Organisational Design Training Course: Structure, Roles and Operating Model for Leaders

Programme Summary

Organisational design training for senior managers is the subject of this one-week training course, and each participant ends with an organisational design proposal for one unit. Structures often grow by accretion, leaving duplicated roles, unclear decision rights and slow handovers between functions. The programme moves from design principles to structural options, roles and spans, decision rights and implementation, using cases from public services, energy and healthcare. Mars Training Centre UK delivers this programme on organisational design training for mixed-organisation cohorts.

The Business Case

Every restructuring changes reporting lines, budgets and daily working relationships, yet many are launched with an organisation chart and little else. Leaders who test options against strategy, workload and decision needs avoid repeated redesign, reduce friction between functions and give staff clear accountabilities from the first day of a new structure.

• Decision Cycle Time: Shortens as decision rights are assigned to the lowest sensible level.
• Role Duplication: Falls as responsibilities are mapped and overlaps are removed.
• Restructuring Rework: Reduces as options are scored against agreed criteria before announcement.

Principles and Evidence Base

• The Galbraith Star Model: It aligns strategy, structure, processes, rewards and people in Session 1.
• Mintzberg's structural configurations: They frame the comparison of structural options in Session 2.
• Span of control analysis: It guides the review of layers and reporting lines in Session 3.
• RACI responsibility charts: They structure the role and decision clarification in Sessions 3 and 4.

Intended Participants

• Senior managers who are responsible for restructuring a department or division.
• Directors who sponsor merger, split or centralisation decisions.
• Heads of function who must define roles and reporting lines for their teams.
• Strategy and transformation leads who prepare organisation proposals for executives.

Typical sectors include public services, energy, healthcare and financial services.

Learning Outcomes

1. Participants will be able to diagnose weaknesses in a current structure against strategy.
2. Participants will be able to evaluate structural options using agreed design criteria.
3. Participants will be able to construct role definitions and a RACI responsibility chart for a unit.
4. Participants will be able to justify spans of control and the number of layers.
5. Participants will be able to design decision rights and governance forums for an operating model.
6. Participants will be able to present an organisational design proposal with a transition roadmap.

Programme Structure

Day 1: Principles of Organisational Design

What problem is an organisational structure meant to solve?

• Galbraith Star Model Alignment Map
• Strategy-to-Structure Linkage Chart
• Design Criteria Checklist
• Current Structure Diagnostic
• Organisation Pain Point Log

Day 2: Structural Options and Trade-Offs

What does each structural model gain and what does it cost?

• Mintzberg Structural Configurations Overview
• Functional Structure Profile
• Divisional Structure Profile
• Matrix Structure Profile
• Structure Options Scoring Matrix

Day 3: Roles, Spans and Layers

How many layers and reporting lines does the work require?

• Span of Control Analysis
• Layers and Delegation Review
• Role Definition Template
• RACI Responsibility Chart
• Duplication and Gap Map

Day 4: Decision Rights and Operating Model

Who decides what, and how do units work together?

• Decision Rights Matrix
• Governance Forum Design
• Cross-Functional Interface Agreement
• Operating Model Canvas
• Shared Services Placement Test

Day 5: Implementing the Design

Do the design tools hold together when applied to one unit?

• Applying the Session 1 Alignment Map to One Unit
• Testing the Session 2 Scoring Matrix on Your Options
• Checking the Session 3 RACI Chart Against Decision Rights
• Transition Roadmap Template
• Completing the Organisational Design Proposal

Methodology

The programme uses case analysis and structured exercises. Participants study anonymised organisation charts, workload summaries and decision logs, then build and score options for one unit in small groups. Peers challenge each option against the design criteria, and facilitators give feedback on the logic linking strategy, structure, roles and decisions before the proposal is completed.

• Suggested activity: Redrawing a department chart under two structural models and comparing the trade-offs.
• Suggested activity: Mapping overlapping responsibilities on a sample RACI chart and removing duplication.
• Suggested activity: Reviewing a decision log to find decisions taken at the wrong level.

Capstone Output

Each participant completes an organisational design proposal for one unit. It holds a current structure diagnosis, a scored options table, role definitions with a RACI chart, a spans and layers review, a decision rights matrix and a transition roadmap. The proposal is used at work to brief sponsors, consult staff and guide the first phase of change.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is organisational design training suitable for managers who have not led a restructuring?

Yes. It assumes management responsibility for a team or unit, not prior restructuring experience, and builds each tool through worked cases.

Which models does organisational design training rest on in this programme?

It rests on the Galbraith Star Model, Mintzberg's structural configurations, span of control analysis and RACI responsibility charts.

How is the proposal from organisational design training used at work?

You use it to brief sponsors, consult staff and guide the first phase of change for your own unit.

How does organisational design differ from a programme on change management?

It centres on structure, roles and decision rights, while change management centres on helping people adopt new ways of working.