Organisational Restructuring: Start Again or Build on What Exists?

Restructuring an organisation often begins with a familiar question: should the organisation start again from the ground up, or should it build on the structure and capability already in place? There is no universal answer. The right approach depends on why the organisation is restructuring, what it needs to achieve and whether the existing organisation provides a sound foundation for the future.

A restructure should not be an exercise in moving boxes on an organisation chart. It should be an opportunity to determine how the organisation needs to work.

Starting again from first principles can be tempting. It creates an opportunity to challenge assumptions, remove legacy arrangements and design an organisation around its future strategy rather than its historical development. This can be particularly valuable where responsibilities have become fragmented, duplication has developed or the organisation has changed significantly since its existing structure was created.

However, starting from ground zero does not mean ignoring what already exists. Organisations contain valuable knowledge, experience, relationships and capability that may not be immediately visible on an organisation chart. Removing these simply because they belong to the existing structure can create unnecessary disruption and potentially weaken the organisation rather than strengthen it.

Building on what exists can provide greater continuity. It allows an organisation to retain successful teams, established expertise and effective ways of working while addressing the areas that are no longer fit for purpose. It can also make implementation easier because people are not being asked to adapt to an entirely new operating environment at the same time.

The danger is that an incremental approach can become little more than rearranging the existing structure. Teams are renamed, responsibilities are moved and reporting lines are changed, but the fundamental problems remain. If the organisation's processes, decision making, accountability and ways of working are not examined, a new structure may simply reproduce old problems in a different form.

The starting point should therefore be the organisation's purpose and future requirements, not its existing hierarchy. What outcomes does the organisation need to deliver? What capabilities will it require? Where should decisions be made? Which functions need to work more closely together? Where are there unnecessary duplication, gaps or barriers? What does the customer, resident, service user or wider organisation actually need from the service? These questions provide the basis for determining the functions and capabilities required. Only then should consideration be given to the structure needed to support them.

This does not mean every restructure needs a blank sheet of paper. In many cases, the most effective approach is a combination of both. Start with a clear view of what the organisation needs to become, assess the existing organisation against that future state, retain what works and redesign what does not.

That distinction matters. The objective is not to preserve the existing structure simply because it exists, nor to dismantle it simply because change is being proposed. The objective is to create an organisation that is capable of delivering its strategy effectively.

People also need to be part of that assessment. Existing employees often understand the organisation's strengths and weaknesses better than any organisation chart can show. Their knowledge can identify practical issues, dependencies and opportunities that may otherwise be missed. Restructuring should therefore recognise what people bring to the organisation, rather than treating the existing workforce as another element to be moved around.

Ultimately, successful restructuring is about more than organisational design. It is about creating the conditions for better performance. Structure, governance, processes, technology, capability and culture all need to work together.

The question is therefore not simply whether to start again or build on what exists. It is whether the organisation is prepared to understand what it needs to become, objectively assess what it already has and make deliberate choices about what should stay, what should change and what needs to be built.

Sometimes that means starting again. Sometimes it means building on a strong foundation. The important thing is to make that decision based on organisational need, not organisational habit.

BONUS - Useful Questions to ask

1. Why are you restructuring?

• What problem are you trying to solve?

• What has changed to make the current structure no longer appropriate?

• Is the driver strategic, operational, financial, regulatory or cultural?

• What happens if nothing changes?

2. Is the current structure actually the problem?

• Are the problems caused by structure, or by processes, governance, systems or ways of working?

• Are responsibilities unclear?

• Is there duplication between teams?

• Are there gaps in accountability?

• Are decisions being made at the right level?

3. What needs to be different in the future?

• What does the organisation need to achieve over the next three to five years?

• What capabilities will be needed that do not currently exist?

• What will customers, residents or service users need from the organisation?

• What does the future operating model need to enable?

4. What is already working?

• Which parts of the current organisation perform well?

• Where is there strong capability and expertise?

• Which processes work effectively?

• What relationships or knowledge would be difficult to replace?

• What should definitely not be lost through restructuring?

5. Where are the weaknesses?

• Where is performance consistently below expectations?

• Where are there bottlenecks or unnecessary layers?

• Where does work cross organisational boundaries unnecessarily?

• Are resources aligned with priorities?

• Are teams spending too much time maintaining processes rather than delivering outcomes?

6. What do your people tell you?

• Do employees understand what their role is and how it contributes to organisational objectives?

• Where do people experience frustration or duplication?

• What do staff believe needs to change?

• Are there skills or capabilities that are being underused?

• What knowledge could be lost through restructuring?

7. What would starting again really mean?

• Would a blank sheet genuinely solve the underlying problems?

• What would you keep if you were designing the organisation from scratch?

• What would you remove?

• What would you create?

• Are you prepared for the disruption that a completely new structure could create?

8. What would building on the existing structure mean?

• Can the current organisation realistically deliver the future strategy?

• Which parts can be retained?

• Which parts need to change?

• Are you genuinely redesigning the organisation, or simply moving boxes on an organisation chart?

• Would incremental change address the underlying issues?

9. What evidence supports your decision?

• Have you used performance data?

• Have you mapped key processes?

• Have you considered demand and workload?

• Have you assessed current capability?

• Have you tested the assumptions behind the existing structure?

10. Finally, ask the most important question:

If we were designing this organisation today, knowing what we now know, what would we design differently?