What are organizational development interventions?

Have you ever worked in a company that’s trying really hard to improve? Maybe it wants a team of happy employees, more efficient processes, or an increase in customer satisfaction. Well, you’re not far from understanding what organizational development interventions are all about.

I know you’re thinking, “What do you mean by organizational development interventions?” Let’s cut straight to the chase. Organizational development (OD) interventions are planned activities or projects aimed at improving an organization. This could be anything from team-building workshops and leadership training to revamping how a company manages its projects. The goal is to boost performance, enhance communication, and foster a positive workplace culture.

Whether you’re a business owner, a manager, or just curious about organizational strategies, there’s something for everyone to learn on this topic, and we’ll explore it all in this article. We’ll also introduce you to how you can use work management software like Wrike to streamline your operations. Ready to see how a few strategic interventions can make a difference in your organization? Let’s get started!

Learn how to improve your work processes with Wrike — start your free trial now.

Understanding organizational development interventions

Have you ever been part of a team that just didn’t work out? Or worked in a company where there’s a high level of disorganization? That’s where organizational development interventions become significant in turning things around.

OD interventions are structured activities or initiatives to improve an organization’s effectiveness. They identify areas where a business can improve and then do something about it. These interventions can take many forms. It could be a workshop to boost team collaboration or a new system that streamlines project management. The key is that these aren’t random attempts at improvement. They’re strategic, planned efforts based on what the company needs most.

Why do companies need these interventions? Simple. Markets change, technologies evolve, and what worked yesterday might not work tomorrow. The beauty of OD interventions is their variety. They can be tailored to fit each organization’s unique challenges and goals. Whether fostering a more inclusive culture, improving communication channels, or adapting to a digital transformation, there’s an intervention for it.

For example, using technology to improve communications, you can set up a project and enable your team to view each task in the context of their unique project with features like cross-tagging. With Wrike’s cross-tagging, you can create a task once and make it visible across multiple departments without duplication. This means a task relevant to various departments is easily accessible to all, yet it remains uniquely trackable for your team’s specific goals.

Goals and objectives of organizational development interventions

The objectives of an organizational development intervention are to:

Improve work
Develop leadership skills
Enhance communication flow
Build trust to create a positive workplace culture
Reduce workplace conflict

Benefits of organizational development interventions

Organizational development interventions help to:

Improve efficiency for the organization
Boost employee engagement and satisfaction
Create a culture that embraces change and innovation
Enhance organizational performance
Solve problems and inform decision making

Types of organizational development interventions

Here are the main types of organizational development interventions:

Team building

Have you ever been part of a team where everyone seems to be rowing in opposite directions? Not fun, right? Team-building interventions act as the glue that binds everyone together. Imagine organizing an offsite retreat where the agenda is less about spreadsheets and more about bonding with your team. This helps to develop trust, improve communication, and create a sense of camaraderie. It breaks down those invisible walls that crop up between departments or within teams.

Build a better team as you’d build anything else — piece by piece. Consider these steps as you’re focusing on strengthening your own team:

Encourage team members to identify their unique skills and strengths.
Work together to define what quality means in the context of your work.
Create opportunities for team members to collaborate on projects that allow them to use their strengths.
Lead transparent discussions about challenges and setbacks.
Encourage the exchange of best practices for teamwork and collaboration.
Regularly solicit and provide constructive feedback.

Leadership development

Who’s the best boss you’ve ever had? Still thinking? Let me guess! Chances are that your best boss is one who has quality leadership skills that inspire you. Leadership development interventions focus on nurturing these qualities across the board. From workshops on emotional intelligence to coaching sessions on strategic decision making, these interventions equip potential and existing leaders with the skills they need to guide their teams through thick and thin.

Leaders with the right tools can be total game changers. Have you ever had that “Ugh, where are we with this project?” moment? Well, with Wrike’s project reporting, leaders can just glance at a dashboard and go, “Boom! Here’s our progress!” In Wrike, you can create a dashboard that’s like a command center for your projects, and you can add as many analytical widgets as you desire.

Change management

Change is inevitable. Whether it’s a merger, a shift in company strategy, or the implementation of new leadership, change management interventions are designed to ease the transition. It starts with clear communication: what’s changing? Why is it happening? How will it affect each employee?

But what does effective change management look like in action? Gallup conducted an extensive study involving 14,774 participants across 2,354 teams to explore the outcomes of strengths-based manager upskilling programs in change management. The findings revealed that managers who went through upskilling reported a 10-22% increase in their engagement levels, teams’ engagement rose by 8-18%, turnover rates fell by 21-28%, and the likelihood of performance improvement climbed by 20-28% compared to peers who did not participate in the program. This means that when you prioritize the development of leaders, your organization can implement change effectively.

Conflict resolution

No matter how united a workplace is, conflicts can and do arise. Conflict resolution interventions turn these potentially disruptive situations into opportunities for growth and understanding. Through mediation sessions, conflict resolution training, and establishing clear protocols, these interventions provide a framework for constructively addressing disagreements. The focus is on open communication, empathy, and finding a resolution that respects everyone’s needs and perspectives.

Communication enhancement

Remember the telephone game, where a message gets so distorted when it reaches the last person that it’s unrecognizable? In business, the stakes are much higher, and clear communication is non-negotiable. Communication enhancement interventions refine the way information is shared within an organization. This might involve redefining email protocols, introducing collaborative platforms, or holding workshops on effective communication skills.

The goal is to ensure that messages are conveyed clearly and efficiently, reducing misunderstandings and building a culture of transparency and openness. Using a collaborative work management platform like Wrike can help your team operate more seamlessly, making sure that everyone is on the same page.

With Wrike collaborative features, you can:

Allow your team to work on files simultaneously, reducing the need for back-and-forth emails
Directly annotate and comment on assets for clear feedback, simplifying revisions and approvals
Achieve full visibility across projects and tasks
Streamline approvals with a structured process involving team members and external partners
Review, approve, and monitor work from anywhere, whether via a desktop or mobile app
Bring all your work into one place from various channels like Gmail, Zoom, Slack, MS Teams, and more
Connect with over 400+ popular apps through premade integrations, or craft custom integrations to suit your unique needs

How Wrike can help you manage organizational development interventions

So, what’s the big takeaway here? Well, for starters, change is the bedrock for growth! Whether it’s through team-building adventures or leadership bootcamps, the most important priority is that everyone is moving forward together.

Imagine a workplace where everyone feels heard, understood, and valued. Sounds like a dream job, right? It’s not impossible to achieve. With the right interventions, transforming your organization from “just OK” to “absolutely amazing” is doable. And the best part? You don’t have to go at it alone.

Wrike is your go-to work management software! From smoothing out communication with dashboards to making those team-building interventions easy to organize in Gantt charts, Wrike has everything you need. Shaun Carlson, Director of R&D and Continuous Innovation at Arvig, shares how Wrike has been an invaluable tool to his organization:

“We’ve created dashboards for our scrums that list every task … and we use them as our agenda for each scrum. We just start at the top [and] work our way down … Wrike has really improved our scrum practice.”

Why not start your free trial with Wrike today? Your organization’s future self will thank you for it!

Note: This article was created with the assistance of an AI engine. It has been reviewed and revised by our team of experts to ensure accuracy and quality.