Interventions

Intervention is defined as, to intervene is to enter into an ongoing system of relationships, to

come between or among persons, groups or objects for the purpose of helping them.
In other words interventions come between or deliberately interrupt existing processes, groups
and relationships. Because they often try to unsettle current practices, interventions can be
uncomfortable enough that people may not be ready to change & will resist the intervention.
According to Chris Argis O.D. interventions are planned sets of action to change the culture of
organization move it from where it is to where organizational members want it to be & enable
them, improve their practices.

Characteristics of OD interventions
1. They are based on valid information about the functioning of the
organization usually collected by the employees.
2. The interventions provide employees with opportunities to make their own
choices regarding the nature of the problems & their preferred solutions.
3. OD interventions are the complete strategy for change & development that
encompasses theory, practices method & voles.
4. OD interventions are just one components of total OD formula.
5. In fact OD interventions activities are done in addition to normal activities
or are done instead of the normal activities.
6. OD interventions minimize the separation between learning and action taken
in several ways.
7. The interventions are closely linked with Explicit goals & objectives.
8. OD interventions here differently name, they do different things and they
cause different things to happen.
Several assumptions about the nature and functioning of organizations are made in
the choice of a particular strategy.Beckhard lists six such assumptions:
1. The basic building blocks of an organization are groups (teams). Therefore,
the basic units of change are groups, not individuals.
2. An
always
relevant
change
goal
is
the
reduction
of
inappropriate competition between parts of the organization and the
development of a more collaborative condition.

3. Decision making in a healthy organization is located where the information

sources are, rather than in a particular role or level of hierarchy.
4. Organizations, subunits of organizations, and individuals continuously
manage their affairs against goals. Controls are interim measurements, not
the basis of managerial strategy.
5. One goal of a healthy organization is to develop generally
open communication, mutual trust, and confidence between and across
levels.
6. People support what they help create. People affected by a change must be
allowed active participation and a sense of ownership in the planning and
conduct of the change.
Types of Interventions
1. HRM interventions:- HRM practices such as hiring, training
&Performance appraisal can mould employees commitment,
motivation and productivity. OD practitioners are, therefore
increasingly involved in using action research to enable employees to
analyze and change their firms personnel practice. Targets of change
include the firms appraisal system, reward system and workforce
.diversity programmers.
2. PLANNING INTERVENTION:-intervention design or action
planning, derives from careful diagnosis and is meant to resolve
specific problems and to improve particular areas of organizational
functioning as identified in the diagnosis.
3. Team interventions:- The team or work group is the primary unit in
the organization and there is an increasing reliance on project teams,
task force groups and committee to accomplish organization goals.
4. INTER GROUP TEAM BUILDING INTERVENTIONS:-People
have to achieve their group objectives so that the organizational
objectives are easily achieved. Organization objectives is nothing but
a sum total of individual and group efforts. The employees competing
with other groups, displaying parochial independent point of view,
spend significant time and energy.