Consulting for Organizational Effectiveness
Organizational effectiveness depends upon the abilities of groups and divisions to operate as smoothly functioning teams, and to establish effective relationships with both internal and external clients.
Policy Development & Alignment ·
Client Relationship Management
Negotiation Planning & Support ·
Strategic Project Management
Change Management · Succession Planning
Policy Development and Alignment
Policies are effective when they align with organizational goals and provide the appropriate working environment to achieve those goals. Most organizations start out with useful and appropriately designed policies. But organizations and their working environments change, and policies need to change along with them. Periodic assessments and adjustments assure that policies remain relevant and in alignment with the organization. Your staff knows when policies don’t align with organizational goals, aren’t relevant to the current work environment, or don’t allow them to get the job done. The symptoms you may see or hear about are frequent disregard of policy, requests for exceptions, arguments that ‘you’re not letting me do my job,’ and assertions of unfairness. More likely, you hear about the frustration and resentment only at the exit interview, if at all. And the worst part? Those who challenge policy and those who give up are often those most committed to improving your organization and reaching its goals.
Client Relationship Management
Effectively leveraging business relationships, whether from a merger, acquisition, or stategic alliance, requires signigicant focus on the human and business cultural issues that impact the bottom line. OptionBridge knows people and we know business. More importantly, we know how people and business interact and can help you achieve a successful integration process to achieve your business goals.
Negotiation Planning & Support
Our negotiation specialists work with one or more members of the negotiation team focusing on how best to advance your interests to achieve optimal and workable outcomes from important negotiations. Our negotiation experts assist you in understanding your interests, alternatives and options and in developing negotiation strategies, dealing with emotional responses, and understanding the psychology of persuasion and effects of timing and techniques. OptionBridge negotiation specialists advocate for your success, which includes maintaining or enhancing the business relationship so that your long-term goals can be achieved. Because we have no personal interest in the outcome of the negotiation, we are able to take a wider view and keep you focused on all of your interests and goals. This allows you to minimize losses possible in the moment instead staying focused on your broader gains.
Strategic Project Management
Today’s knowledge workers generally work in teams. Organizations often still operate in manufacturing-style hierarchical mode with expectations that limit the agility required in strategic projects, and curtail the creativity, commitment and engagement of the knowledge worker. Our model of Strategic Project Management integrates the planning and reporting aspects of standard project management with the agility and responsiveness of strategic planning, along with motivational and engagement principles designed to optimize the contributions of the knowledge worker.
Change Management
Organizations spend time and energy creating bold, incisive and forward thinking strategies. When it comes time to implementing that strategy, believing in and communicating the vision does not always translate into implementation. We bridge the gap between vision and implementation to negotiate and navigate the many subtle and not-so-subtle changes that may need to occur to move forward. We help make great ideas become reality.
Succession Planning
A change in leadership comes with great risks and great opportunities. We help you make sure that your organization is ready to seize the opportunities. Transitions occur in the normal course of business. How you plan for a transition determines whether the organization not only survives but flourishes. What happens when the transition is unexpected? Sudden change, dealing with the shadow of a previous leader, particulary one who is still in place during the transition, and determining who is best to lead are all issues with which the principals of OptionBridge are familiar. Planning what other changes should happen simultaneously and at what speed is essential.