Ideal Organization

My “ideal organization”
Products/Services
My ideal organization is an organization that is either privately funded or a nonprofit/governmental
organization-not publicly traded. We would provide services, not a product. Ideally, we’d be serving an
advocacy or educational role to the general public-anyone in need of our assistance would be our client
base. Whatever the service would be, our organization would believe wholeheartedly that the value
behind the service provided would be its purpose.
Structure
Ideally, I would be working for an organization: not self-employed. The organization would be medium-
sized (fewer than 400 employees) or larger-not a small operation. My ideal organization isn’t limited to a
specific market; we would ideally be able to provide our services on a global scale if needed. The
organization would be either not-for-profit or a governmental organization, not a for-profit entity.
Culture
The organization would have a clearly defined mission and vision statement that centered around two
key pillars: empowering the members of the organization to achieve their personal and professional
goals and advocating for others to make a positive impact in the world. These values would be
communicated to the members of the organization through everything the organization did. There
would be no doublespeak or inconsistencies in its actions-they wouldn’t profess to consider ‘people
their greatest asset’ and then proceed to lay people off, for instance. The organization would actively
live its values through all its operations. The working atmosphere would be collegial, laid-back but not
languid, and empower employees to work in a manner that brought the best out of them. They would
not, for example, force everyone into an open floor plan office space or demand its employees work in a
specific, prescribed manner. Employees would be fully empowered to identify areas in need of
addressing or tasks that needed to be completed and trusted to address these as they arise.
Management Style
My ideal organization would operate through the principles of holocracy, or self-management. I would
be supervised in a manner consistent with self-managing organizations; that is to say, I wouldn’t be
supervised in a traditional sense at all. I would be trusted to execute my responsibilities and achieve my
goals, and so long as my work was consistent with our organizational values and mission, that would be
sufficient. The organization would ensure accountability and quality through peer review and
communication, where everyone is expected to hold each other accountable for their work. If additional
action was needed, there would be an established communication process where issues could be raised
and addressed, with everyone permitted to have a voice in the matter. The organization would have no
formal bureaucracy per se, but I wouldn’t describe it as informal. Holocratic organizations formalize
their informal manner of operating, so to speak. There would be established protocols and processes for
communication and decision making, but no rigid structure that would stifle innovation, creativity or
task completion.
Job Scope
In my ideal organization I would be seen as a leader, but not necessarily as part of a hierarchy. Self-
managing organizations ask people to fill roles, and not job descriptions, so I cannot describe a specific
job or title, but rather what I would like my role to be. I see myself as being an individual at the forefront
of our client-facing operations, working directly with stakeholders to try and find common solutions to
the challenges our constituents face. I would have a great deal of responsibility for my work and the
success of any projects or cases I may be working on. In my ideal organization, there wouldn’t be
supervisors in the traditional sense, but I would be a leader in terms of providing mentorship during the
advice process when organizational members need guidance or direction or clarification.
Values
My ideal organization communicates regularly with its employees on all matters of business. The
organization would solicit feedback on all decisions from all employees as well as keep employees in the
loop on all major events, decisions and changes. My ideal organization is an active member of its local
community, and takes every opportunity to demonstrate its values in its actions towards its community.
My ideal organization is an active member of the local community and makes every effort to operate
respectfully and as a good neighbor to others. My ideal organization is as “green” as possible and works
to minimize the environmental impact it has by keeping its carbon footprint minimal. It allows
employees to work remotely, which reduces real estate footprint, carbon emissions from commuting,
and heating/cooling expenses for its main office.
My ideal organization would value individual expression and empowerment and embody those values
by empowering each individual within the organization and providing opportunities for its members to
do meaningful, fulfilling work that is aligned with each individual’s purpose or core values.
Evaluation Methods
My ideal organization provides evaluation and feedback opportunities on a regular basis. Feedback
would be delivered by discussion held in peer groups and would focus on asking if we were living up to
the organization’s purpose, and if we were individually and as a group contributing to that purpose.
Ideally, there would be no need for formal ‘performance evaluation’ as it’s currently implemented in
more bureaucratic organizations; my ideal organization would provide ample and frequent
opportunities for peer feedback so as to render more formal reviews unnecessary.
Reward Systems
My ideal organization handles rewards and compensation on an individualized basis. My ideal
organization trusts that if we stay true to our purpose, mission and values, success comes naturally. It
wouldn’t chase specific profit or revenue targets but focus on how effectively we are meeting our
organizational purpose. The absence of a formal hierarchy or levels of middle management would
render promotions in the traditional sense moot, as anyone in the organization at any time could take
on a new role or project if the need for it arises.
My ideal organization, however, would pay competitive salaries and provide strong benefits for
employees and their dependents-taking care of the people in an organization would be one of its core
values, and my ideal organization would believe strongly in providing the best possible health insurance
and retirement packages possible. Bonuses would be handled at the team and not individual level, and
increases in salary would be handled in a collaborative manner, with all team members providing input
on the performance and contribution of their peers and themselves, and recommend the appropriate
salary increase based on those factors.

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My “ideal organization”

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