{"id":20796,"date":"2020-11-18T10:41:16","date_gmt":"2020-11-18T10:41:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marvelapp.com\/blog\/?p=20796"},"modified":"2021-02-15T05:51:25","modified_gmt":"2021-02-15T05:51:25","slug":"how-to-survive-organizational-changes-in-your-company-with-organizational-prototyping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marvelapp.com\/blog\/how-to-survive-organizational-changes-in-your-company-with-organizational-prototyping\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Survive Organizational Changes in Your Company with Organizational Prototyping"},"content":{"rendered":"

From website design to apps, prototyping is quickly becoming an integral part of the design thinking process for in-house teams and agencies alike.<\/p>\n

A case in point is the dramatic shift towards an \u201call-virtual-everything\u201d approach in a bid to curb the spread of the coronavirus, which has seen a growing need for robust digital tools such as video communication and cloud storage applications.<\/p>\n

As such, organizations have had to move with speed and come up with creative solutions to cater to fast-changing consumer requirements. Prototyping is one effective method that forward-thinking organizations have found to be more important than ever.<\/p>\n

But why prototyping? With effective prototyping<\/a>, industry-leading ideas can be developed, refined, tested, and approved faster with a lower potential for risk. This is especially true in big organizations with lots of hierarchical layers where too much paperwork and bureaucracy is involved.<\/p>\n

In this post, we\u2019ll look at what organizational prototyping is, how to define what needs to be changed, and how to generate and execute ideas and suggestions through the use of prototyping.<\/p>\n

What is organizational prototyping?<\/h2>\n

A prototype is an early model, draft, or sample of a proposed solution, such as a new product design. It could be something as simple as hand-drawn sketches brought together (i.e. a low fidelity prototype) and used to illustrate a proposed experimental solution of a fully functional product (i.e. a high fidelity prototype). This is something that stakeholders, as well as users, can feel and use.<\/p>\n

Prototyping, on the other hand, is the process or the activity of creating prototypes<\/a> to be tested in a real-world environment. The process involves honing, refining, reworking, and rigorous testing until an acceptable outcome is achieved from which the final product can be developed.<\/p>\n

That said, organizational prototyping in this context can be defined as an early \u201ctest and learn\u201d approach in an organization. It could be about introducing new ways of working, new ideas, new processes, or setting up new teams and then evaluating the changes at different levels of an organization.<\/p>\n

The data you gather from prototyping will also prove to be invaluable, and will also be among the most critical information that you can use when marketing your product to customers later once it\u2019s officially released.<\/p>\n

So, when your team decides to try out a new idea or process prior to documenting it, they are prototyping. Research also shows that companies that prototype more often are likelier to create an innovation culture<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Digitization and cloud computing in organizational change<\/h2>\n

As organizations grapple with a fast-paced and ever-changing business environment, digitization has become a key problem-tackling strategy.<\/p>\n

However, organizations need to continuously innovate, test, and repeat. Cloud computing gives organizations a platform to create products and services within the cloud, or model marketing campaigns as cloud-based software prototypes.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"cloud<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, the most popular cloud storage services such as Sync or pCloud allow files to be accessed\u00a0and shared anywhere and anytime in a secure environment. This means that team members can share their ideas from a common repository, thus creating an atmosphere of collaboration and teamwork.<\/p>\n

In other words, cloud technology allows you to prototype your idea by giving you a platform to build, test, and deploy without the need for setting up complex infrastructure. This is ultimately one of the biggest benefits of organizational prototyping, as it can prove to be an early sign of improvement at your company.<\/p>\n

How to get started with organizational prototyping<\/h2>\n

In all honesty, organizational change rarely goes according to plan<\/a>. The more profound the changes you seek, the more challenging the sought after changes are likely to be.
\nBut there is an underlying reason for this, and it\u2019s entrenched into an organization's cultural DNA. The way people work, think, and relate is implicitly or explicitly ingrained in a system of deeply held customs, habits, and beliefs that make up the unique corporate culture of that organization.<\/p>\n

At the moment, there is no sure-fire way to predict whether the changes you seek are really going to happen or the impact they are going to have in your company. Fortunately, with small and planned change experiments, you can gather valuable feedback about how the planned change affects the employees, partners, and even customers. This is also why you need to conduct organizational prototyping.<\/p>\n

That said, here are three guiding philosophies on how to get started with organizational prototyping.<\/p>\n