Page 168 - DMGT520_ORGANIZATION_CHANGE_AND_DEVELOPMENT

Dilfraz Singh, Lovely Professional University
Unit 12: Issues in Consultant – Client Relationship

Unit 12: Issues in Consultant – Client Relationship Notes

CONTENTS
Objectives
Introduction
12.1 Defining the Client System
12.2 Issues

12.2.1 Entry and Contracting
12.3 Trust Issues
12.4 Nature of the Consultant's Expertise
12.5 Diagnosis and Appropriate Interventions
12.5.1 Depth of Intervention
12.6 Consultant as a Model
12.7 Action Research and the OD Process

12.8 Implications of OD for the Client
12.9 Summary
12.10 Keywords
12.11 Review Questions
12.12 Suggested Readings

Objectives

After studying this unit, you will be able to:

 Describe issues in consultant-client relationship in OD activities
 Explain need to manage these issues appropriately if advance effects are to be avoided

Introduction

Numerous issues regarding the client-consultant relationship need to be addressed and managed
in a successful OD effort. These issues are discussed ahead.

12.1 Defining the Client System

The question of who the client is quickly becomes an important issue in consultant relationships.
(We usually refer to the consultant in the singular, but the points we want to make also tend to
apply to consultant team. Similarly, the initial client may be an individual or a management
team.) We think a viable model is one in which in the initial contact, a single manager is the
client, but as trust and confidence develop between the key client and the consultant, both begin
to view the manager and his or her subordinate team as the client, and then the manager’s total
organisation as the client. Ideally, this progression begins to occur in the first interview.
Another viable model is one in which a small, top management team comprises the initial client
group.

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