Is Your Organization Healthy?

Is Your Organization Healthy?

Diagnose the health of your organization whether it is a business, a government agency, an academic institution, or a volunteer entity. Take its “temperature,” measure its “blood pressure,” test the strength of its “backbone,” and monitor its “heart.”

Does your diagnosis reveal?

Numerous, intense discussions regarding allocations of resources among marketing, education and training, software, equipment, employee recruitment, personnel retention, and other organizational functions?
Frequent dissatisfaction with where the organization is, in spite of how it continues to move forward, relative to where it could be?
Insufficient resources to meet all of the mentoring and coaching, continuing education, and professional involvement activities requested by personnel?
Concern, in spite of continuous improvement, with the effectiveness and efficiency of project management, especially its quality control, project planning, and scope creep aspects?
Lack of space to comfortably accommodate a rapidly growing staff?
Frequent inquiries from the local and regional news media about the environmental and economic inputs of your various high profile projects?
Frustration, especially by younger staff, with lack of access to the latest versions of all of the many and diverse software packages used throughout the organization?
Tension between those who want to focus on existing stakeholders, projects, and obligations and those who advocate seeking new stakeholders, projects, and activities?

If you answered “yes” to most of these questions, the “doctor” concludes that you are a very healthy organism. Your vital signs, including vision, ambition, commitment, creativity, energy, persistence, strength, and teamwork, are sound. No prescription or surgery needed!

However, for the sake of the continued well being of your organization and its members, continue to monitor and avoid extremes in “temperature,” “blood pressure,” and “heart rate,” both organizationally and individually. Also, be thankful for your overall well being. Some organizations are dying and some are surviving while you are thriving.

If your organization is not healthy, consider using one or more of these resources: