Practical Knowledge Organisational Development

The basis of healthy and competitive organisations is a strong culture of trust and constructive error. Below you can read some publications in which we give impulses for a healthy corporate culture. The source of these articles are experiences that we in the context of accompanying organisational development processes, transformations in medium-sized companies.

Chess King stands and all the pieces lie - The overstretched organisation - netzwerk managementberatung | coaching
Photo | Prostock-studio on Shutterstock

The overstretched organisation

Many organisations have been overstretched for a long time. Absenteeism, internal and external resignations are on the rise. The resulting economic damage in 2022 was around 150 billion euros in Germany alone!

With our work, we would like to make a contribution to changing this! That is why this article deals with three central questions:

How can you tell if your organisation is overstretched?

What could be the reasons for this?

What are the ways out of the misery and what are the first concrete steps you can take?

9 min.
Bernd Kratochwille
Photo | Kratochwille

Leadership culture in transition

How can the change towards a modern leadership culture succeed?

The BLANC & FISCHER Group from Oberderdingen joined us on the path of this cultural change at the beginning of 2022.

Bernd Kratochwille, Head of Corporate Human Resources, in conversation with Sabine Walter, gives a very good overview of the procedure, the challenges and critical success factors in this process of change.

18 min.
Leading and moderating meetings - management consulting | coaching
Photo | fizkes on shutterstock

Teambuilding - The path to trustful cooperation

At the start of the year, many teams are working on the measures and priority issues that should be on the content agenda for the new year.

Too little attention is paid, in our opinion, to the interpersonal component. But we all know that if there are problems with cooperation, the substantive issues also make slow progress. Therefore, in this article you will get concrete approaches on how to improve the culture in your team.

9 min.
Team development - management consulting | coaching
Background photo | vienna reyes on Unsplash

From hierarchical structures to role-based working

Many companies, including medium-sized ones, are questioning their tried and tested structures and organisational forms. The desire for more agility, the workers' demand for greater scope for creativity and more self-determination, skills shortages and increasingly complex business challenges bring the multi-level hierarchy to its limits. Team-centred and role-based working is pushing to the fore. But how does this structural change succeed?

9 min.
Team development in medium-sized businesses - netzwerk managementberatung | coaching
Photo | Mangostar on Shutterstock

Team development in small and medium-sized enterprises

Team development in SMEs should be a matter for management, as a healthy team culture for these companies is of central economic importance.

If this team culture is missing, demotivation, a drop in performance, internal resignation, high absenteeism and ultimately also external resignation are almost inevitable consequences.

We explain, how you recognise a healthy team culture and what you can do to develop a trusting team culture in your company.

10 min.
Computer screen with several screenshots of serious games - managementberatung | coaching
Image | Fabula Games

Serious Games: Learning through play

Serious games are a very effective method of further education, much more effective than classic e-learning.

What exactly is behind the educational games is explained by Tomislav Bodrozic, Managing Director of Fabula Games. He also answers the questions of how serious games have to be structured so that the players stay with them until the end, which topics can be implemented with learning games, and how companies should proceed if they want to include serious games in their training programmes.

14 min.
Team and organisational development: Team exercise to put a stick on the floor together with the fingers - netzwerk managementberatung coaching
Photo | Vyshnova on Shutterstock

Back to the office: focus on team development

The need for a structured Team development grows. Especially in the current period, when many months of home office have caused communication, cohesion and collaboration to dwindle in some teams, returning to the corporate office requires a fresh start to some extent.

We recommend that you also take time for this outside of your daily office routine and outline in this article how a "new beginning" can succeed.If you would like to start this new beginning on the basis of a well-founded analysis of your current situation in the team, our Team analysis be an entry point into the process of team development.

6 min.
Learning organisation - light silhouettes of many heads in blue and green in space - netzwerk managementberatung coaching
Photo | Lightspring on Shutterstock

The Learning Organisation: Success Factors and Recommendations for Action

For many companies, the speed, with which they develop themselves and their service and product offerings is already today a decisive competitive factor. However, the cultural framework conditions often work against this demand and the entrepreneurial necessity of constant further development.
Therefore, this article is about three questions: What are the characteristics of learning organisations? What framework conditions do learning organisations need? What concrete first steps can you take in your company to establish a learning organisation?

15 min.
A head made of vectors and lights looks into the universe - managementberatung | coaching
Photo | vs148 on Shutterstock

Can innovation be learned?

Many companies have realised during the pandemic that competitive business models go hand in hand with innovation. The pressure to establish a culture of innovation is increasing. The question remains how to do this. In an interview with Dr Patricie Merkert, Head of Innovation & Technologies at E.G.O. Elektro-Gerätebau GmbH in Oberderdingen, Sabine Walter asked her the question: "Can innovation be learned? The answer is complex and contains valuable tips for companies that want to become more innovative.

13 min.
Elephant breaks through a wall - Agile Transformation - managementberatung | coaching
Photo | Aleksandr_K on Shutterstock

Leading Agile Transformation Successfully

More and more companies work agile or at least convert individual areas of the company to agile working. Such "pilot areas" are, for example, IT or the innovation area.

Regardless of whether an entire company changes its culture or only sub-areas undergo this change, this process rarely succeeds smoothly. In this article we outline the different phases involved in an agile transformation and present what we consider to be the critical success factors.

11 min.
Two boys tinker with a vintage car - promoting entrepreneurship - netzwerk managementberatung | coaching
Photo | Vasilyev Alexandr on Shutterstock

Promote entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurial thinking and action is a competence that is becoming increasingly important for the competitiveness of companies.

But it is not enough for this competence to be developed only at board or executive level. Rather, through appropriate leadership and personal development, it is a matter of anchor entrepreneurial thinking and action in as many employees as possible. In this article we explain how this can be done.

6 min.
Onboarding in times of home office: astronaut surfs towards the sun - netzwerk managementberatung | coaching
Photo | Sergey Nivens on Shutterstock

Onboarding in times of home office

While some companies lay off or put employees on short-time work during the pandemic, other companies are hiring and have to answer the question for themselves: "How do we integrate new colleagues when everyone works in a home office?" The answer to this question encompasses various aspects: Getting to know each other, creating trust, communicating culture and values, familiarisation - all with or despite a digital proximity. In this article, we give recommendations on how to get off to a good start even in times of home office.

9 min.
Organisational development - New Work: Young woman on the beach with a laptop on her knees - netzwerk managementberatung | coaching
Photo | Kite_rin on Shutterstock

"New Work" - what is behind the "megatrend"?

"New Work" is a development that concerns more and more companies. But what is "New Work - a trend or an important further development of our understanding of work?

In this article we look at the topic and answer four questions:
Where does "New Work" come from? What does it mean? Why is the further development of our understanding of work necessary? How does "New Work" change the corporate and leadership culture?

11 min.
Organisational development Equality of people - Orchestral musicians - netzwerk managementberatung | coaching
Photo | Stokkete on Shutterstock

Value in teams and companies

In order to be effective in teams and companies to work together trustingly at eye levelanswering the question about the value of individual people has a key function: "Do I feel like an equal member of a team?" and "To what extent do I see all other colleagues as equals?". In my work with teams and organisations, I see time and again that the principle of equality is questioned and the value of the respective members is linked to the salary they receive or the measurable value they bring to the company. This prompted me to take a closer look at the topic in this article.

7 min.
Culture of innovation: sketch with starting sprinter - managementberatung | coaching
Graphic | Vladimir Vihrev on Shutterstock

Creative and structured. Impulses for a structured innovation process.

Germany's innovative strength now ranks only 9th out of 129, well behind Switzerland, Sweden, the USA and the UK.

Reason enough to increase innovative strength. That is what this article is about. What are the fields of innovation? How can innovation power and innovation culture be improved?

13 min.
Progress needs standstill: camera lens with shutter slats - netzwerk managementberatung | coaching
Photo | Triff on Shutterstock

Progress needs standstill - a thesis

Wolf Lotter writes in his prologue to the focus topic "Pause" in the current issue of "brand eins": "The word pause has two meaningswhich today seem to be in contradiction to each other. One is rest, the other standstill. A rest is a short interruption of a process that should continue all the better afterwards. ... Standstill, on the other hand, is a word that the new age has never been very good at. ... Standstill is the nightmare of industrialism,..."

In this article, I would like to take up the topic and outline why progress requires standstill and why breaks in the conventional sense are not sufficient for this.

6 min.
Organic structures in companies: Spider's web against a dark blue background - netzwerk managementberatung | coaching
Photo: | Nicolas Picard on Unsplash

Organic structures - a prerequisite for lasting competitiveness

Structures are essential for every company - no matter how small, how large, whether traditional or hip. The art here is to create and change structures in such a way that they serve the people in the company and the achievement of goals. This implies that these structures are only ever defined for a certain period of time and must be continuously questioned. Why are such so-called Organic structures a prerequisite for lasting competitiveness? And how can they be created?

7 min.
Lux Scriptum - Path 1 by Claus Pescha
Photo | Claus Pescha

Long live the joy of experimentation!

Trying out new things, starting an exploratory process with an open mind, continuously fine-tuning it until the result is something we are satisfied with, is an important competence. But how can this culture be established in a company? It requires seven elementary factors.

8 min.
C-level teams: parachutists form a circle - managementberatung | coaching
Photo | Mauricio Graiki on Shutterstock

WANTED! More High Performance Teams at C-Level

For national or international teams in professional sport, it is a must if you want to play sustainably at the top: Teamwork. In the top echelons of industry, it sometimes comes up short. But why is it no longer enough at board or executive level to hire a group of competent alpha personalities? Why do we also need a well-functioning high-performance team at C-level?

11 min.
Error culture - netzwerk managementberatung | coaching
Graphic | Claus Pescha

Oops! 10 tips for a constructive culture of fault tolerance.

In many companies the Error culture a culture of fear. It paralyses and leads to neither lateral thinking nor trying out new things. A destructive error culture also prevents employees and managers from taking risks and assuming responsibility for decisions or new paths. In this article we give Tips for a constructive error culture and clarify the entrepreneurial gain that lies in this cultural change.

7 min.
Enemies of innovation: Three wise monkeys with money in their ears, on their eyes, in their mouths - netzwerk managementberatung | coaching
Graphic | MoreVector on Shutterstock

Enemies of innovation

In July 2019, the Global Innovation Index Report 2019 published. The report presents the Innovation power of 129 countries worldwide evaluated on the basis of various criteria.

Switzerland is the front-runner for the second time in a row. Germany is in 9th placeThe report invites readers to take a closer look at Germany's innovative strength.

6 min.
Organisational development - High-performance teams: rowing team in a boat - managementberatung | coaching
Photo | Corepics VOF on Shutterstock

From the working group to the team, to the high performance team

In many companies, the term "team" is used as a synonym for a "working group". In this article, we present what distinguishes a team from a working group and what characterises a high-performance team. Our Team check helps you analyse your own team.

5 min.
Joker card floating in the air - competence development - managementberatung | coaching
Photo | Quentin Rey on Unsplash

Competence development - a must for sustainable competitiveness

Start of the year - time for strategy workshops and strategy talks. Even though this is already carried out in a very structured way in many companies, we experience time and again that an essential strategic building block is missing: competence development.
The following procedure helps to bring structure and continuity into the process of competence development.

6 min.
Agile Leadership: Rugby team over the ball - managementberatung | coaching
Photo | PHILIPPE MONTIGNY on Shutterstock

Conflict resolution in agile teams

Agile teams with a high level of conflict resolution competency can be recognised by the fact that they have a high level of trust in each other. They have the confidence in themselves as a team to resolve the conflict and they have the ability to recognise the first signs of conflict, to address them constructively and to transform them into a joint solution. The process takes time and should be accompanied by experienced facilitators.

5 min.
Agile Leadership: Yellow sign with the inscription caution watch your step - managementberatung | coaching
Photo | Painter-Master on Shutterstock

Agility - Classic stumbling blocks and how to avoid them.

Many companies that agile working The companies that are introducing agile work expect shorter development times, more innovative products or a shorter time-to-market. They are convinced that agile working will enable them to react faster to changes and maintain or restore their competitiveness. So much for the theory. Here, too, practice shows every day anew that there is more to it than painting a new organisational chart and renaming employees Agile Coaches, Scrum Masters and Product Owners.

