Roles of an organizational development consultant

Roles and styles of Organizational Development Consultants. Organizational development consultants' responsibilities and working methods. Companies, enterprises, and organizations continue to be subject to change, which is one of the most inescapable occurrences on the planet. Organizational development, according to business experts, is the art of organizing a well-managed organizational transformation that is started from the top echelons down in a company utilizing understanding of behavioral science. This is significant because it establishes the strategies, roles, and objectives of personnel with a view to accomplishing the established targets. Organization development consultants are the individuals who carry out these tasks

Components of Roles and Styles

Organizational development consultants have certain roles and using a wide array of styles which can be best utilized given different circumstances which may be at work. According to Block, the roles of consultants could be grouped as expert, collaborator and pair-of hands role. Expert role, this approach is commonly used in the scenario where a given customer has insufficient time and lack of knowledge on how to best handle a situation. Under this dispensation he experts are the drivers of change and are expected to rise up to the occasion. Another role which can be a played by these consultants is collaborator role, this is characterized by client-consultant joint working. It gives the client a higher understanding their organizational capacity. Lastly the pair of hands role that entails a client giving the consultant totally responsibility to undertake the problem identification and find solution to organizational problems.

On the other hand Lippitt and Lippitt narrowed down the roles ranging from nondirectiveto directive. They postulated that on the non-directive end a consultant could be an objective observer; here the consultant asks questions to the client so at to identify the important issues and make decisions. A consultant could also play the role of a fact finder, where they deal with the collection of data and inspire proper thinking to the clients. As a Trainer and educator the consultant is best poised to give basic education to a client and thus impart the much needed technical knowhow. Lippitt and Lippitt also argued that a consultant can be an advocate; they are free to give views and guidelines that will aid in reaching working solutions for a firm. As a joint problem solver, Lippitt and Lippitt saw that the consultant would be actively involved in the decision making process by offering alternative solutions, analysis of the solutions and making an action plan (Lippitt & Lippitt, 1978)

Generally the consultants in organizations can use several styles in their approach to work, acceptance, catalytic, confrontational and prescriptive styles. Acceptance style is inclined towards offering of emotional support and embracing a nonjudgmental mode of operation. Confrontational consultants make known to their clients in black and white the shortcomings of their functioning. Evidence based diagnosis obtained by directly helping a client is what Blake and Mouton called a catalytic style. Lastly, when a consultant initiates data collection, analysis and presents the solution to a client he/she makes us of the prescriptive style.

Compare and Contrast

Block’s and Lippitt and Lippitt’s roles show quite unique differences. While Lippitt and Lippitt sort to approach the whole issue with either a consultant using a directive or non-directive approach Block maintain a normal and specific approach. Lippitt and Lippitt isolated a continuum of roles since a consultant which in truth is more exhaustive in practical terms. This also gives a wide array of options to use according to the prevailing circumstances and upon discussion with the client. However, the two methods are all aimed at offering a lastly solution to development planning in organizations.

The styles to be used by consultants can be widely contrasted. For instance, acceptance and confrontational styles; the consultant has to best access the client prior on settling on either of the two. Some clients may not like being confronted directly thus hampering the problem identification process. The catalytic when compared to the two is more focused on being part of the solution (Rhodes & McGuire, 2013).

In conclusion, the styles and roles of organizational development consultants are all aimed at performance enhancement of a firm. Careful consideration ought to be used upon the role to play and also the style to be used.

References

Lippitt, R., & Lippitt, G. L. (1978). The consulting process in action. University Associates, La Jolla, Calif.

Rhodes, G., & McGuire, J. B. (2013). Transforming your leadership culture. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.