Using design principles to deliver strategy in a new organisational structure

摘要

The UK Office for National Statistics' (ONS) vision is to be widely respected for informing debate and improving decision-making through high quality, easy to use statistics and analyses on the UK's economy and society. ONS is responsible for the collection, compilation, analysis and dissemination of a range of statistics in line with the UK Code of Practice for Official Statistics. However, like other statistical organisations, ONS faces increasing pressures for more data, available in less time, in more accessible formats, while maintaining high quality standards and coping with an increasingly difficult financial situation. To address these challenges and help the organisation meet these demands, the office instigated the ONS 2012 programme which brought about changes to the way the office functions, including major changes to its internal organisational structure. The programme aimed to reshape ONS to better meet its future challenges. The motivation behind this restructure can be linked back to the original design principles of the ONS Design Authority; for example moving away from a stovepipe model, and designing solutions that can be shared and integrated across ONS. With regard to integration, one of the key organisational changes made was to bring together the Methodology and Information Management directorates to create a new directorate, Strategy and Standards. This directorate brings together the methodologists who specify the statistical methods with the Information Technology (IT) teams that build and maintain the systems, and provides the opportunity for new ways of working. Design Authority principles are also embedded into the aims of the new directorate; for example providing common standards for statistics and statistical systems. At the heart of the new Strategy and Standards directorate is the ONS Strategy, which has been developed by a new Strategy Division. The ONS Strategy sets out the vision for the organisation; what it aspires to and how this will be achieved. The strategy also aligns with IT architectural design and Design Authority principles. One of the key aims of the new directorate is to deliver this strategy, and ONS methodologists and IT experts are working together to achieve this. This paper sets out ONS's experience so far in developing and implementing the strategy in the new organisational structure, plus some key successes and challenges.