Six Box Model

Weisbord presents a six-box model for understanding organizations:

• Purposes: The organization members are clear about the organization’s mission and purpose and goal agreements, whether people support the organization’s purpose. This aspect of the model harps on the fact that the management and all the key members of the team agree and support the overall values, goals, aims, and mission of the organization.
• Structure: How is the organization’s work divided up? The question is whether there is an adequate fit between the purpose and the internal structure. This aspect of the model focuses on the fact that if there is a proper and deemed fit between the internal structure and overall purposes of the organization.
• Relationship: Between individuals, between units or departments that perform different tasks, and between the people and requirements of their jobs. This aspect of the model makes the management understand what kind of relations exists between the various individuals of the company, between the departments, and more importantly between the individuals and nature of their work. It also focuses on the facets of conflicts if any, the kind of interdependencies, and the nature and quality of relations.
• Rewards: The consultant should diagnose the similarities between what the organization formally rewarded or punished members for. This aspect of the model harps on the fact that what kind of rewards do the organizations gives to its employees, for what kind of attributes the employees are rewarded and punished for and what steps does the organization takes to fit in the business environment.
• Leadership: Is to watch for blips among the other boxes and maintain balance among them. This aspect of the model focuses on the style of the leadership followed in the organization, the leadership programs defined by the leaders of the organization, and are they well aligned with the nature, core values, and objectives of the organization.
• Helpful mechanism: What must the organization attend to in order to survive and thrive procedures such as planning, control, budgeting, and other information systems. This aspect of the model focuses on if the various mechanisms of the organization help in accomplishing the objectives or works as an obstacle in the path of their attainment.