Page 170 - DMGT520_ORGANIZATION_CHANGE_AND_DEVELOPMENT

Unit 12: Issues in Consultant – Client Relationship

Self Assessment Notes

Fill in the blanks:
1. The more ……………… aspects of the initial contract are also important and need to be
clarified for the peace of mind of both client and consultant.
2. During the……………., the consultant explores with the potential client some of the deeper
aspects of the presenting problem.

3. A ……………. of the interaction in early contacts between client and consultant is implicitly
related to developing a relationship of mutual trust.

12.4 Nature of the Consultant's Expertise

Partly because of the unfamiliarity with organisation development methods, clients frequently
try to put the consultant in the role of the expert on substantive content, such as on personnel
policy or business strategy. We believe it is possible, and desirable, for the OD consultant to be
an expert in the sense of being competent to present a range of options open to the client, but any
extensive reliance on the traditional mode of consulting, that is, giving substantive advice, will
tend to negate the OD consultant’s effectiveness. The OD consultant needs to resist the temptation
of playing the content expert and will need to clarify his or her role with the client when it
becomes an issue. However, we think the OD consultant should be prepared to describe in broad
outline what the organisation might look like if it were to go very far with an OD effort.

In other words, the OD consultant should act in the expert role on the process used but not the
task. The OD consultant can be helpful by presenting some optional forms and discussing the
possible implications of each.
We believe that the more extensive the OD consultant’s knowledge of management and
organisation, the more effective the OD consultant can be but beware of the difference between
being essentially a facilitator-educator and being essentially an advice-giver.

12.5 Diagnosis and Appropriate Interventions

Another pitfall for the consultant is the temptation to apply an intervention technique lie or she
particularly likes and that has produced good results in the past, but may not square with a
careful diagnosis of the immediate situation.
We think a consultant should do what he or she can do but the intervention should be appropriate
to the diagnosis, which requires an intensive look at the data, for example, the themes from
interviews.
The wider the range of interventions with which the consultant is familiar, of course, the more
options the consultant can consider. The more the consultant’s expertise and experience, the less
agonizing is likely to be required in selecting or designing appropriate interventions.

12.5.1 Depth of Intervention

A major aspect of selecting appropriate interventions is the matter of depth of intervention.
Harrison means the degree to which the data are more or less public versus being hidden or
private and the ease with which the intervention skills can be learned. Individuality means the
closeness to the person’s perceptions of self and the degree to which the effects of an intervention
are in the individual in contrast to the organisation.

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