted behavior to the underlying truths and practices. Most organizational units with a history have a group culture, which serves as an underlying and unwritten code for their interactions and dynamics. Organizational culture typically reveals a deeper level of understanding and patterns and can be used to predict future behavior or potentially guide it (Schein & Schein, 2016).
A sense of culture and community in the workplace is a contributing factor to organizational success and the development of organizational dynamics. Attaining a sense of community and belonging is a vital social aspect as identified by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. It is in the best interest of managers and the organization to create an organizational culture and environment that fosters commonality and belonging among employees, creating the bonds for a sense of community that is driven by shared purposes.
The organizational culture is strongly influenced by external factors including structure and leadership discussed earlier. Culture offers the workforce the potential to demonstrate effective performance and organizational dynamics. However, it must be supported and upkeep, protected from outside influences. Furthermore, flexible organizational development and continuous learning are beneficial ways of supporting a strong environment as the workforce can anticipate and adapt to changes. The key is to promote consistency which is when organizational dynamics can thrive.
Reference
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