The tools we use include:

Evaluative inquiry

Stages of organizational development

Stages of Organization

In order to advance their missions, organizations must think and act strategically. They must have the capacity to adapt to a constantly changing environment.

Our understanding of organizational development helps us know when and how to best support our clients in building this capacity. We adapted the Sibbet/Le Saget Stage of Organization model as a tool to assess each client’s situation—whether the focus is at a program, initiative, organizational or system level.

There is a natural progression through the stages, but organizations do not necessarily progress through them in a linear fashion. Within an organization, individual departments, programs or initiatives may be at and remain at different stages.

There are certain points—often at the transition between stages—where evaluative inquiry has the greatest potential benefits. While the process can be adapted to yield beneficial outcomes at any stage, we adapt the evaluative inquiry process to the client’s situation and create a work plan that supports movement towards their desired outcomes.

Inter-organizational relationships

An added dimension is how the organization interacts with others. This may go beyond informal relationships, becoming formal collaboration or co-creation. In formal collaboration, organizations proactively seek to work with others who share their culture and values, and whose work compliments their own. They are confident in their market position and in how to leverage their strengths. Inter-organizational relationships may take the form of co-creation. Here, multiple organizations come together to create a new effort, building on their shared values and principles. This effort is unique and reflects integration in service of a common and sustained impact.

Stages of organization model (PDF).