What Unique Issues Surface When Implementing OD Interventions?

Implementing Organization Development (OD) interventions is about executing change efforts, change projects, or change initiatives. Relatively few organizations have established standards for change implementation, though such standards do exist, as established by the association of change management professionals. Such standards, understood to mean requirements to be met during the implementation of change efforts, would address—but go beyond—all the requirements of the guidelines and standards governing best practices in project management. Longer-term OD interventions will require more structured modes of interaction to support change efforts. OD practitioners may need to establish task forces, action teams, steering committees, and other groups to focus on specific tasks in the change effort. During long-term implementation, much can change: The people involved in the OD intervention can leave; the goals of the intervention may change; the external environmental factors and the internal organizational factors affecting the intervention can be dynamic and subject to fluctuations.