Checkpoint Management Structure Paper

CheckPoint: Management Structures
Amanda Asbury
April 8, 2012
HSM220
Facilitator: Iris Johnson

CheckPoint: Management Structures

There are several ways in which to organize a counseling center for victims of domestic abuse. Organization by departmentalization is a model in which the agency is broken into subgroups or departments according to process, market, program, or client and consumer needs. The most effective organization by departmentalization would be to break up the departments according to program. Victims of domestic abuse may need different programs in order to get their lives back on track. Some may be in need of counseling while others need help finding a new place to live or need help with job placement. The downside to organizing a counseling center, by program is that the counseling center may offer only a handful of services and would need to refer clients to outside organizations. If the agency did offer other programs, the victim may feel that they are overwhelmed with their options and may go back to their previous situation.
Matrix organizations offer employees the option of going to different supervisors should and issue within the counseling center arise.
However, being that counseling centers are usually small, there may not be a need for more than one or two supervisors at any given time. The Project Team Model of organization may be well suited for a large counseling center as well. If the counseling center offered medical exams, the medical group would be considered a team. If the counseling center offered housing, the staff members who deal with housing would operate on their own team. The problem with the Project Team model is that it increases the number of people who have access to records and may make the idea of getting counseling for domestic abuse, uncomfortable. Victims of domestic abuse may not want to relay their information to different teams of people just to get the help they
need. The Collegial Model of organization seems to benefit the clients of a domestic abuse counseling center most because of the one-on-one aspect. The Collegial Model encourages members to work individually, which means each client would work with one person throughout their treatment at the facility. This helps create trust and enables the staff member to effectively help the client work through their issues. One drawback to the collegial model is that there is a high probability of dual relationships or for staff members to get too emotionally involved with their clients. Clients may become dependent upon the person who was simply assigned to their case. Individuals who function under the collegial model must also maintain their own source of income, which transfers into a need for paying clients and customers. Under the collegial model, organizations may find it hard to accept patients on a sliding scale fee or patients who are on Medicaid.