G&B, a large manufacturing
company, is facing a dilemma. Here, actually, all the decisions are made
and communicated with the approval of top management. The purpose of
developing such organizational setup was to make
all information available to the top management all the time. But it has
been resulting in delays, like Operations Department personnel have to
wait for approval of a decision for at least two days; and they cannot
take even a minor decision on their own as it is against the company
policy. The business situation
has been worsening, employees are losing confidence, sales are falling
and numerous problems have aggravated to the extent that the company is
now close to shut down. As
an OD practitioner which ONE of the three consulting models
(‘Doctor-Patient’, ‘Process Consultation’ and ‘Purchase of Expertise’)
would you practice at G&B? Discuss your choice with appropriate
reasoning.
Solution:
Process Consultation model should be used.
Process consulting is a powerful tool which is used to enhance group effectiveness, shorten meeting times, and address conflict. It helps teams to work together more effectively, and its effects can last long after the consultant has departed.
The benefits of process consulting are usually:
These skills used in process work are quite different from those used in “expertise-based” consulting, because the consultant must:
Overall, process consulting is an invaluable but underused service which requires an experienced consultant.
Solution:
Process Consultation model should be used.
Process consulting is a powerful tool which is used to enhance group effectiveness, shorten meeting times, and address conflict. It helps teams to work together more effectively, and its effects can last long after the consultant has departed.
The benefits of process consulting are usually:
- Shorter meetings.
- More productive meetings.
- Better decisions.
- Increased feelings of participation or potency.
- Greater satisfaction with the team or meetings.
These skills used in process work are quite different from those used in “expertise-based” consulting, because the consultant must:
- concentrate on the way the team works, rather than what it is working on.
- stay silent even when issues s/he knows or cares about are discussed.
- ask questions instead of offering expert advice.
- help the team solve its own problems.
- not make value judgements or deal with content issues.
- understand group dynamics, conflict resolution, and manager/leader development.
Overall, process consulting is an invaluable but underused service which requires an experienced consultant.
