Organization Design Lab
About this workshop
The Organization Design Lab accelerates a live organization project by bringing the pivotal design choices into one prepared working session. It helps the people whose agreement is required establish design principles, resolve critical roles and interfaces, and define the next moves. Every workshop is prepared and led by Dr Frank Heyd.
Who will benefit most from this workshop?
Leadership teams designing a new organization, business unit or capability, or resolving a defined operating-model issue.
Why choose an Organization Design Lab?
Organization projects rarely stall because nobody can draw an org chart. They stall because design criteria remain implicit, mandates overlap and powerful stakeholders favour different answers. The lab makes those trade-offs visible and creates a structured setting in which accountable leaders can resolve them.
What will participants achieve?
Shared case for change
Agreement on the problem the design must solve and the outcomes it must enable.
Explicit design principles
Criteria against which structural and operating-model options can be assessed.
Resolved design choices
Decisions on the pivotal structural, capability and governance questions.
Clearer roles and interfaces
Greater clarity on mandates, decision rights, collaboration and escalation.
Stakeholder alignment
A shared rationale leaders can explain and defend beyond the workshop.
Transition priorities
Immediate actions, owners and open questions required to advance the project.
Typical Content
- Confirm the case for change, strategic requirements and design scope.
- Identify the organization choices that determine whether the model works.
- Agree design principles and evaluate their implications.
- Develop or compare structural and operating-model options.
- Resolve critical mandates, roles, decision rights and interfaces.
- Stress-test the model against workflows and stakeholder concerns.
- Record decisions, rationale and matters requiring further evidence.
- Define transition priorities, owners and the next decision points.
A focused intervention
The lab addresses a defined question within a live organization project. It is not a substitute for the interviews, analysis, stakeholder work and transition design required by a complex reorganization. Where broader work is needed, we recommend an Organization Reconfiguration Mandate.
