Organizational Design

What is organizational design?

It’s no surprise that many organizations are experimenting with organizational design today. The world has become more volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous than ever before. Predictability has been replaced by constant change—driven by shifts in demographics, education, and expectations about working life, as well as crises like war and climate change that affect all sectors.

This high degree of change has led to the rise of new forms of organizational design. The classic bureaucratic model—with its clear chains of command and siloed hierarchies—is increasingly being supplemented by more flexible and fluid forms inspired by humanocracy, teal, holacracy, cells, and circles.

As the term suggests, organizational design is fundamentally about envisioning and designing the best and most effective way to build an organization. A well-functioning organizational design consists of a structure that defines roles, responsibilities, reporting lines, and the key workflows that support desired behaviors and collective task execution. More specifically, it refers to how tasks are distributed among employees while ensuring that every individual, team, function, and division is sufficiently integrated—moving toward shared goals.

Organizational Design vs. Organizational Chart

When discussing organizational design, many people refer to the organizational chart—the diagram showing who reports to whom. But design and diagram are not the same. Organizational design also encompasses the processes behind decisions about the chart: Who works with whom? Who reports to whom? Who is responsible for which decisions? The answers depend on the underlying design.

In our ever-changing world, some organizational forms become fashionable while others are seen as outdated. However, blindly following trends without considering the overall organizational design can be risky. Design is about more than just boxes and lines on paper.

A strong organizational design is based on alignment between the collective task, the structure supporting it, and the processes bridging those tasked with its execution. Neglecting any element—or focusing too much on a trendy new form (like a leaderless organization)—can leave you with a paralyzed organization.

How we can help you

We offer leadership and organizational sparring sessions, research-based education and presentations on organizational design as well as training programs specifically focused on equipping you with general management competencies.

See examples of our services here:

Presentations

Inspirational research-based presentations on organizational design for all levels within your organization.

Sparring

Advisory support regarding your organization’s development or key initiatives.

Workshops

Facilitation of active workshops focused on competence development at management or executive level.

LEAD’s approach to organizational design

At LEAD – Enter Next Level, we have extensive experience helping organizations balance the right structure with the right processes, meeting/decision forums, and behavioral markers for desired conduct.

Organizational form, chart, and workflows are all central elements of effective design. Every organization needs to select forms that best support their mission; create a chart clarifying roles/responsibilities; and establish core processes/meeting structures to bind everything together.

By analyzing your current—and future—situation correctly; implementing the right design; and continuously developing it over time—you build the foundation for delivering your core mission successfully.

Our approach is highly collaborative: We are not experts in your reality—but we bring deep knowledge of organizational design. Together we can create the right solution for your context.

The consulting team working with organizational design

Ronja Ries Højbjerg

Chief Consultant

Contact us for more information about what we can do for your organization

Are you facing organizational change? Do you need strategic advice or a cultural development program?

Contact us so we can tailor together a program that develops precisely those competencies and structures needed to strengthen and future-proof your organization.

Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen

Managing Director & Partner

Master of Law

Mobile: +45 22 42 18 11
Email: aba@lead.eu