Checkpoint: Management Structures Essay

You manage a counseling center that services victims of domestic abuse. Your organization is happy to have you on board and trusts your decisions. Due to an increase in demand for services in your area, your center will be increasing the number of employees by 100%. Your employer asks you to participate in an expansion plan. Your task is to research possible organizational structures that best suit the needs of your clients and your organization. I think that our services for domestic abuse patients should be split into different departments for several reasons. Departments make people focus on only the work that is assigned to them, like getting people to the Human Services help for a first step, then sending them into counseling, and finally getting them rehabilitated and out of the system. Other approaches to department and service areas exist, like having a north segment and a west segment to divide responsibilities. The major disadvantage to departmental division is that you might lose track of a client, or just lose contact with them when they move out of your department. People who need these human services need extra individual attention, not a rabble of people that they have to talk to while they get help. The situation is almost the same for a matrix organization. Yes, it is more efficient to have several people working in one area, but the client will not get particular help from one person, which is important for these clients. I truly believe that Human Service work should be leading in a transformational style. I think that, for us, the Project Team model is the best way to organize our services. This model is the best one because a group of people works together to accomplish particular things for their client. They all communicate inter-group, and therefore everyone gets better at helping clients. One problem with this model is that team members might start to discuss their client in a way that would break confidentiality laws. A collegial model is another approach, and it raises understanding because employees report their affairs to you, which keeps people enthusiastic about their tasks. This way is also an option, but I think that it might lead to employees doing things only to please a manager.