ARBS Global Solutions & Consulting Approach

ARBS GLOBAL CONSULTING

ARBS GLOBAL SOLUTIONS CONSULTING

ARBS Consulting Approaches – (What’s best for you?)

  

Two Basic Styles

Process-Consultation Model
Assumptions:

• The client and consultant jointly diagnose the problem.
• The consultant’s role is to train the client in using diagnostic and problem solving techniques.
• The client has the major responsibility to develop his/her own solution and action plan to the problem.
• Problem solving is more effective when the client identifies wheat processes need to be improved (e.g.,  reporting relationship, reward system, organizational structure).
• The client has more knowledge and insight about what will work in the organization then does the consultant.
• The client has more of a commitment for implementing the action plan if involved in the entire diagnostic problem solving phases.

Doctor – PatientModel

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Assumptions:

• The consultant is hired to identify the problem, diagnose it and recommend a solution.
• The consultant has more expertise regarding the specific problem than does the client.
• The consultant is not expected by management to train the client in diagnostic and problem solving skills.
• The client expects the consultant to solve the problem in a relatively short period of time with minimal disruption and involvement of the work force.
• The client can be just as committed to implement the recommend solution and to follow-up on its progress if the procedures and reward structure for doing so exists.

Whatever assumptions the client and consultant subscribe to, they must discuss them to develop the appropriate psychological contract and role expectations each has of the other.  Although we subscribe to the process-consultation model in theory, we have discovered that the consultant should start where the client is in terms of “readiness” for certain consulting approaches.
Our experiences have indicated that clients within a single organization can have various degrees of sophistication and “readiness” for either the process-consultation or the doctor-patient approach.  To say on should use process-consultation rather than doctor-patient consultation with clients, in our opinion, is not based on organizational reality.  The consultant should be extremely careful not to commit to a psychological contract or set of role expectations with the client which the organizational environment cannot support.  Client readiness for specific consulting approaches is extremely important.
The appropriate consulting style used with the client should be determined by analyzing situational conditions that exist.  Using situational analysis as a basis for determining what contingencies should be considered allows, we believe, for both parties to be more genuine in laying their cards on the table.  Often consultants are used to fixing the blame for that went wrong and consultants are sometimes seen as selling back to the client their own solutions.
The process-consultation model presupposes certain ideal conditions that must exist for the consultant to be effective.  In a way, process-consultation is more limiting than the doctor-patient approach because of the number of preconditions that must be satisfied prior to consulting.  The doctor-patient strategy does not make as many predemands of the clients.
Listed below are what we consider to be the ideal preconditions or “readiness” criteria for the process-consultation model to be effective when working with clients.

Process Consultation – Client “Readiness” Criteria                                                                     

The client has appropriate problem solving skills required for joint diagnosis with the consultant and others. The client perceives the need for improvement. The client is problem solving oriented (rather than solutions oriented). The client is willing to learn from the consultant and work group by going through diagnostic problem solving phases. The client wants to help in solving the problem. The client is interested in an “original” rather than a prescriptive solution. The client will permit the consultant to learn about the work climate through on location observation, discussions with employees, review of confidential files, etc. The client and consultant are able to interact effectively at the interpersonal level. The client and consultant agree that the problem is worth solving. The problem has high priority with the client. The client desires to be actively involved in diagnostic phases of the problem solving process. The client is willing to commit additional resources (within reason) to aid the consultant in the fact-gathering and diagnostic stags. The client is trainable (i.e., the consultant feels that the client can, wants to, and has the time to be trained) in using diagnostic problem solving tools. The client is open to innovative problem solving approaches. The client is willing to work with feedback survey data (such as interview data, or questionnaire data) collected by the consultant. The client has a high risk orientation relative to identifying and solving problems through the utilization of participation techniques with his/her work force. The client is supportive of vertical team building approaches. The client is willing to implement mutually agreed upon solutions and action plans. The solutions are not obvious to the consultant based on past experiences with other clients.  Diagnostic work is necessary. The client and consultant will not be violating professional ethics, laws or morals.

Yes___ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____  _____  _____ _____  _____  _____ _____  _____  _____ _____ _____  _____  _____

No___ _____ _____ _____    _____ _____  _____  _____  _____ _____  _____  _____  _____  _____ _____ _____ _____  _____

 “Time” is Important
 One other factor, while important, is certainly not critical and that is the time available to each.
The process-consultation takes time while the doctor-patient approach can be rather brief.  Many consultants make decisions by calibrating their intestines or relying on what was successful in their last consulting job.  We have some key items which we believe are signs of readiness or reluctance to move on to the process approach.
Item one and two are fundamental to process consultation.  With these two in place, the doctor-patient model may be appropriate.  Seven and 15 are also weighted very heavily in our thinking.  The collecting and exploring of data is absolutely essential to making progress when using the process-consultation approach.
One method, which can be taken in using the checklist, is if you are using the team approach.  Have each member of the team do a simple yes/no and then compare the results.  A second method, which can be deceiving but may also be used, is a seven-point scale.

When using a seven point scale do not be lulled into a sense of scientific security.  There is no magic number of “readiness criteria” that need to be met before one decides to use a particular consulting style.  However, we have discovered that with some clients the doctor-patient model is an appropriate starting point, and can — over a period of time, create the “readiness” conditions necessary to implement sophisticated process-consultation strategies with clients.  Timing is extremely important when employing the appropriate consulting style.
We have observed that some of our clients have improved their organizational and interpersonal effectiveness under the doctor-patient approach.  Using process-consultation strategies with these particular clients would have probably resulted in failure because they did not have an appropriate readiness profile.  On the other hand, there are a number of clients we have worked with who required process-consultation because of their readiness for such a strategy — to use a doctor-patient approach would have also resulted in failure.  We frequently get the feeling that too many consultants have been brainwashed in implementing ivory tower participative approaches with clients, without thinking about client readiness for such sophisticated and demanding techniques.
Further research is required to determine weighting factors for each of these conditions.  Perhaps you may want to weigh the importance of each condition based on your own experiences.  Determining a weighting system would certainly aid the consultant in evaluating client readiness for a particular style.
Our major point is that a consultant must start where the client is!  Too many consultants fail because they expect the client to start where the consultant is in terms of technique and approach.  This can easily lead to failure.  Prior to your next consulting assignment you should use the “Readiness Criteria” checklist, along with any additions of your own, to analyze the environment in which you will have to consult.  After assessing your client with the checklist, ask yourself what consultation model or style you should have.

Reasons for Consulting 

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