Organisation of the staff

The staff has a generic composition, organisation and work method, which enables the exchange of personnel between units and collaboration with other staffs. From a generic model, the staff can be adapted to the commander’s vision or to the mission characteristics.

The commander or chief of staff will often choose a function-based organisation. His other option would be for a process-based organisation. The structure and size of the staff will normally be determined by the complexity of the operation rather than by the size of the force under command.

69 The staff’s work method is usually set out in its own Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)

and Standard Operating Instructions (SOI). These translate general principles into a specific situation which is dependent on the capacities that are actually available.

Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)

These are sets of procedures with compulsory instructions for the planning and execution of military actions, designed to maintain the necessary consistency and standardisation.

SOPs are often based on practical experience. They provide information for officials from outside the unit and are thus externally focused. SOPs inform attached individuals and units about the way of working within a unit. Lastly, they serve as a teaching aid for unit training and instruction.

Standard Operating Instructions (SOI)

These are sets of detailed instructions drawn up on the basis of the SOPs. SOIs give practical and often highly peremptory directives for specific situations or the specific execution of staff processes, and are intended solely for internal use.

3.3.1 Organisational models

Generally speaking, there are several variants for establishing a staff organisation.

3.3.1.1 Organisation according to function

With this structure, which forms the basis of any organic structure, the activities are organised according to an organisation’s established function-based specialisms. This structure corresponds to the existing J-structure used by Netherlands and international staffs.

3.3.1.2 Organisation according to geographical region

This structure, according to, for example, province or country, is commonplace. The geographical division of NATO headquarters or the subdivision of the Netherlands into Regional Military Commands are good examples of this variant.

3.3.1.3 Organisation according to target groups

With a structure based on target groups (a ‘market’), the idea is that different groups and actors should be approached in different ways. Certain elements might, for example, focus on a single actor or group of actors, such as government representatives and rulers, population or media.

70

3.3.1.4 Organisation according to products, capabilities or services

This type of structure incorporates in a single organisational unit all the disciplines required to supply a particular group of products and services. The subdivision of Defence into operational commands (army, air force, navy and Marechaussee) or NATO component commands falls into this category.

3.3.1.5 Matrix or project organisation

In practice, these organic structures rarely exist in their pure form. The matrix organisation, in which specialists from different departments are put together to work on one or more projects, is the rule rather than the exception. If such a collaboration takes on a more permanent nature, it becomes known as a matrix or project organisation. The regular work will be done in the individual departments.

3.3.1.6 Network organisation

A network organisation is an implicit or explicit collaborative structure characterised by semi-stable relations between autonomous organisations and/or individuals. Relations are established for a relatively limited time, wherever and whenever required for the execution of a specific activity, and are broken again afterwards. The making and breaking of relations is characterised by a relatively high degree of autonomy. The network organisation can thus be regarded as a special variant of the matrix organisations, whereby a high level of auto-nomy and self-synchronisation is taken as read.

3.3.1.7 From vertical to horizontal

The organisational structure cannot be seen in isolation from the process structure. A process is a chain of logically ordered, result-oriented activities. Each process is built up of five elements: results (final or as input for other processes), activities, people, equipment and frameworks (conditions, requirements, plans).

The way of thinking in military organisation structures is mainly vertical, whereby the organogram and the hierarchy take precedence over the intended result. When additional tasks are introduced, inflexible structures generally result because of the increased number of management layers. Personnel operate within the confines of their organisational element with the primary focus on the task to be performed rather than the overall result to be achieved. Use of the process concept that advocates horizontal organisation overcomes parochialism, since the focus is shifted to thinking in terms of the (end) result). Generally speaking, this will result in a more dynamic structure and a flatter organisation. If the process so requires, personnel will be deployed in varying multidisciplinary teams.

71 3.3.1.8 No standard solution

There are in effect no staff structures which are purely function-based or process-based.

Neither is there a one-size-fits-all solution. Prior to a deployment, the commander will have to decide on the staff structure and composition he requires, taking account of the pros and cons of each of the options. The way the staff is set up must also comply as fully as possible with the principles of command as described in Chapter 1, Section 1.9.

A certain amount of mutual recognizability is required for the purpose of interoperability.

For officials who start working in a larger staff, it is important that the structural elements and work patterns are recognizable so that they are able, with the help of the specific instructions that apply to that staff (SOP, SOI), to find their feet quickly and can thus contribute to the quality of the staff.

Figure 3-1: ‘Function-based organisation’

One of the most familiar organisational models for a staff is the traditional function-based model, according to area of expertise. Although there are several models, the function-based structure is the most common and usually also forms the basis from which other models are derived. The function-based areas of expertise are usually divided into (staff ) sections: personnel (1), intelligence (2), operations (3), logistics (4), plans (5), CIS (6), training (7), finance (8) and CIMIC (9).