5 min.
Corporate culture: Portrait of an old charismatic man with a penetrating gaze - managementberatung | coaching
Photo | Madhav Rajesh on Unsplash

Back to the roots: Real encounters remain a basic need even in digital worlds.

In view of the advancing digitalisation in companies, it is elementarily important that we consciously take time again for real encounters and create space for real encounters. This is also the task of managers. Without these genuine encounters, the emotional bond with companies will continue to decline. As a result, their innovative strength and performance will decline.

4 min.
Self-organisation of teams: Rugby team, one player throws the ball - managementberatung | coaching
Photo | Debby Wong on Shutterstock

Self-organisation: opportunities for teams and companies

The idea of self-organised teams is becoming increasingly popular in business practice. But many questions arise when introducing this management philosophy: To which companies does it fit? How do I get my employees to work independently? Who bears the ultimate responsibility? Do we still need leadership at all? What does this leadership look like? ... We answer some of these questions in this article.

4 min.
Karsten Miermans
Photo | Elwin Rijken

What fascinates you about critical thinking, Mr Miermans?

Our world is complex and very fast-paced. We receive a wealth of information every day and sometimes have to make far-reaching decisions in a fraction of a second. Karsten Miermans from the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich explains how critical thinking can help us, what exactly is behind it and how we can learn and train it.

20 min.
Play culture in companies: Playing children - management consulting | coaching
Photo | Sunny studio on Shutterstock

Come and play! A plea.

Do you have playrooms in your company? Not yet? Then let's do it. Play is generally attributed to children. But the joy of play is part of our DNA. Inspired by the book "Save Play: Because Life is More than Functioning" by the author duo Hüther / Quarch, we present in this article the benefits that games have for all of us and thus also for companies.

5 min.
Organisational Development - Corporate Values: Bare Trees in the Desert - netzwerk managementberatung | coaching
Photo | Parsing Eye on Unsplash

Dead or alive? Corporate values in theory and practice.

Corporate values guide action. Unfortunately, however, there is a discrepancy between theory and practice in many organisations. Read this article to find out why corporate values are important and how to make them tangible.

3 min.
Addressing conflicts - management consulting | coaching
Photo | ZoneCreative on Shutterstock

That's enough! The way to address conflicts.

Even though conflicts hold opportunities, most people do not welcome them in their private or professional lives. The strategies for dealing with conflict vary: from ignoring it to lashing out. Addressing a conflict at an early stage in such a way that the other person listens and the conversation is constructive is difficult for many people.

2 min.
Learning culture: Lobster - managementberatung | coaching
Photo | yellowj on Shutterstock

Be a lobster! On personal growth and learning organisations.

More and more companies are realising that they can only be successful in the long term if they develop themselves in general and their employees in particular. Employees should learn. Constantly. Everywhere. Self-driven. With fun. In our work, however, we experience time and again that the cultural framework conditions in companies often counteract this demand for learning employees.What does that mean? And above all: What can you do differently in your company?

3 min.
Conflict management: pillow fight - managementberatung | coaching
Photo | Standret on Shutterstock

It happens in the best families! Why arguments in teams are part of the game.

Who wouldn't want that: a well-functioning team in which the individual members mesh like cogs, complement and support each other perfectly and act like a smooth whole. Accordingly, a lot of time and thought is put into the composition of teams, and new team members are carefully checked for their team skills and "personal fit". Friction is to be avoided as much as possible, because this could be an indication that the cooperation is not running "like clockwork" and that the employees do not yet form a real unit. What is fundamentally overlooked is this: Friction is not caused by distance, but by closeness.

3 min.
Conflict Management: Girls with Boxing Gloves - Streitkultur - netzwerk managementberatung | coaching
Photo | Sunny Studio on Shutterstock

Get into the ring! On the value of the culture of argument.

When we look at companies in the Team development We are often greeted with the message: "Actually, everything is fine with us. We just want to see if we can improve the little things! When asked if there is a lot of arguing in the team, the answer is often a relieved "No.". Fortunately, we don't have any quarrels. There are hardly any conflicts either.

But this relief is deceptive. Because: A healthy and constructive culture of dispute and conflict is an expression of trust.

2 min.
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